Boston to New York for $7? Can someone explain why?

Although American Airlines posted a $45 million profit in the last quarter, it was only the sale of a financial advisory unit that kept them in black. Otherwise, they’d have lost over $300 million in one quarter. But why? Shouldn’t all those charges for anything that’s not attached to the plane helping boost profits? Apparently not. Since the fares themselves are not just low, but utterly unrealistic and unsustainable.

Shocking prices!

Here’s an shocking discovery I made while searching for fares on Vayama.com. The fare for a JFK-Singapore flight is $800.20 (on Cathay Pacific), and from Boston – JFK – Singapore is $807.20 (on AA + Cathay Pacific). That means the flight from Boston to JFK is merely $7! That is less than the price for a person to get from Manhattan to JFK by subway! Even a regular bus ticket from Boston to New York City is $15. See the screenshots below for yourself.

How is this possible?

Even though both American Airlines and Cathay Pacific are part of the OneWorld alliance, and cooperate on this flight and have revenue share agreements, how is it possible for the fare to be so low? Is American Airlines really charging only $7 for this ticket? Or is Cathay Pacific or Vayama footing the difference between the regular Boston – JFK fare? If not, then such fares are totally unsustainable and probably the cause of many airlines’ downfall. It is here that the belt needs to be tightened, not by charging $2 for a cup of water!

I personally don’t have an explanation for such fares, but if you do, please share your thoughts in the comments section. I (and my readers) would love to be enlightened.

P.S: I generally don’t digress from writing about branding for airlines, but just couldn’t help deviate here towards the pricing side after my discovery online.