Airline Pilot Central Forums - Airlines "unintentionally wasting fuel"

Mr. writer, what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

That is my opinion of this article. This guy has no idea what he is talking about. In the airline industry, the most efficient way to move people from small town point A to small town point B is to route them through a common hub, Point C. It is not rocket science. Almost every single airline has a hub and spoke system with a few point to point routes where demand allows. Do certain point to point routes make sense. Of course, if there is enough demand to warrant nonstop service between the two airports, then throw a flight there. Southwest is not an exception. More than 50% of their flights arrive/depart out of their 10 busiest airports, so essentially they have a type of hub and spoke system (with their hubs being LAS, PHX, DAL, etc…). Southwest also has the lowest load factor in the industry, mainly because of their point to point routes (lower load factor is less efficient). I am not saying it is a bad business plan, I am just stating a fact. When you fly more point to point routes, the flights are less full, thus less efficient.

Do yourself a favor and just ignore this article. I lost 5 minutes of my life that I will never get back, plus another 10+ writing this response. Just chalk it up as this guy is another ignorant member of the press who has no idea what he is talking about.