LCC battles

[Greg]

LCC's are the new standard for aviation. The empires are infringing on one another. At BWI Wn and AT are getting ready to fight it out at other airports they are battling also. What do you think about it and the new emergence of new LCC's?

[Airigami]

In the US I think the answer is simple:

LCCs - making money (or not losing too much).

Established Majors - losing money hand over fist.

Looks like LCCs are the way to go.

P.S. Any more news on Southwest's next state plane? Is it going to be Maryland?

[nyc_spotter]

I don't really think Low Cost Carriers are really low cost. I can usually get the same fare on a major airline.

[nyc_spotter]

I want Southwest to serve New Jersey!!! Teterboro is airline operations approved!!!

[Foxtrop]

Re:

nyc_spotter does have a point. However, the difference lies in the fact that all LCC's have much lower 'walk-up' fares than the majors. The majors still charge you the same/higher fare for a last-minute booking. Also, until now, the majors required you to stay overnight for some sectors. (Saturday night stayover)

[nyc_spotter]

Re:

nyc_spotter does have a point. However, the difference lies in the fact that all LCC's have much lower 'walk-up' fares than the majors. The majors still charge you the same/higher fare for a last-minute booking. Also, until now, the majors required you to stay overnight for some sectors. (Saturday night stayover)

That stems from the fact that major airlines like to be complicated. If there is one thing I've learned from Economics is that simplicity = profits.

For Example... Hooters Air Newark = > Myrtle Beach = $159 (no taxes yet) each way. ($318 round trip , no taxes)

The same ticket is $216.50 (taxes included) on Continental.

[B777-400]

don't really like the LCCs...but I guess it's what the market demands!

[nyc_spotter]

Granted... some people prefer Hooters then to an extra $100 and 1000 miles.

[Thomas_Cook_757-200]

Hi,
Ryanair plans to start a serious attack on EasyJet. The Irish low-cost carrier has started negotiations with Luton Airport, EasyJet's home base. Luton Airport could become Ryanair's tenth European base. Ryanair flies currently from Luton to Dublin and to Milan.

Ryanair recently launched an openly hostile advertising campaign which questions the ‘lowness’ of easyJet’s fares.In its latest new ads, Ryanair depicts the Iraqi information minister, Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf, as EasyJet's new head of communications.

Thanks

Thomas_Cook_757-200

[Greg]

LCC's serve places where no one else serves because there is a market. or they serve markets where they feel theycan gain the upper hand. SWA came into BWi and unseated US Airways as top carrier. i beleive US Airways fell to 3rd carrier out of BWI or something. AirTran is betting that SWA will capitulate the 2nd (or the 3rd if you want to get real technical.1st would have been the Brits. 2nd was Metrojet and SWA now it's SWA, AT.) Time will tell who wins.

[tommyalf]

For now I don't think you'll see a major battle, the only LCC serving point to point destinations is Southwest. AirTran, America West, and Jet Blue to a lesser extent use a hub and spoke system from cities served only by the majors, hence the success of Airtran and Jet Blue. Both carriers serve markets without low cost service. Each carrier so far is serving it's own niche market, if Jet Blue or AirTran ever decided to setup shop in LAS or PHX both America West and Southwest would crush them. Both Southwest and AirTran still have room for expansion but the dramatic expansion we saw in the late 90's is over.

[Foxtrop]

Re:

Uuuhhhhh, not if the passengers start coming back... and unless there's a missile attack on an aircraft or some event that really scares the living **** out of travellers again, you will see passengers starting to come back and full flights and congested airports, someday, surely.

[B777-400]

someday, surely, hopefully soon...

[Radomir]

Yeah.. NYC's right.. US LCCs are a joke.. and I sure wouldn't call 'em LCC... at least not until they start offering fares at $9.99 or something like that..

[Richard]

Well any large airline can turn its domestic services into low-cost. Just do away with service....

I heard Air New Zealand has restructured its domestic network and now I think most if not all domestic flights are low-cost. It's proving to be successful.