Question 1177662
You're right, the wording makes it a bit tricky! Let's break it down and solve it step-by-step.

**1. Define Variables**

* Let 'u' be the number of empty seats on United Continental.
* Let 'a' be the number of empty seats on American.
* Let 's' be the number of empty seats on Southwest.

**2. Convert Costs to Dollars**

* United Continental: 14.9 cents = $0.149 per seat-mile
* American: 14.6 cents = $0.146 per seat-mile
* Southwest: 12.4 cents = $0.124 per seat-mile

**3. Set Up the System of Equations**

* **Total Empty Seats:** u + a + s = 235
* **Total Cost of Empty Seats:** (0.149 * 3000)u + (0.146 * 3000)a + (0.124 * 3000)s = 99060
* **United Continental vs. American Empty Seats:** u = 3a

**4. Simplify the Cost Equation**

* 447u + 438a + 372s = 99060

**5. Substitute u = 3a into the Other Equations**

* 3a + a + s = 235  =>  4a + s = 235
* 447(3a) + 438a + 372s = 99060  =>  1341a + 438a + 372s = 99060  => 1779a + 372s = 99060

**6. Solve for 's' in the First Simplified Equation**

* s = 235 - 4a

**7. Substitute 's' into the Second Simplified Equation**

* 1779a + 372(235 - 4a) = 99060
* 1779a + 87420 - 1488a = 99060
* 291a = 11640
* a = 11640 / 291
* a = 40

**8. Solve for 'u' and 's'**

* u = 3a = 3 * 40 = 120
* s = 235 - 4a = 235 - 4 * 40 = 235 - 160 = 75

**Answer**

* United Continental: 120 empty seats
* American: 40 empty seats
* Southwest: 75 empty seats