Originally Posted by
sailingfun
Those numbers are not the relevant numbers. A carrier like Delta has a lot of core costs that are reflected in those numbers. For instance, we have to maintain the costs of a large international sales force that a carrier like Southwest doesn't have.
One relevant number is the incremental additional costs that are incurred when each carrier adds one more flight. In this area, Delta is more than competitive with Southwest.
The real relevant number is the incremental additional net revenue that adding one flight gives you. That is revenue added minus the cost incurred. Our overall RASM is higher than Southwest's, but that doesn't mean it would be so on each segment.
I do know that in Salt Lake, a market where we compete strongly with Southwest, we are doing better than they are. Certainly Delta management does not seem scared by Southwest today. They are a strong carrier and well run, but they are no longer able to walk into any market and push people around any more. They have to compete like the rest of us mere mortals.