Originally Posted by
pbarnette
None of this is meant to diminish what WN has done. I think they are a very well-run airline. I just don't think that their revenue strategy is the reason for their success.
I think you'd be surprised. On many routes where WN competes with legacies, WN gets fares that are almost the same as the legacies.
Here's the average fare for a few routes I pulled from the DOT (4Q2008):
SLC-LAX
WN: $136
DL: $145
SLC-OAK
WN: $135
DL: $132
SLC-SEA
WN: $141
DL: $152
SLC-LAS
WN: $102
DL: $87
SLC-DEN
WN: $95
DL: $94
And some non-hub routes:
BDL-BNA
WN: $168
DL: $131
IND-JAX
WN: $140
DL: $105
Despite DL having a significant hub at SLC, a more developed FF program, first class, lounges, etc, DL doesn't get a meaningful revenue premium over WN. And when you look at a lot of non-hub pairs, WN easily outperforms DL for revenue. DL is actually forced to nickel and dime, just to catch up to WN.