Low-cost carriers nosedive

SPIRIT Airlines’ financial troubles reveal that going upscale is not a panacea for the challenges facing low-cost carriers, which are grappling with mounting operating costs, changing customer preferences and stiff competition from the Big Three US airlines.

After emerging from bankruptcy protection in March, Spirit tried to rebrand itself and focus on more affluent travellers to turn its business around. But within six months, the Florida-based airline filed for bankruptcy again, underscoring the limits of a strategy that is being replicated across the low-cost sector with similarly mixed results.