How Airlines Make Money

So blindingly obvious, now that The Cranky Flier blog pointed it out:

There is value in the upsell.

When American first rolled out increased legroom for all coach seats on the airplane many years ago, the idea was to become a premium airline that people would pay extra to fly. That didn’t happen. A lot of coach travel is viewed by consumers as a commodity. They just want to get places for cheap. So when American removed seats, it increased its unit costs (costs ended up being spread out over fewer seats) and it couldn’t get enough revenue to justify it.

With United, however, Economy Plus was just a subsection of coach. It took the airline years to figure this out, but there are absolutely some people who will pay for more legroom. Some people. United’s Economy Plus has now become so popular and profitable that not only did the new (ex-Continental) management decide to keep it despite biases to do otherwise, but American and Delta have all copied it as well.

Link - via The Economist's Gulliver Travel Blog


I'm 6'2" and my knees hit the seat in front of me when I'm in a United coach seat - I can put up with it on a short flight, but nothing more than an hour. Econ+ is the same price and legroom as Virgin's coach, but without any extra baggage fees - so my response is to avoid United altogether when possible. With these shenanigans it's no longer a commodity for me, I went from not really caring to actively avoiding United.

Good job!
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Login to comment.
Click here to access all of this post's 6 comments




Email This Post to a Friend
"How Airlines Make Money"

Separate multiple emails with a comma. Limit 5.

 

Success! Your email has been sent!

close window
X

This website uses cookies.

This website uses cookies to improve user experience. By using this website you consent to all cookies in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

I agree
 
Learn More