I've been on the road this week for the Samwick family sorta-annual trip to the Bay area. The trip out here, originally scheduled for a Boston to San Francisco nonstop, would read like one of those Fortunately/Unfortunately stories we remember from childhood. It is amazing that the airline industry survives in any form with fuel costs as high as they are and fares as low as they are.

Let's run the numbers:

4 seats x 2700 miles/segment x 2 segments = 21600 seat-miles

21600 seat-miles / 60 seat miles per gallon (here or here) = 360 gallons

360 gallons x $2.60 per gallon (here) = $936