Originally Posted by
BKbigfish
Well yes… kind of. Nobody wants the product NOW because the legacies all decided to offer the same product on their large network. I know, I know… it’s not the “same” because they get a microscopic bag of pretzels and a free drink. Doesn’t matter at this point. The ULCC model is gone. The legacies were able to do it better and undercut the cost advantage by offsetting basic economy ticket prices with all their other revenue streams. We’re in a new world now. The ULCC’s are pivoting to a trimmed down photo copied version of what the legacies offer. The question is will they be allowed to scale or will the A4A use their political influence to strangle them in the crib before they’re allowed to consolidate and compete.
Thats the million dollar question in which only time can answer. The model would need a huge overhaul to be competitive. It’s not just some pretzels and a drink. FAs need to be nicer, wifi has to actually work, increase staffing, etc..
I think companies like NK and F9 are going to be fine in the long run. They’ll figure it out and there’s always people wanting to travel to secondary markets. It’ll just take time, unfortunately