Originally Posted by
NightIP
TD, I don't know of any independent airline that could reasonably build the kind of flexibility required to make a profit on $140/oil. Well, I take that back; Cape Air made money, but it's an entirely different niche working either established routes or EAS subsidized routes. For an upstart operation, forget about it. It's not realistic.
No doubt. But XJTs business model, as mentioned earlier, was around $60(I've just heard from several unofficial sources over time nothing concrete) meanwhile NWA was based on $75. Due to the efficiency of the aircraft involved a $5 change would have a much larger effect on a 50 seat plane than a 150 seat plane. Hence why so many felt the economics of going branded with a regional simply didn't make sense. That and the fact they were limited to the areas they could fly.