Comments by "Tony Wilson" (@tonywilson4713) on "Simple Flying" channel.

  1. You're half right. The biggest issue with any passenger plane is empty seats. No matter what anyone does the basics costs of airport fees, hangar fees, office costs, baggage handling costs, maintenance costs and all the others exist EVERY time the plane flies. There is fundamentally for any aircraft a set cost before you even start the engines. The only offset to that is bums on seats and its a lot easier to fill a smaller plane against that cost. I did aerospace engineering and this basic concept was also the downfall of the space shuttle. Before it ever lifted off and flew a single kilogram into orbit it had to lift 75 tons into orbit. It had a payload capacity to orbit of 30 tons and the basic costs of preparing it for flight was the same if it launched with 1 ton or 30 tons. Just image the financial loss on an a half full A380. You still have to start and run 4 engines. You still have to lift all that basic mass into the sky. Compared to a plane half the size with only 2 engines the math is very, very simple. Then there was also the issue that the A380 could only operate at special terminals. Planes like 737s and A320s can go almost anywhere. 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♀️ There was one place the A380 did shine and that was for those very busy long haul routes taking bulk numbers of people from major hubs to major hubs where they could reliably fill (or come close to filling) the plane. It was similar for the 747.
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