How Airlines Decide Where to Fly

Animation by Josh Sherrington
Thumbnail by Simon Buckmaster

Special thanks to Patreon supporters Alec M Watson, Andrew J Thom, Arkadiy Kulev, Chris Allen, Chris Barker, Connor J Smith, Daddy Donald, Etienne Dechamps, Eyal Matsliah, Hank Green, Harrison Wiener, James Hughes, James McIntosh, John & Becki Johnston, Keith Bopp, Kelly J Knight, Ken Lee, Kyle, KyQuan Phong, Manoj Kasyap Govindaraju, MyNameIsKir, Plinio Correa, Qui Le, Sheldon Zhao, Simen Nerleir, and Tim Robinson

Select footage courtesy the AP Archive

United 787-8 video courtesy ifly fsx (CC attribution license)

References:

[JustAnotherGamer]

It’s simple. I see Wendover Productions with a video involving aviation, I click like

[CosmicApiary]

You mentioned Wow Air in this video, and now I'm wondering. Will we see a video about WOW's sudden collapse? I'd be interested in that

[darkdreamer]

You should do a video on how Hartsfield Jackson ATL became the most busy airport in the world

[seiya]

One thing that airlines also take into account when evaluating the successfulness of a route is the cargo traffic on that route. Sometimes the passenger cabin is half full, but the cargo hall is full of goods, and that makes it profitable

[erielgonzalez]

@WendoverProductions is slowly becoming the ultimate How To Start An Airline guide.

[door-to-doorhentaisalesman]

1000 years later: Planes can fly to the moon.

*Wendover Productions: Heavy Breathing*

[aresef]

I actually prefer to travel on foreign airlines when going to foreign destinations. It feels like your trip abroad is extended, if only in spirit.

But Spirit, I’ll never fly on Spirit again.

[mpacker]

WOW: let's go to texas lol
Icelandair: no

American: did someone say texas

[gear]

I’m a 747 pilot would you be interested in doing a collaboration?

[theeel]

They take a sheet of paper, write down random locations, and play spin the bottle. Wherever the bottle lands, they fly to.

[EvanEscher]

3:48 "Southwest Oregon Regional Airport"
Proceeds to show Chilliwack, BC

[cadyshak]

Ah yes! Southwest Oregon Regional Airport's famous move to Canada was updated on the map. Good looking out! 3:50

[JustinY.]

So you're telling me they don't throw a dart onto a map while blindfolded?

[sandx]

Hey it's a video about planes! Finally smth different from wendover production

[Demonetizedhre]

How HAVEN'T you been sponcered by an airline company yet?

[lesthodson]

Dude...that's not southwest Oregon. XD
That's Canada.

[asneecrabbier]

answer: they ask sam because he is an expert about airlines

[makecba]

I think you forgot to mention cargo. Even though paying passengers (and their luggage) contribute to a route, how much additional cargo an airline can ship between two places is also very important to a flight's continuation. There are routes out there that fly few passengers but a ton of cargo that make a lot of money for an airline.

[mirzaahmed]

9:24 WOW Air has stopped flying to everywhere else.

[siddharthbelwal]

AlternateHistoryHub video idea:
What if Wendover Productions was not obsessed with planes