There is a reason WN has beaten the pants of AA and the other legacies. They have a more or less straightforward way of doing business, they under-promise and they deliver a decent no frills product. They are also pretty up front about what you are going to get - "peanuts" so they don't create nearly impossible to fulfill promises of gourmet meals conceived by a "chef's conclave."

AA, DL and UA all have aspirational ad campaigns "We know why you fly," "We have your back" that they don't deliver on consistently.

Folks can deride WN all they want because they don't fly to Paris, but I remember 25 years ago when people derided WN because they didn't fly to LA, they didn't fly to Florida, they didn't fly to important cities in the Northeast.

WN has always been savvy about steady, measured growth and strategic expansion. If I had to bet on one U.S. airline that will be around 25 years from now, it might be WN, and they might be flying to Paris and Hong Kong.