Desk Jockey
Not true that a flight cannot make a profit unless it is full. I pick that up because the issue of posters making things up was raised. I'd hazard a guess that full flights don't always make a profit either. It's a lot more complex than that.
Indeed it is, it also depends to a large degree if the financial instructions of the Board or CEO is for a route to make a profit across:
- A year
- A quarter
- A month
- The combined round trip
- Every single rotation
- etcetera
Some routes may not break even all year but are sufficient to keep the route as a feeder or because the peak seasonal covers the shortfall of other seasons. Complicated it certainly is.