Little Airlines

With global deregulation for airlines there are new concepts emerging. One of these new ideas is being implemented by La Compagnie, which runs between New York and Paris. They have modified 757's to have 74 seats that are all business class. Business class is where the airlines make the most profit so why not make an entire flight business class? Even with less seats than a 757 would normally have the profit margin is still greater. Another concept is ultra-low-cost carriers. The idea behind ultra-low-cost carries (ULCCs) is that the price of tickets are much lower than your average airline but there is an additional cost for just about everything such as luggage, meals, and even printing a boarding pass. If you travel light and don't eat during the flight then it is a good deal otherwise it ends up being about the same even though it seems like such a good deal.

La Compagnie, "The Company" is a French based company that prides themselves in the services they provide to the customers. Their all business flights start with exclusive access to the Icare Lounge in Terminal 1 at Paris and the “Art & Lounge” space located on the ground floor level of Terminal B at Newark Airport. Each seat is equipped with a personal Samsung Galaxy Pro tablet that has preloaded with magazines, books, and many other features such as real time flight tracking. Each seat reclines to 180 degrees and has a built-in message feature. They also offer a custom menu and in flight wine tasting.

Ryanair is a ULCC operating more than 1,600 daily flights from 71 bases, connecting 183 destinations in 30 countries and operating a fleet of more than 300 new Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Similar to Spirit, the coast of tickets is much cheaper than most airlines but everything costs extra. With most things in life you get what you pay for. Ryanair is not known for its quality or customer service. One flight to Lanzarote  from Dublin was diverted due to weather and forced to land at a different airport. Once on the ground Ryanair left its passengers to fend for themselves to find and pay for their own transportation to the island that they were supposed to land on.

I believe that airlines like La Compagnie will be more successful. There will always be people traveling overseas that can afford the cost of business and are willing to spend the extra to fly in comfort. Even in a recession there will still be people traveling for business and people with wealth looking for a good way to travel. There may not be as much room for expansion because there may be a problem filling a flight from St. Louis to Oakland with all business class whereas New York to Los Angeles my be easy. ULCCs may seem like a good idea and can be successful but could be fragile. Ryanair is currently having financial issues because it was expanding so quickly. If a customer has a bad experience with an airline they are not likely to go back even if the cost is lower. I believe that the success is also more closely related to how the economy is doing at the time. Personally I would rather pay a little more to fly with companies like Southwest and Delta then try to save a few dollars to deal with a ULCC.

I do not believe that these carriers will have a great impact on the global industry. Carriers like La Compagnie will have such a specific clientele and have limited routs that I do not think that it will have a big effect on the already established carriers. I also believe that ULCCs won't have a big impact unless they can figure out how to improve service without raising the cost of tickets. Although they will take some of the business from other carriers I really do not think that they will last.

https://www.lacompagnie.com/en
http://corporate.ryanair.com/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-2848573/Ryanair-passengers-forced-pay-taxis-ferry-tickets-flight-Lanzarote-diverts-different-Spanish-island-stormy-weather.html