Economics
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It is not a secret that traditional air carriers have always been balancing on the brink of profitability. Airlines often receive governmental support so as just to stay even, let alone any profit for shareholders. Nevertheless, certain entities not only manage to survive, but also prosper in the time of economic turmoil. Even large companies start learning from them and implement measures that used to be typical for low-costers only. However, there are certain things that large companies simply cannot do.
There are several ways to cut expenses for an air company – reduce the amount of personnel, eliminate free meals, start charging for extra luggage, etc. While originally low-costers were not highly respected by the international community, the recent price wars resulted in their domination in the below-premium segment. While large companies had several features included in the ticket price, and a passenger could expect to be fed and entertained while on board, the economy companies started promoting a basic ticket price with any additional service available at an extra (often exaggerated) price. This measure allowed them to master the psychology of an average customer and gain his or her attention. It took international carriers a while to catch up, and now there is a charge for extra luggage practically everywhere.
What large companies cannot do is the deliberate change of the destination point. While the passengers expect to reach a certain airport, the carriers need to accommodate this, often at the expense of sustaining the monopoly of large international hubs. This obligation makes them less flexible and, therefore, less competitive. RyanAir, the Irish low-coster and literally the icon for similar companies, not only selected the least known local airports for its domestic and international flights, but also reserved the right to change the airport at its discretion, delivering customers to certain cities rather than the airports. The fact that there is no proper commuting between such airports and respective cities, and the clients would need to spend extra in order just to get where they need, is not stated by the company (RyanAir).
This kind of flexibility, both economic and ethical, is the luxury very few companies can afford, and there is no doubts that their reputation is to be perceived respectively.
Reference List:
RyanAir. Cheap Flight Destinations. Web. Retrieved from: https://www.ryanair.com/gb/en/cheap-flight-destinations
