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A comment on Boom Announces Successful Flight of XB-1 Demonstrator Aircraft. Parent comment

Re:Boom Announces Successful Flight of XB-1 Demonstrator Air... by wolverine876 on Friday March 22, 2024 @02:59PM (#39793693)
If planes are full, how can it be more efficient to fly my ~200 lbs (including lots of luggage!) from point A to B to C, adding extra distance and another takeoff, rather than directly from A to C?

Are widebody planes that much more efficient?

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Re:Boom Announces Successful Flight of XB-1 Demonstrator Air... by Zak on Friday March 22, 2024 @04:20PM (#39794401)
The short answer seems to be no. Newer planes are much more efficient than older ones, but the most efficient aircraft and flight segment per passenger-distance are the A320 Neo and 737 Max making ~1000 mile flights.

Fuel burn is probably not the main reason airlines use the routing that they do.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_economy_in_aircraft

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Re:Boom Announces Successful Flight of XB-1 Demonstrator Air... by mikepurvis on Friday March 22, 2024 @05:34PM (#39795092)
I'd guess that staffing and gate time are big cost drivers. A lot of those "how Southwest succeeded" articles from back in the day cited very fast gate turnarounds as being a key thing— get the people off, get the other people on, get back in the air.
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