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What everyone seems to be forgetting is that 5 people aren’t the only thing paying for that empty flight. Other things, like time critical cargo, mail, transplant organs and on and on actually can pay for the flight’s costs before one passenger gets on. For pete’s sake, let the airline run it’s own business. If it isn’t efficient, it won’t be economical. If the flight isn’t economical, the airline will go under but long before then the flight will be canceled by management who spend all their time being efficient to compete with other “lower cost” airlines who pay their people less in foreign countries, and who fly the same routes. You can’t drill for oil in this country to fuel that flight with cheaper fuel. Now you greenies want to aid foreign carriers to put our domestic owned airlines out of business. Doesn’t surprise me one bit.

It is also relevant that they chose American Airlines, a US carrier, instead of British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, or worse, Air India, Jamaican Airlines or other non US airline. I also don’t wonder why.

I once piloted a 14 hour flight to Africa with only one passenger on board. He was treated like royalty. The amazing thing is, the flight made money because of the absolutely critical 10,000 lbs. of cargo we were carrying.