Originally Posted by
FriendlyPilot
No legacy has "copied" the ULCC model. Just offering an additional fare class, basic economy, because those airlines have stopped competing for business travel and are now going after leisure travelers. If that's all it took to completely wreak havoc on the ULCCs then they really didn't have a defensible business model in the first place.
Also if scale was so important, why is Spirit getting crushed as a larger airline when it was profitable as a smaller one?
No ULCC is unprofitable because its not large enough. They are unprofitable because they do not have a product most travelers want and the people that flew on them are finding that other airlines offer the same fares with more travel options, exposing that ULCC was not really a long-term viable business model, but more of a short term income opportunity.
There was a time when the ULCC model could work consistently, but that time has passed.
I would call adding basic economy copying the ULCC model.
Spirit is getting crushed through a myriad of factors. Slow to bring up utilization, slow to adapt, Pratt & Whitney leading to staffing problems, higher fuel prices, and the supply and demand economics of basic seats.
Let’s do some simple and admittedly not highly accurate math. Spirit and Frontier fleet is around 350 planes. Legacy fleet is greater than 2500ish? All they needed is 1 out of every 7 seats to be basic economy to double the ULCC seat market in the US. So 30 seats a plane? And then they could make all the money they want with the rest.
As a passenger I don’t give a hoot what airline I fly as long as it matches my schedule and price. But if I only have one option every few days or heck even 1 option a day vs 9 it’s a nice peace of mind to fly on the airline with a huge fleet.
Another note…everybody talks about ULCC costing the same as a legacy after all the bags. Unfortunately for the ULCCs passengers have learned how to travel without bags. I rarely see more than 20% bag to pax ratio. My flight currently has 11%. It’s still way cheaper to fly ULCC if you know how the game works.