I have a question to all the major airline pilots out there.
I'm currently flying cargo for Ameriflight and lately I have been jumpseating with several airlines (major) and every time I jumpseat the plane is full and people are on standby list to get onboard. So, I have to be in the flight deck with the crew.

My question is why don't they add new routes or add new airplanes? Or increase ticket cost. It seems the demand is out there, even though we are facing a dark periord.

Good luck

 

They're probably all full because of cancellations, passengers from previous flights being pushed to later ones.

 

I dunno a lot of the flights I've tried to get on even before all the mx cancelations were always full. Flying shouldn't be cheaper than driving.

 

Just because flights are full, doesnt mean they are making money. Tickets are cheaper now than ever before.

 

I think the demand is out there. Even increasing the tickets, no doubt people will fly.

 

I believe that was the original poster's point. With such high demand, the airlines are not charging the amount that they could. I personally don't know, but I believe people will fly with higher prices. It seems like there is some artificial fear out there to raise prices.

 

Domestic travel has become a commodity with a very elastic demand curve. Furthermore the way most people buy tickets these days, internet resellers, hinders individual companies ability to raise prices. Go to CheapTickets/Hotwire/Expedia and search for a flight. They rank order flights by price. One dollar difference could put you on page two. Unless all the players agree to raise the price you lose market share. Add to that the LCC undercutters and you see the problem. That is why the majors are back dooring people with added bag charges, fuel surcharges, etc.
Just my HO and junior economic analysis.

 

You are correct. Ticket prices should go up. You're smart enough to be CEO of an airline. I'm serious, I'm not being "smart". I think the reason the ticket prices don't go up (even though the demand and fuel costs demand it) is that there is competition. People go online and book the cheapest fare for a flight(s) between point A and B. They don't care if it's on "GO" or any airline. They don't care how many connections they have to make. They just want to save $5 on their round trip from A to B. That drives the price down because everyone is trying to be the "cheap" airline that people buy their tickets on. The industry would be better off without the internet. We need phone reservations and travel agencies back. People couldn't figure out the pricing and it wasn't easy to compare airlines.

 

If you take just a 90-seat passenger airline aircraft...if the crew held out a tip jar, and assuming 2 FAs and 2 pilots. If every passenger just tipped $4 every flight, $1 per crew member, each crewmember would make $54,000 in addition to their current salary. Lets take a 1hr30min flight for example, and say you fly 900 hours per year (airline pilots are limited to 1000 hours per year)...

Makes for an avg. of 600 flights per year.

Each crew member would make $54,000 more per year (before tax) in addition to their current salary. i.e take $23,000 starting for 1st yr. FO that would be $77,000. This theory disappoints me. But so true and so simple. It is only $4 per passenger. Lets put the word 'profession' back into the professional pilot career. PASS THE WORD ON.

They can do the same for fuel prices. Just raise it an additional $1 or $2 in addition for jet fuel, making it $6 more per 1.5 hour flight. Just a few bucks will help with fuel prices, for now.

What is $6 per person on a $500 ticket? Its negligible. But goes a long long way.

 

The Oil companies have figured it out, its time that the airlines followed their lead!
Either consolidation or cooperation to rise prices are the only things that can save the industry