Why Does Flying Cost So Much Money?

Most of us have probably flown on an airline in our lives, some more than others, but the one thing that overarches every flight is the incredibly high cost. Flying is definitely getting cheaper, but it still can cost an arm and a leg to travel to your destination. Finding flights for less than US$100 can be close to impossible if you want to travel more than 100 miles, and many longer distance flights can go upwards of US$1,000. Have you sat down to think about just why you have to pay so much to ride on an airplane? As it turns out, the airlines don't actually make that much profit on those bargain tickets. Check out the cost of your ticket broken down, and it adds up fast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Oe8T3AvydU

You may think that paying US$300 for that flight cross country is a rip-off, but almost all of your ticket price goes to paying off fees, labor, and taxes. The biggest portions of your ticket prices go to pay off airport fees, taxes, and even paying off the initial investment of the airplane. An Airbus A320 costs the airline around US$107 million to purchase, and when that is broken down to the number of passengers it can hold, it's about 12 dollars per person, per flight.

[Image Source: Wendover Productions]

It's not so much that the airlines are ripping you off, although that's not to say they don't, it's that flying is just really expensive. Flying is getting cheaper, and in many areas, it is the cheapest form of transportation. Many still opt to drive, but when you factor in maintenance costs and time, flying usually beats it out.  It is likely, however, that the airline industry will be shaken up with the implementation of the hyperloop, or even self-driving cars. Who knows, the future of transportation could look a lot more 'grounded' in a few years.

SEE ALSO: How Do Stealth Airplanes Fly Undetected?