ELI5… Why do airlines offer super cheap tickets instead of leaving the plane empty?

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I’m considering getting one of those cheap tickets you see which is a direct round trip from MSP to Orlando for $60 including fees (it wasnt the date i wanted but it was cheap). How does that make economic sense for the airline? Sure the plane is making the trip anyway, but how can hauling my 200lbs of man meat 1500miles for $30 each direction not more than offset the fuel?

In: Economics

41 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Like you’re 5. If nobody’s on the plane, they make no money. If the plane is full, they make maximum money. There’s some point in between where adding people does not make them more money. Even if you added 10 people and did not make any extra money on the ticket sales from those 10 people, five of those people will buy snack foods or a cocktail, and you will now make money.

Also that plane has to get to the other location to pick up the next 600 scheduled passengers whether there are people on the current flight or not