Air Lease chief Steven Udvar-Hazy has contrasted US legacy carriers’ competitive approach to low-cost airlines with the situation in Europe.
Speaking during an Aviation Club event in London on 18 September, Udvar-Hazy stated that European budget airlines are “now the high-volume, high-frequency operators”, particularly in the leisure sector.
“In the US, however, the large US carriers have learned to price a certain percentage of their seats in the back of the airplane to be at – or below – the cost of operators like Spirit, Frontier, Allegiant, Sun Country and others,” he says.
“The big guys have learned how to become smarter, to compete with low-cost carriers.”
Udvar-Hazy says this illustrates a “very interesting contrast” with Europe where the general operating costs of major intercontinental airlines are “still very high”.
This means there is still a “significant” pricing differentiation between the “big guys” and the likes of EasyJet, Vueling, Wizz Air – which, he says, is “really helping the low-cost carriers”.
Udvar-Hazy’s remarked followed the decision by Spirit Airlines to file for US Chapter 11 protection for the second time in less than a year.
United Airlines chief Scott Kirby also stated earlier this month that he believed the ultra low-cost carrier business model had “failed”.
