In a message dated 9/21/2003 9:55:10 PM Pacific Daylight Time, mmontano@xxxxxxxxx writes: << There's no question that long range narrow-body jets (737-700/800s, A319/320s) have been great, and 2,000+ nm range RJs are changing the landscape. I think that trends are showing that the former are the better bet for airlines. I think a smart "full service" airline would use 737/A320 family aircraft for feeders and P2P then use 1 kind of big craft from the same people for long haul. 777 or A340 would fit here, and so would 747 if used correctly But I sense that airlines, and their currently artificially distorted labour costs which provide a per-seat-mile cost on RJs that are unsustainable, are going to swing the pendulum to far the other way. Can someone name an airline that uses a balance of hub-n-spoke, point-to-point and RJ flying and does it successfully & profitably? Lufthansa? >> I think LH is probably the only one that does it well, AF maybe. The key to LH is that they have a very diverse, very big airline that is not just the core ops. They also have the world's biggest cargo airline in LH Cargo (Trades off for that honor with FedEx), a very well known and respected maintainance division (Lufthansa Technik) and an extremely efficient workforce that makes them profitable. I think their approach of having all kinds of planes is one that actually works because they can fine tune what flys on what route when