Low Cost Airlines Step Up to the Plate

Filed in archive En Route on September 14, 2007

Domestic flights can often be tedious. Cancellations are up, delays are longer, and rising fuel prices and unrest amongst employees have hurt the domestic industry almost beyond repair. Enter low cost carriers. These scrappy upstarts have long worked in the shadows of the big boys. With the above mentioned problems afflicting the industry, this might well be their time to step to up to the plate (like the skinny kid who has been working out and finally gets the chance to pinch hit).

My experiences with low-cost carriers has not been that bad. Of course, I was not stuck on one of the JetBlue flights that sat on the tarmac for, what was it, 14 hours.

I have personal experience with Airtran, Sun Country, and Southwest. You'd think a low flying a low cost carrier would be akin to riding a military cargo plane.

Not so. The staff was (way) friendlier than the ones I usually encounter on Northwest and American. It didn't cost $2 for a pair of headphones like it did on NWA. The food was bad, but at least they did more than throw a bag of peanuts at you.

I guess it depends on what you expect. I pretty much expect domestic flights to be painful but short-lived. Any extras are appreciated. Recently, I've had more reason for appreciation from the little guys than for the airline giants.