Originally Posted by
flensr
I can see keeping A319s on order for smaller markets, but I'm having a lot of trouble wrapping my brain around turning Spirit from a LCC to an oversized regional. Competing with every single existing regional out there on price alone just doesn't seem to be a plan for success. What, we're gonna run skywest (or whatever regional you want to compare with) out of business because we have the A320 CASM thing wired? I just don't get it. Entering a market already saturated with struggling companies is a good way to go broke unless you're willing to take big losses while running everyone else out of money *cough*walmart*cough*. I don't think spirit is the next walmart.
Do you understand how the whole regional, fee for departure thing works? Skywest, or any other regional for that matter, doesn't sell its own tickets. They get paid only by the mainline carrier(s) they have contracts with, and their profitability is based on the quality of those contracts. Where they fly to and from doesn't affect their bottom line.