Justin Bachman, Bloomberg
Few people want to order the cheapest product, right? The airlines hope to use that psychological trick — along with heavy restrictions — to discourage customers from booking their bargain-basement airfares.
2 months ago
Mary Schlangenstein, Bloomberg
JetBlue President and Chief Operating Officer Joanna Geraghty said this week at Skift Global Forum that she wants the airline to continue to differentiate on service and product. But will a cheaper, stripped-down type of ticket help the carrier do that?
4 months ago
Brian Sumers, Skift
Frontier is far from the most perfect U.S. airline. It gets more than its share of complaints, and its on-time rate is worse than the U.S. average. But the airline is making some improvements to try to keep passengers from defecting to legacy carriers. That's good for consumers.
4 months ago
Brian Sumers, Skift
This is how competition should work. American, Delta, and United have been poaching customers from discount airlines with their no-frills basic economy fares. Frontier doesn't like that, so it has come up with a new passenger-friendly policy to try to sway potential passengers.
4 months ago
Andrew Sheivachman, Skift
Travel managers are avoiding basic economy fares, and rightfully so. The consensus is that travelers end up paying more over the course of a trip if they go basic economy and have a worse flight experience to boot.
4 months ago
Dennis Schaal, Skift
When Delta Air Lines launched Basic Economy, it allowed a free carry-on bag. When American Airlines subsequently launched a similar fare type, it barred free carry-ons, and that has turned out to be a poor decision because American has been losing market share to Delta.
6 months ago
Brian Sumers, Skift
On the one hand, airlines are improving the flying experience — at least for business class — so much that passengers want to take a piece home with them. On the other, blanket theft is bad for the bottom line. We're pretty sure carriers don't have this problem in coach.
9 months ago
Grant Martin, Skift
A new series of fares just launched by Air Canada should make it easier for discerning travelers to pick the fare that suits them best – as long as they're willing to pay for it.
10 months ago
Micheline Maynard, Skift
Low-fare airlines got there first. Now, big carriers are launching basic economy fares across the Atlantic. Expect some confusion as their customers figure out the rules.
10 months ago
Christopher Jasper, Bloomberg
So much for Virgin Atlantic's old direct, fun branding. Now it has “economy delight,” "economy classic," and "economy light" tickets. It would have been clearer to call seats Cheap, Cheaper, and For Complete Cheapskates Only.
11 months ago
Grant Martin, Skift
American's bare-bones basic economy fares are about to start appearing on long-haul routes.
11 months ago
Mary Schlangenstein, Bloomberg
American Airlines has been hinting at expanding basic economy fares on some European routes for some time now, so this is not surprising. Look for more of its competitors on both sides of the Atlantic to offer similar fares. Passengers have proven they want the cheapest possible ticket prices, even if those fares come with few frills.
11 months ago