Originally Posted by
iaflyer
I know, but they must be thinking that tighter capacity means higher RASM. Sure - in a bubble, but Southwest, Jetblue, Virgin America, Spirit and Alligent waiting to pounce on the routes we drop. It's frustrating.
They are not the darlings they once were. It is a fine line. With any company many of your costs are fixed, and it makes sense to spread them out over more products. When you reduce capacity, you have fewer products in which to spread these fixed costs out over. In our case that raises CASM. Yes, RASM can increase to a point. It is a fine line, at some point your RASM jump does not cover the CASM jump, hence the phrase, "You cannot shrink to profitability."
SWA has been able to constantly spread their higher costs over more seats, and that is why that up to a few years ago, they were able to look really good on paper. They still are very well run, but absent taking over the international market, they are capped out with regard to their old model. IMO, they realize this, and that is why they bought ATN.