Spirit and Frontier Airlines Are Playing a Losing Game With Flyers

The low-cost airline carriers can’t seem to stop bleeding a lot of cash. Like all airlines, Spirit Airlines Inc., Frontier Group Holding Inc. and other budget carriers got hammered during the pandemic. Unlike their higher-priced rivals, though, they haven’t regained traction.

All fliers, even the lie-flat-seat crowd that has probably never stepped foot on a budget airline, should want the low-rate carriers to thrive. Bargain airlines act as a counterweight to the stratospheric prices the big four could charge if there were no low-cost competition. When operated efficiently, the budget model has been profitable. Which may explain why the big four airlines are offering a cheap domestic economy product that has become popular. They are casting for the budget-minded leisure travelers that populate the favorite fishing holes of Spirit and Frontier.