Expert: Marc Ebelini - 5/28/2007

Question
explain the impact the wide body jet aircraft on the aviation industry with regard to passenger fares and travel.

Answer
It's simple economics. Getting a large number of people from one place to another is cheaper. Let me explain using an example from the old days. If there is a large number of people flying from New york to Miami on a regular basis then using a twin engine airplane that carries 44 people is more costly than using a four engine aircraft that can carry more than twice the number people. Then the airline need only have half the number of planes to maintain. The number of engines may be the same but half the number of airplanes. The benifit is only when carrying a large number of passengers a long distant on a regular basis, that is the key. Must also consider the amortization of the cost of the pilots salaries with respect to the number of people on board. That is why airfares to heavily traveled destinations are ususally cheaper because the flight cost is the same whether the plane is full or empty but the more people on board the bigger the profit. Those wide body aircraft are only profitable when flying full. If airlines did not have to meet their schedule requirements and only flew when they filled up, there would never be an airline in financial trouble. Hope this was of some help.