Death by a Thousand Costs

Conventional large airlines like Delta, American and United fly fleets of airplanes into “hub” airports, where baggage and passengers are transferred to connecting planes to reach their destinations.

Discount carriers such as Southwest, JetBlue and ATA fly planes point-to-point. Passengers lug their own baggage to planes that will carry them to further destinations. Those planes may belong to other airlines.

Download this PDF for a breakout of airline cost disparities.