Caveman said:
Dogg,
I seem to remember in the past couple of years that something like 40+% of Comair's pax never see the inside of a mainline a/c. I may have gotten it backwards and it's only 40+% get to see the mainline a/c. In any case this is a number that I remember hearing from one of the Comair suits. Take it with a grain of salt.
Caveman
Caveman,
I would believe those numbers. If the ratio of checked bags is a decent correlation to the total pax distribution, I would say 40% of those pax at ACA don't see a mainline aircraft on any particular trip. I once postulated that percentage and later on heard from some suit that it was rather accurate.
What is hard to determine, though, is if a pax flies on the RJ because it's DLC branded or UAX branded, or because it goes where the pax want to go. I.e., I've heard some people say that the only reason they fly ACA is because it is the UA brand. When ACA goes at it alone, forget it. I suppose flying from say BDL to JAX, that you could reasonably expect people to book connections in EWR, IAD, PHL, CLT, and ATL. (Not saying that all airlines with hubs in those cities serve the BDL-JAX market, I'm just postulating what a reasonable connection would be) CLE and PIT are starting to stretch it, but what about DTW and ORD? How far out of your way would you be willing to go to fly on a "real" jet? I.e., if you can take ACA from BDL-IAD-JAX, would you fly mainline instead from BDL-ORD-JAX?
As far as "route subsidies" or what have you go, the term you are looking for is "network contribution." First, not just regional routes are "subsidized." Look at all of the Florida markets. Do you think those legs in and of themselves make a ton of money? No. But they can feed high revenue routes and at the very least cover the marginal operational costs of the flight. If you cover your operating costs, at least it is worthwhile to fly the flight.
Truly subsidized routes are EAS routes, and that has nothing to do with the airline and everything to do with communities subsidizing those routes. Obviously, UA finds benefit from ACA flying CHO and RIC to IAD.