Question

An airline has a marginal cost per passenger of $20 on a route from Minneapolis to Dallas. At the same time, the typical fare charged is $300. The planes that fly the route are usually full, yet the airline claims it loses money on the route. This loss may occur because

Answer 1

The fixed costs are too high. The marginal cost generally represents variable costs and they might be very low, but if the fixed costs are simply too high, they will need to increase the price of the plane tickets in order to break even. The break even formula is calculated by dividing total fixed costs by marginal revenue (selling price - variable costs).