why is it so much cheaper to fly long distances than to take the train (in the US)?
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Jet fuel gets more efficient the higher in the atmosphere you are (it has much less air to push the plane through than at ground level). Also if you’re taking a multiday train trip your basically paying for a very small mobile hotel room, vs an airplane where you’re just renting a seat for a few hours which may or may not include food/drink. Longer travel times mean more hours worked by employees (say 48 hours of work for an attendant on a train vs say 3 hours for a flight attendant for the same distance trip). Aircraft can also generally travel in a straight line to their destination vs a train that may have to go around obstacles such as mountains, lakes etc. It really comes down to the variable or periodic costs associated with the trip itself, which generally increase with the time length of the trip.
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