Originally Posted by
mwa1
I agree with you, the movement to the DC3 initially, was a move to sell more seats to make pax flying profitable - read losing money on smaller planes. Aircraft size has continued to increase at every turn as legacy carriers needed more and more pax to dilute fixed costs. That trend hit the skids with the intro of the 747 which lost money because there was not enough demand to fill them. The cost of travel continued to drop because the industry became more and more efficient. Of course 15cent fuel in the 90's helped keep costs down. The mega leap in fuel prices have brought this to a head - no gradual rise to make an adjustment to.
So, if anyone here thinks the DC3 should make a comeback to the majors - plz speak up.
Have you read Fate is the Hunter, Flying the Line, or ANY history of airlines in the '30s? (Yes, this is when the DC2 was up-sized to a DC3 kiddies). Load factors averaged 15-50 percent on the 14-seat DC2, and airlines were profitable almost exclusively due to Postal Contracts. Seat capacity was not really an issue at ALL until WWII. And yes, I believe DC3 sized aircraft SHOULD be flown at the Majors; pay levels could easily be compensated for by eliminating redundant CEOs, SOCs, etc.