This is wonderful news. Air travel is far too widely available. There needs to be about half the number of domestic air travelers a year relative to the current number. And half the seats per aircraft to match.
You shouldn’t be able to get a round trip domestic anywhere for less than $1000. There should be a strictly enforced dress code.
And the poors can drive the way they have since time immemorial.
I think driverless vehicles will disrupt more and more flights over the next decade or two. All of sudden 6-12 hours drives become not awful when you can sleep, do work, and not have to drive. Especially, if it's a fraction of the cost.
I doubt our driving laws would ever allow someone to be asleep in a car if they're the "driver" and no way would a car manufacturer okay such a thing. They'd be opening themselves up to a lawsuit the first time someone was killed because of a "malfunction".
Around 40,000 Americans annually are killed in auto accidents and we still insure humans driving cars. I'll take the other side of the argument. Eventually driverless cars will be so much safer insurance companies will stop insuring cars unless they're driverless. And the costs of insurance for driverless cars will trend towards 0.
They already are.
https://twitter.com/i/status/2051007141012783518
This is wonderful news. Air travel is far too widely available. There needs to be about half the number of domestic air travelers a year relative to the current number. And half the seats per aircraft to match.
You shouldn’t be able to get a round trip domestic anywhere for less than $1000. There should be a strictly enforced dress code.
And the poors can drive the way they have since time immemorial.
I think driverless vehicles will disrupt more and more flights over the next decade or two. All of sudden 6-12 hours drives become not awful when you can sleep, do work, and not have to drive. Especially, if it's a fraction of the cost.
I doubt our driving laws would ever allow someone to be asleep in a car if they're the "driver" and no way would a car manufacturer okay such a thing. They'd be opening themselves up to a lawsuit the first time someone was killed because of a "malfunction".
Have taken a few Spirit flights from Indy to FL without issue. Not my airline of choice, for sure. But there's a time and place for a cheap direct flight. Never had an issue, including with fellow passengers.... But that could just be an Indy thing.... Most Hoosiers are pretty reserved and don't act like clowns. I didn't find the nickel and diming an issue, my flight isn't ruined because I didn't get a free 2 oz bag of shitty pretzels. The seats were not comfortable so I would never fly them for something longer than 2-3 hrs.
Losing Spirit I'm sure will drive up prices, they put downward pressure on the other carriers flying same routes, even if you weren't ever flying Spirit.
I actually like Allegiant.... Only because they fly mostly to these little second tier airports that are so easy to get in/out of.
Southwest is my biggest gripe. Used to be the great....fun crew, great customer service, open seating... and now it's awful. Including pricing.
Same experiences across the board. And yes, I used to love Southwest.Have taken a few Spirit flights from Indy to FL without issue. Not my airline of choice, for sure. But there's a time and place for a cheap direct flight. Never had an issue, including with fellow passengers.... But that could just be an Indy thing.... Most Hoosiers are pretty reserved and don't act like clowns. I didn't find the nickel and diming an issue, my flight isn't ruined because I didn't get a free 2 oz bag of shitty pretzels. The seats were not comfortable so I would never fly them for something longer than 2-3 hrs.
Losing Spirit I'm sure will drive up prices, they put downward pressure on the other carriers flying same routes, even if you weren't ever flying Spirit.
I actually like Allegiant.... Only because they fly mostly to these little second tier airports that are so easy to get in/out of.
Southwest is my biggest gripe. Used to be the great....fun crew, great customer service, open seating... and now it's awful. Including pricing.
@twenty SW is the dominant airline out of here. Their demise has been disappointing. Total POS now. They used to have a kiosk on the first floor of my old firm's office building. Years ago this funny older partner, monster of a guy with a huge voice, would get a big case to pop and boom out in the hallway "ILL BE SEEIN YA BOYS! IF MY WIFE CALLS TELL HER I'LL SEE HER IN VALHALLA." And he'd fly SW right then and there. Somehwere. Vegas. Florida. Wherever.
Looks like the Spirit pilots have been hired by United.
https://twitter.com/i/status/2051052111354273997
Someone missed a golden opportunity to buy spirit cheaply I think. Most cases of failed management of a viable company are a good takeover opportunity.
That might be true, but we were losing the ultra low-cost Spirit regardless. Jet Blue was not going to continue Spirit's business model.
@twenty SW is the dominant airline out of here. Their demise has been disappointing. Total POS now. They used to have a kiosk on the first floor of my old firm's office building. Years ago this funny older partner, monster of a guy with a huge voice, would get a big case to pop and boom out in the hallway "ILL BE SEEIN YA BOYS! IF MY WIFE CALLS TELL HER I'LL SEE HER IN VALHALLA." And he'd fly SW right then and there. Somehwere. Vegas. Florida. Wherever.
SW used to be spirit airlines 30 years ago but made a one-time deal that changed the aviation world. Before 2000 they made a deal with some gas supplier for something like "Gas at $1.75 for the next decade" when gas was at $1.40 (I'm pulling those numbers out of my rear, but you get the point)
Then 9/11 hit and gas prices jumped well above the negotiated amount. So SW was able to expand rapidly because they were paying a massively smaller amount in operating costs compared to the other carriers.
They could afford to be that happy-go-lucky brand with inefficient loading methods, cheap luggage fees, and slightly better paid employees who were more willing to put up with grumpy flyers.
Eventually that contract expired and it's been a slow downward trajectory since so that now they are just like all the other big carriers out there.
Trump pulled a TACO on them.Spirit's restructuring plan assumed jet fuel costs of about $2.24 US a gallon in 2026 and $2.14 US in 2027, but prices climbed to about $4.51 US a gallon by the end of April, leaving the carrier unable to survive without fresh financing.
Spirit Airlines shuts down, blames cost of fuel due to Middle East war | CBC News
What do you call what Biden-Warren pulled on them?
a yabbut