Why United, American and Delta Fear Ultra Low Cost Competition, Explained
Skift Take
American, United, and Delta are all introducing no-frills fares to try to thwart Frontier, Allegiant, and Spirit. It might work, or it might not. But it's worth a shot. The Big 3 do not want any of the discount airlines to grow to be as large and powerful as Ryanair.
American, Delta, and United have had nearly enough of discount airlines stealing market share — and they're finally doing something about it.
The trio is ready to fight back with their own cheap, no-frills fares. You may have heard about what some have called an 'economy minus' fare. Delta is already selling its version, which it calls Basic Economy, and American and United plan to introduce theirs next year, slightly later than expected
In exchange for low fares, passengers will not receive many of the extras they expect from full-service airlines. But the fares will help American, Delta, and United better compete with America's three ultra low cost airlines — Frontier, Spirit and Allegiant.
Here's some background about why the Big 3 are taking this step.
How Do Spirit, Frontier and Allegiant Price Their Fares?
When you see a Spirit, Frontier, or Allegiant fare on a search engine, you might think it's a typo. Frontier has been especially aggressive recently, selli
