FUEL SURCHARGES
The following was published today in Crikey.com.au:
"Ever wonder about that fuel surcharge that Qantas and others put on your air ticket? From my calculations they are making a profit on the surcharge alone without taking into account the airfare itself. Consider a recent flight from Melbourne to Sydney by a Boeing 737-800 (the new ones with the bent wingtips). 150 passengers on board. (92% load factor). Fuel surcharge $31 per head = $4,650. Actual fuel burn. 3,500KG = 4,600 LITRES approx. Fuel is hedged at better than $1 per litre. Do the math. Don't forget this is a SURCHARGE on top of the fare, whatever that is. The profit is supposed to be in the airfare itself. How do I know this? I was there."
Are there any experts out there able to validate this claim? If it's true, why don't the mainline media pick up on blatant rip-offs like this? I wonder if the fear of losing many millions of Qantas advertising budget has anything to do with their lack of concern?