Why are airplane tickets so expensive?

Question

What exactly do you pay for?

Answer 1

First of all, the fuel. Second comes the maintenance. Aircraft have systems, then back-up systems, and back-up systems for the back-up systems. On an average flight, at least4-5 LRI's (electronic boxes) fail. This causes minor problems, but no danger to air travel. These systems are repaired on landing. Each repair can cost between £200 and thousands of pounds to repair. The aircraft is fully checked over before and after every flight, which costs more money. For example, a simple a/c plug can cost from £150 to £300. That's just to by the part, not to pay the engineers to fit it. That's why Tickets cost so much.

Answer 2

I work in the travel industry. I have been both an airline customer service agent and now am a travel agent. So I have seen both ends.

Airline tickets are so expensive for many different reasons. The first one is the government deregulated the airlines in the 1970's... What does this mean? It means that the airlines are able to charge what ever they choose for people to fly. The second reason and it seems to be the most prominent at the moment is the airlines are crying that they are not making any money (which is why they are filing bankruptcy and not paying commission to anyone who books their travel anymore). Airline Exec-ts are still getting allot of money for their "pay" and the little guy that actually does all the work does and not get any thanks.

The cost of fuel is a part of the extra cost, but the extra security fees since 9/11 are not that much. They range in cost of about $7.50 per trip (not per ticket).

You of course have other fees that are included like: Passenger Facility Charges, US Taxes, International Taxes (if you are flying international), Security Fees, Fuel, etc.

Answer 3

The price of airline tickets is directly related to the price of aviation fuel. You also now have to add the cost of the additional security since 9/11.

You are also paying for :
(1) advertising
(2) the marketing personnel who market the ticket/airline
(3) the ticketing agent or computer system that issues the ticket
(4) the technician(s) who maintains and repairs the aircraft
- Avionics
- Air Frame & Powerplant
(5) the flight attendant who is there primarily for your safety in case of the unlikely event of an accident, as well as to attend to your creatuire comforts during your flight.
(6) Last but not least the underpaid pilot.

... this list is by no means exhaustive ... I am sure there are many more in the chain that allows you to fly safely.

You always have the choice of driving yourself, taking a bus/rail or if overseas take a boat.

Believe me if you rationally examine the above you may understand.

Answer 4

The main thing you're paying for is the fuel. Airplane fuel is a lot more expensive than normal gasoline. Think about it: an airplane weighs a lot, so the fuel has to be burned quickly enough to get it up to 200mph. When airborne, the generators will continue to spin for about 3 hours. Fuel is 30% of the ticket expenses. Other factors include service, food and drink, comfort, and of course, transportation. For bigger jets they have to clean the seats every day, and provide over 1000 people per day with food and other services, which is more than those Learjets. Water and electricity is used, too.

Answer 5

Airfares are extremely complicated.

Yes, fuel is expensive. Yes pilots get paid well (after going through HELL to get to be an airline pilot...believe me I'm working as a flight instructor right now. The road to airline pilot is about 10 years of making peanuts)

The thing with airfare is, they have developed computer algorithms that are smarter than me to determine the price. Strangely enough, they sell the seats they don't expect to sell first, then the price goes up the closer you get to the flight. The thought process is that they were going to sell the last minute tickets anyway.

Even more interesting, they track how many people inquire about a certain flight. More popular flights can get away with charging more. So when you search a website for cheap fares from say..LAX to DTW, they record your interest.

The way to fly cheap is to plan as far ahead as is humanly possible and fly off times / dates.

As for what you're paying for: It all comes down to planes and people.

Airline Aircraft cost millions of dollars. Fuel costs millions of dollars. Then there's the people...Pilots, Flight Attendants, Dispatchers, Maintenance personnel, ticket agents, baggage tossers, training personnel, the list goes on.

Fare wars are killing airlines, but it is their own fault. So try to fly cheap. If you can't fly cheap enough, there's always buses, cars, and trains.

Answer 6

You are paying for everything: the airplane itself, the avionics and instruments, the maintenance personnel and parts, libility and property insurance, the flight crew, the baggage handlers, the ground support equipment, the test equipment to work on the aircraft, the fuel, oil, hydraulic fluids, the air in the tires, the "free" drinks and snacks, the prduction costs of those nice videos so the flight attendants don't have to give the safety instructions anymore, the in-flight magizines, the landing fees at the airport, the in-flight movie and music, the in-flight TV, the blankets and pillows, the dry cleaning of the seat covers, blankets, and pillows, etc., etc. etc.

Answer 7

Airlines have cut capacity so based on the law of supply and demand, with the supply side lowered and record traveling done by people, the price increases. Fuel costs are another reason why airline ticket prices are going up. You are also paying different airport fees and 9/11 fees as well as what other people mentioned such as people's salaries, advertising, etc.

Answer 8

because the public has made the companies go crazy with cheap fare sales, and once they are sold the airlines have to make up all that lost profit on the poor fool who buys last minute or has to frequently fly, cheap or not. Not to mention the routes that are NEVER on sale.

Airline fuel is astronomical too, so whenever a flight isn't full, the farews charged to OTHER buyers have to cover those losses too. Takes almost as much fuel to fly an empty plane aws a full one...but no profit on the porrly filled flgihts.

Plus use has demandeed bigger planes, so I more and more see a plane too big for that particular route (as in never close to full)

Answer 9

Exactly you pay for the pilot. Pilot makes your ticket expensive. Pilot wants to live better after driving a stressful vehicle bringing your life safely. Good deserve after all.

What makes medicine so expensive? No. Not the chemical, plant or any ingridients. It's the doctor. Because doctor makes money from the prescription he/she wrote to the patient. And doctor just like pilot, wants to live better with more money. Because they know when it's their turn to go to the doctor or to fly, they will make it full paid nicely. They know the secret of a good life style.

See you.

Answer 10

Fuel mainly and then the rest of the ticket goes towards taxes, airport handling charges - i.e. space on a parking stand, wages of personnel - pilot and cabin crew and ground staff, also advertising and marketing and sometimes aircraft leasing if the airline don't own all their aircraft outright.