just wondering, why do airlines replace large aircrafts with small aircrafts. Personally I think large aircrafts are more profitable because it carries more people.
It is about seat/mile profit and loss.
The 744 for example is a much more profitable aircraft full than the A330, to have full aircraft you must have a strong market. We all know how volitile the aviation industry can be. Now when the market is down, the A330 becomes more profitable as an airline can go off lease or park more aircraft and operate smaller ones at higher capacity, the 74x / A380 operators loose their arse when they can not meet their load factor requirement for profit and have less options.
Going big is a gamble, the 787 will be a very popular aircraft for this reason. The 748 will do well in pax as well as freight. I believe we will see many aircraft hit the boneyard as manufacturers sell aircraft based on their ability to operate with less expense. At the same time this will make these aircraft cheap to aquire giving more compitition from start ups who have low administrative overhead.