Originally Posted by
FDMII
"Really?"
Yes.
I was incorrect only in stating "payroll for flight crews" - air carriers' highest financial liabilities are fuel, followed by employee (not just flight crew), salaries/benefits/costs. Flight crews are (or used to be) a substantial portion of the category. Fuel costs are about 5 to 10% higher than employee costs.
This does not take into account training costs & other costs associated with maintaining crews in cockpits.
Take a look at the financial statements of air carriers; many are available online. Airports/costs are way down the list.
It's a big difference LOCO vs Legacy. But also hard to make direct comparison as does BA Employee costs cover the whole operation, or just flight & cabin crew. Wouldn't say airport costs are way down the list though, very near the top of both.
EZY Operating Costs
Fuel - £1,199 million
Airports and ground handling - £1,122 million
Crew - £505 million
Maintenance - £229 million
BA Operating Costs
Fuel, oil costs - £3,515 million
Employee costs - £2,422 million
Landing & handling costs - £2,168 million
- Landing fees and en route charges - £787 million
- Handling charges, catering and other operating costs - £1,381 million
Engineering and other aircraft costs - £613 million
Starting to shift rather a lot off the topic though.