> I think you are conflating surplus with utility. Full flights have more utility than not full flights...but the market surplus available is unaltered.
Utility is quantity that is measured with respect to an individual (subjective), whereas surplus is an objective measure. This is but one difference, and I am not conflating them. Fuller flights (less dead-weight loss) means there is more surplus to go around, and which will in general be divided up between the buyers and sellers.
I could say similar things about your understanding of price discrimination. My guess is that most of your confusion comes from thinking in terms of an idealized model where prices are dominated by marginal costs, whereas fixed costs for planes are very large.
This can all be inferred from the definitions you link to, you just haven't internalized them.
Utility is quantity that is measured with respect to an individual (subjective), whereas surplus is an objective measure. This is but one difference, and I am not conflating them. Fuller flights (less dead-weight loss) means there is more surplus to go around, and which will in general be divided up between the buyers and sellers.
I could say similar things about your understanding of price discrimination. My guess is that most of your confusion comes from thinking in terms of an idealized model where prices are dominated by marginal costs, whereas fixed costs for planes are very large.
This can all be inferred from the definitions you link to, you just haven't internalized them.