When fuel prices rose, the mainline flag carriers were knocked out of action. Other low-cost operators were using fleets of high-density configurations that easily packed more passengers on board, and were more resilient to fuel price hikes. Many refused to budge and made these ‘low-cost’ carriers not low-cost at all.Īdditionally, many of the aircraft used were not suitable for low-cost operations. When these airlines wanted to operate low-cost services, they had to ask the unions to pay less to help their bottom line. This means their pilots, cabin crew and maintenance teams were all highly paid and had a strong history of union service. For years the mainline carriers had been a premium operation.

Why did all of these airlines fail?Īll of these airlines had the making of something great and had a rival airline (Southwest) to follow. It flew its last flight on September 24, 2001, a few weeks after the New York attacks that rocked the aviation world. Photo: Konstantin von Wedelstaedt via Wikipedia The airline had limited success and in the end, it was discovered that it was only operating at two cents per mile per passenger less than the mainline US Airways fleet.Įssentially, what was the point in the airline if it didn’t cost any less to run? A MetroJet Boeing 737-200. MetroJet would be situated around Boston and would operate a fleet of 49 Boeing 737-200s on a point to point model. US Airways created MetroJet in 1998 to fend off the incursion of Southwest into its market, the United States Northeast. US Airways MetroJetĪmerican Airlines’ attempt was back when it was two different airlines, notably the US Airways side. It wasn’t all for naught however, as the leather seats, seatback entertainment and electronic booking system ideas were deployed on the main Delta line. Delta decided to fold the airline back into the mainline fleet. When Delta suffered financial problems in 2005, it discovered that it could no longer support two different brands. Using a fleet of 45 Boeing 757-200s, it operated routes from the American Northeast to Florida, as well as some transcontinental routes. They did this through affordable prices and focusing on luxury amenities, such as leather seats, personal entertainment screens and extra legroom. Song was a different beast a low-cost-carrier that specifically targeted women.

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