Originally Posted by
rickair7777
Just talking out of my butt, I'd guess the ULCC problems are due in large part to the legacies adopting basic economy, super saver, etc fares to compete with ULCC. I'm sure the ULCC managers gooned some stuff up too, that's pretty par for the course for almost all airline managers.
Even SWA (not a ULCC) is moving to a more legacy-ish paradigm (assigned seats).
This is precisely what has caused their problems. Why would a customer book on NK when AA has the same-price ticket in the back of their plane, except also a much more robust network, especially when something goes south? It was only a matter of time before everyone caught on to the game and started competing directly against the ULCC.