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📢 文末扫码进裙，免费领取双语精读版 From Southwest to Spirit, budget airlines are in a tailspin The woes of America’s low-cost carriers could soon be mirrored elsewhere The Economist Aviation 29 August, 2024 | 744 words | ★★ ★ ★ ★ When southwest Airlines launched in 1971, flying three Boeing 737 jets between Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, few imagined the impact its business model would have on the aviation industry in America and beyond. In the decades that followed, low-cost carriers (LCCS) pummelled incumbents by offering cheap, no-frills fares to keep costs down and planes full, flying point-to-point rather than connecting through big hubs. Today Southwest is America’s biggest domestic carrier and the world’s fourth-largest airline. It turned an annual profit every year from 1973 to 2019, before the covid-19 pandemic struck, with a net margin often exceeding 20%—a striking feat in an industry known for its abysmal returns. Its success has b
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