An airline only has so much control over the expenses that it has.

Fuel--can only buy it at close to the same rate as everyone else.

Rent/Airport Fees--not much negotiating to be done, with the exception of new, limited markets.

Aircraft Lease/acquisition costs--again, in an apples to apples comparison, little variation from one carrier to the other.

The remainder? Employee costs. An expanding, growing employee base keeps the average cost per employee down by adding "new hire" help essentially doing the same thing as top seniority. Without expansion, the costs increase annually.

Unless you threaten things like furloughs, bankruptcy, loss of benefits, etc. The most controllable expense in the airline industry is employee wages.

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