, Columnist
Never Mind Spirit. Low-Cost Airlines Still Have a Niche.
But only if they quit experimenting with premium strategies and focus exclusively on price and service.
Dispiriting.
Photographer: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
The US low-cost airlines are in disarray.
Labor and maintenance inflation hasn’t abated, limiting the carriers’ ability to compete on price and causing losses. US leisure travelers aren’t flying as much in the face of economic uncertainty. Also, many flyers soured on the budget-carrier model experience because of extra charges and flight delays.