By Benjamin Katz of The WSJ. One reason why we get jumbo jets is that they have "economies of scale." That is, the more passengers a jet has, the lower the cost per passenger since the big costs of building the plane are spread over more passengers. But fewer people are flying now so it may be harder to achieve economies of scale.
Excerpts:
"The aviation-industry crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic is exacerbating a yearslong move by airlines away from big jets."
"As demand for flying has cratered amid the pandemic, carriers have laid out plans to lay off or furlough tens of thousands of workers. They have sought investor and government rescue cash and have dramatically reduced routes. They have also scaled back sharply plans to purchase new planes.
Now that many economies are starting to open up again, airlines have more recently started to add back some capacity. But the type of demand that is returning—typically for shorter intracontinental or domestic routes—threatens to exacerbate a yearslong shift by airlines into smaller, nimbler jets."
"Airbus and rival Boeing Co. have been pivoting in recent years to adjust to airline customers’ new reluctance to buy their biggest jets. Instead, carriers have flocked to smaller, single-aisle planes that are more fuel efficient, more flexible on range and can be filled up with passengers more easily."
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