Originally Posted by
Stayontarget
I would call adding basic economy copying the ULCC model.
Did they patent or copyright charging lower fares for fewer ameneties?
Typically no law against copying a fee structure, it's not intellectual property. No law against competing.
Originally Posted by
Stayontarget
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.
Yes, definitely a lot stars lining up, not in a good way.
Originally Posted by
Stayontarget
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.
Plus bigger network with more destinations to use points.
Originally Posted by
Stayontarget
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.
Oops. Unintended consequence.