There is a reason I am not in airline management. How does UAL justify offering fares SEA to FRA for $231 + taxes/fees = $506? Back in February, I purchased that same ticket from CAL for $666 and received credit for the difference when it lowered the fare to $393. It's a slow day at work today so I enjoy checking around and that's when I saw the UAL fare. Must be getting old because I will never understand airline fare structure.

Are you asking us as pilots to explain airline fare structure? Ha!

Check the fine print. It could be the new Aer Lingus/ United joint venture flown by non UAL/Shamrock pilots. That would explain the low fare price.

As a side note, insn't funny that the taxes and fees are more than the price of the ticket?

Low demand = cut capacity = lower fares to fill up few remaining planes that would probably be near empty otherwise?


Besides, once you get passengers trapped on board the plane, you can make the profit on the food/beverage sales, baggage fees, etc. USAir was projecting something like $500 million annually on ancillary revenues.

Thank goodness the TSA confiscates all the beverages at the gate, eh? We should send them a thank you note or something. Maybe we can get them to confiscate shoes next, then force passengers to buy the FAA mandated footwear before they get on the plane.

Good observation. The government gets more than the airline, and THE GOVERNMENT IS THE ONE CAUSING MOST OF THE PROBLEMS!!

Arggh, I think I just blew another artery in my head...

How about this one......my daughter goes to UMiami ( scholarship ) I flew her home roundtrip MIA - MSY non stop on AA at Thanksgiving for 287....Christmas the price was 254...... yesterday I purchased a one way ticket for the end of school in mid may..... 67 dollars....TOTAL cost.... No wonder these idiots are losing money.

>>The government gets more than the airline, and THE GOVERNMENT IS THE ONE CAUSING MOST OF THE PROBLEMS!!


But who do you expect to pay for the external costs of running an airline; ATC, airport authorities, regulators, security, and such?

I would be interested to see how much of these fees cover these costs. 15 years ago, the majority of the money to do this was still from the general fund.

The problem is that the taxes that are ostensibly meant for the National Air System are not spent for that. They go to the general revenue and get spent on pork. Same thing for the gas tax and diesel fuel tax. If that money was spent on what it was collected for we would have a 21st century ATC system and not something Orville would recognize.

But if more money is coming out of the general fund than these taxes are putting in, than this would be a moot point.

This does apply for the gas tax. The gas tax pays for about one third of what it takes to run the national roadway system.

And often, many improvements to our operating environment are labeled as pork: runway/airport extensions, de-icing facilities, new control towers and such.

Oh well, the bright side is that non-revving this summer should be a breeze.