Originally Posted by
GrayAnderson
Actually, as a serious question: How does winter service to FLL fit VX's model? I guess I stereotype FLL as being not too different from MCO (rather tourist heavy, albeit with a bias towards cruises to make up for not having Disney next door...and with MIA having most of the connecting traffic to overseas), but is that incorrect?
[Actually, that leads me to a stickier question: VX behaves in a way that is unlike any other carrier I can think of. There are some elements of your generic "low cost" model, such as the buy-on-board program that they've turned into a selling point by making the selections good...but they also have an unmatched domestic FC product and their MCS is fairly comparable with FC on Delta...and I'd point out that it's not like LAX-LAS is the highest-rent market in the country, though it is near the peak of volume alongside LAX-SFO. So how would you describe their model?]
From what I've seen, the main difference between the markets at MCO and FLL is that FLL sees a lot more wealthy leisure travel than MCO does. FLL pulls from much wealthier regions of the state in Palm Beach, Ft. Lauderdale, Miami Beach, Pompano Beach, and even as far north as Vero Beach for O&D leisure travel. There are plenty of affluent residents in these areas who have no problem routinely flying leisure flights in paid F.
MCO on the other hand sees mainly inbound tourist families from other parts of the country and world, focusing mainly on theme parks and family style vacations. These are typically your lower yielding, searching for the best fare types.
Now the bigger question of the VX model is a very interesting one, and one I am certainly no expert on. The way I see it, VX is currently offering the most premium domestic F product there is by far (outside of the few premium transcon routes that exist of course). There really aren't any domestic products that can really touch VX in any way. Further, as you mention, MCS rivals the F products offered these days on AA/DL/UA, and in some cases exceeds them IMO.
VX certainly seems to have found a niche catering to both a more premium market as well as a low-cost leisure market. They certainly have the best product out there, and I believe they have the pricing power to go up against airlines like AA/DL/UA on many transcon and midcon type routes. With the amount of consolidation that has occurred in the past 6 years, there are definitely many opportunities out there for VX to expand. I like that they're taking a shot on an east coast route and hope that it will perform well and lead to further expansion. I just wish they would hurry up and get some more planes!
Originally Posted by
nova08
PHL has a ton of US loyalists that probably never gave VX a try.
This is one big issue VX must cope with. While they clearly have a far superior product to US, they have to fight to pull loyalists away from larger carriers. These days I feel that job is becoming easier as loyalty programs are devalued, products are cheapened, and prices are rising. I just flew my first VX flight a few months ago and had never really considered them before due to my loyalty to AA and before that, DL. Now that I've tried the VX product, I'll be looking to fly them anywhere I can as I transition my business away from the major network carriers for both domestic and intercontinental travel.