Experienced captains at the major ("legacy") airlines make considerably more than you think. Up to ~$350 per hour (plus benefits, retirement, etc.)

On the other hand, salaries are VERY back-loaded towards the end of their career. A first-year first officer ("copilot") is maybe $90/hr. And if you switch employers, you start all over again at the bottom of the ladder. A strange world compared to hopping around tech companies like most of us here are familiar with.

Also pilots do not work 40hrs/week, and the more common airframe variants are maybe 150 seats on average. Those all somewhat cancel out, but it's probably more like double your estimate. Still not a huge fraction of ticket price.

Part of the problem with a single pilot is how a new person gets the experience in the real world of big boy planes. You need 1500 hours of flight time before airlines will hire you. New pilots often get most of those hours as CFI's tooling around teaching others how to fly a 4-seat Cessna 172. Ready to get in a 737 with them at hour 1501?

You can’t just jump into a 737 from your CFI hours on a 172; you still do need a type rating.

The required hours are a problem; the solution is not to go to one pilot but to go back to three, so the third pilot can build actual flight hours in type without issue.

Hopefully a single pilot law change wouldn’t also mean this. Scary.

I didn’t phrase this well, good call out.

Now that I’ve thought about it what I’m actually trying to ask is…

What would it take to drop flight prices 50%?

Automated flights, a change in fuel technology, 0 marketing spend, reduced maintenance?

More specifically, what is the bare bones cost to transport a human from point a to b, safely, in the same or less time it takes a flight.

> What would it take to drop flight prices 50%?

1. Free fuel. Fuel is the biggest cost of flights. For domestic flights, about half the ticket cost.

2. No taxes/government mandated fees (including fuel taxes). These are the second biggest cost, and for international flights, can easily be half the ticket price, but for domestic flights, about 20% of the ticket price.

3. Free planes. Planes are the third biggest cost.

4. Free administration. The Airline bureaucracy is the fourth biggest cost.

5. Free Stewardess labor. Fifth biggest cost.

6. Free Pilots.

Reducing convenience - replace as many possible flights between city pairs with as few giant jumbos as possible. Instead of many many flights between LAX and CHI just have a few A380s in cattleclass.

Saves a bit on fuel and a bunch on other costs. But people would be unhappy about it.

Larger planes are more efficient, but then ridership drops off when you make things less convenient so it's harder to fill the planes. I'm pretty sure the airlines are already maximizing this and are not optimizing for passenger convenience :)

What about airport slots and fees?

I rolled that into mandatory fees, assuming the airport was owned by the government. I know there are for-profit private airports, but I was keeping things simple. And yes, airports have to be paid for, as do planes, labor, administration, and fuel :) But we are assuming magical powers here, or the ability to provide all of these services for half the cost.