US Airways swings to the black. Guess how?

The old fashioned way, of course--by raising fares.

First off, recall that the airline we now know as US Airways is a merger between the "old" US Airways and America West Airlines. Now, with that out of the way . . .

Reuters reports that revenue per available seat mile on the America West side rose 16.2%, to 10.27 cents. "Old" US Airways' RASM rose 27.7%, to 13.34 cents.

RASM is a useful measure because it takes load factor into account. An empty seat generates zero revenue per available seat mile--so if you pack the planes fuller, RASM will rise. But the planes were already pretty full to begin with. You don't get those kinds of RASM increases with higher loads alone. Fares have risen, too.

This is bad news for the so-called railfans who clamor for Amtrak to be "run like a business" even as they complain that Amtrak fares are "too expensive."