Bingo!
You sell your product for less than it costs to provide it, and you lose money. Delta has efficient airplanes, they have already obtained labor concessions, and they have plenty of passengers (just flew them Sunday, the planes were 100% full).
It is just Delta and the other players are charging a fare that is below their costs. Fuel is more expensive. It costs more to drive our cars. Why should it not cost more to fly?
Wow. I bet the troubled airlines have never even thought of that idea. It probably has nothing to do with covering fixed costs, and the immediate loss of customers if they raise their prices. Nope, I'm pretty sure raising prices has simply never crossed their minds.
I dunno, you have an empirical observation. Mine is that I don't wish to have my papers scrutinized by the SS and be body cavity searched to travel, so I'd prefer not to fly. Also, I think it best for national security to keep my body out of the airport to make it easier to spot terrorists.
In general, I think I've seen a trend that people would prefer to stay closer to home these days.
I know they say the numbers of travelers are up these days. Maybe so, maybe not, and if so I'd question the causation and composition of the travelers. Traveling by air has become a big pain in the you know what.
what % component of cost of carrying a passenger is fuel, versus labor, plane note cost, etc?