Interview: Spirit CEO on Building an Airline That Trades Comfort for Low Fares
Skift Take
Perhaps Baldanza spends a lot of time practicing his candor and approachability, but it's working.
It's the question that plagues the U.S. aviation industry: How can Spirit Airlines grow, and profit, while steadfastly refusing to offer even the tiniest concession to passenger comfort free of charge?
Skift also wanted to know. So we asked.
The airline's CEO, Ben Baldanza, was happy to answer our questions in plain terms, without corporate speak or condescension.
His demeanor, whether innate or expertly rehearsed, reflects the Bare Fares campaign that has become a cornerstone of the airline's brand ethos over the last 18 months.
Spirit also has its Bare packing strategy, its State of Hate report, an AutoPilot-run Twitter feed, and, most recently Bundle and Unbundle —fake lawyers ready to fight the major carriers and get passengers refunds for products and services they never used, but paid for in bundled fares.
Baldanza characterises all of these stunts as part of the airline's effort to explain the airlines operating model to customers, and set realistic expectations. But does it work? The numbers say yes.
Baldanza is proud that Spirit takes such a naked approach to doing business. What follows are excerpts from our revealing conversation with the likeable CEO of the U.S. airline everybody loves to hate.
Skift: How dare Spirit go Bare?
Baldanza: A few years ago, we noticed something interesting at Spirit, which is that we had kind of a bar bell in the customer response to our airline. There were customers who loved the airline, promoted the airline, loved saving money on the airline, and then we had another group of people at the opposite end of the spectrum who, while they really like the fare were very disappointed that we didn't offer services that they traditionally associate with airlines
