recursive 10 months ago

The last ~10 times I've flown have been completely maxed flights. I can't remember the last time I saw an open seat anywhere.

  • mattgreenrocks 10 months ago

    Yep, post-covid it seems like airlines are favoring fewer flights that are more packed. I don't fly a lot (couple times a year), but when I do, it's very rare to see a flight that is not at least 95% full.

    • eastbound 10 months ago

      I remember a Lyon -> Bangkok on A380 on April 2nd 2010, we were 50 in the plane (capacity 530). Less than 10% full. With 20 stewards.

    • Espressosaurus 10 months ago

      Yeah, for the routes I've flown over the last 5-10 years, significant numbers of empty seats are very much the exception rather than the rule, and it got worse post-covid.

mrgoldenbrown 10 months ago

Curious what routes you fly, I have been on full flights consistently in the past few years, mostly Boston to Denver

bluGill 10 months ago

Eventually there just isn't someone who wants to go at any price, but the airplane still needs to fly.

r00fus 10 months ago

Overbooking is still an industry standard approach to profit maximization. The opportunity cost of being overbooked (rebooking/refunding) is way lower than having a few seats empty because of the average cancellations.

tl;dr - airlines are happy to sell you a seat that's taken, betting some % of other people cancel.