United Airlines is willing to accept more empty seats if higher fares produce a better financial result. That may frustrate passengers wondering why a flight with plenty of availability still costs so much, but it is a useful reminder that filling an aircraft and making money are not the same thing.

United Airlines Is Prioritizing Higher Fares Over Fuller Planes

One more tidbit from United’s October 21 earnings call last week. Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Nocella explained that the airline expects its efforts to recover higher fuel costs through pricing to result in somewhat lower load factors.

Load factor measures the percentage of available seat miles occupied by paying passengers. In essence, it tells us how full the airline’s flights are.

Nocella was direct:

“We do not manage to a fixed load factor target.”

Instead, he explained, United focuses on revenue relative to capacity and its long-term profitability. Here’s his full statement:

“Look, I think it’s obvious where the price of fuel is.…