I recently flew on Easyjet (flights from London Luton, Stansted, Gatwick, and Geneva to many cities in the UK and Europe). Some things that might work for the U.S. include:

1. seats are cheap, not more expensive to buy a one way seat.
2. food and drinks are sold. Nothing is free. However, how much could AA or DL really save by charging for Coca Cola? One has the mindset to bring food, if desired.
3. Napkins are white, vomit bags are white, the airline magazine is passed out (why?) and later collected (one may keep it if desired).
4. Many passengers have the mindset that their reservations are set in stone. However, there are provisions to change one's flights. I think they claim that they do not overbook. The flights that I took (off peak times) were 90-100% full.


What wouldn't work:
1. The flights are not designed for connecting passengers. If your flight is late and your connecting flight (ticketed separately) is missed, you've lost all your money. This model doesn't work for cities like Wichita or Augusta, GA.
2. The flights are so full that standby (if allowed - it isn't) wouldn't be practical because there wouldn't be many seats empty. If a flight is cancelled, this is a major problem because 150 people are stranded.

Other comments:
1. People do check in 2-3 hours ahead. This is inconvenient and inefficient for business travellers.
2. Carry-on is limited to 5 kg, very tight for the business traveller. I think this is too restrictive.
3. Check-in is weird. 2 lines are set up for each flight. So there's 2 counters for a flight to Paris, another 2 counters for a flight to Malaga, etc. I'm not sure if this saves money.

I also took an Iberia/Air Nostrum flight. The 50 seat plane had 2 flight attendants and drinks were served in glassware.