MacRumors:
Apple is United Airlines’ biggest customer at the San Francisco International Airport, according to signs the airline has available that were shared on Twitter today.
According to United, Apple spends $150 million on airline tickets each year, and purchases 50 business class seats on flights to Shanghai every day.
Apple spends $35 million each year on flights from SFO to Shanghai, which is the number one flight the company purchases.
I wonder why it wouldn’t be more cost effective to simply buy their own plane(s)? I’m sure they’ve already thought of that though.
Apple cars would be a big enough step—IF that happens!
Establishing a proprietary airline would incur HUGE expenses in infrastructure, maintenance, licensing, regulation, taxes, administration, and on, and on.
It took me a while to catch that the graphic really does support the headline. Wow.
As they are not carrying cargo that has a return on investment, no way could they justify the enormous expense of their own plane(s), maintenance, fuel, etc. This is not domestic flying but international.
The math works out to about only $2,000 each way. You are not flying your own aircraft transpacific for $50k ($2000*25 employees). The fuel is more than that. Especially for a jet that could fit 25 people.
Exactly. Anything with that range would just be an airliner. Throw in all the ground operations and you’d need more than one for sure. 150M a year is probably a fraction of what they would spend.
Is there no way to reduce these? For, you know, environmental reasons?
It’s like they don’t find Facetime adequate for doing business?