I don't agree with any of that on Southwest. We are both however throwing darts.
Southwest is no longer a low cost carrier. SWA has the third highest fares in the industry and have limited ancillary revenue streams. No bag fees for example. SWA rising labor costs will continue to drive their ticket prices higher. They also continue to drive themselves out of the leisure passenger market.
Good reads:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielr.../#498a10a71f8e
https://www.fool.com/investing/2016/...ill-drive.aspx
Is Spirit Airlines a Real Threat to Southwest? (LUV,SAVE) | Investopedia
Merger wise I think F9 and Spirit make all the sense in the world and would be a good match up. We're barely starting to overlap mainly due to both catering to leisure travelers. i.e. LAS as an example. There's still plenty of room in the US for ULLC growth.
Spirit airlines is now going directly after SWA. NKs growth for 2017 is based on going head to head with SWA on the majority of its new routes, 14 out of 20 new routes.
I'm not trying to take away what SWA has accomplished as a LCC. My opinion, although we're serious competition, I think they have bigger fish to fry than F9 and NK. They have to compete with a much larger picture now.
Here's a good read on Spirits tactic going against SWA for 2017.
With this taking place it'll be time for the rubber to meet the road. We'll see first hand who prevails I suppose.
Spirit Airlines Takes on Southwest Airlines in Its Next Round of Expansion | Markets & Stocks | journalstar.com