RJs are annoying for several reasons. They are more cost effective usually because of the structure of pilot contracts, which in essence is based on their egos. (My opinion... from a flying family.) You can fly an RJ with 60% of the seats filled profitably, not because it's cheaper-per-seat to operate, but because the two drivers up front are being paid $20-$30k a year. Pay your RJ pilot $250k/annum, and suddenly you need to fill something like 95% of your seats just to pay the driver! If pilots, crew and support staff were paid by the hourly and fairly across the board, of COURSE flying the biggest baddest hunk of aluminum in the sky is the name of the game.... but it's not. Matthew On Wednesday, May 7, 2003, at 07:37 PM, Douglas Schnell wrote: > We've had this discussion before. While intuitive, the "major" to = > low-cost > comparison is not apples-to-apples. To say that the major airlines are > losing money simply because they do not operate high frequency, = > one-class > aircraft is just wrong. And operating high frequency, one-class > aircraft = > is > not a sure path to success, as Vanguard, National, Midway, and others = > can > attest (yes, these operated two-class aircraft, but not to a degree > that > makes it statistically relevant). > > -----Original Message----- > From: The Airline List [mailto:AIRLINE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of > Alireza Alivandivafa > Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2003 10:18 PM > To: AIRLINE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > Subject: Re: An interesting bit of...COLUSION (sic?) > > > And the mainlines are going bankrupt while low fares make money. RJs = > really > don't allow people to bypass hubs as they normally fly to the hubs from > smaller markets (SBA-LAX or DEN, FAT-DEN...). They just fly people > into > hubs so they can bypass security (maybe). The low fares use far bigger > planes than RJs (around the PAX capacity of what UA and AA fly on > 762s, = > more > on jetBlue), out of smaller markets and/or airports, and fly with = > frequency. > They make money because they take into account economies of scale and = > are > not so greedy with margins that they cannot sell tix. >