Let me elaborate on why Budget airlines order so many planes in one go.
If you were to order a large amount of aircraft, you can get a bulk discount. Say you are like at Costco, you get a discount because you are buying in bulk. The same goes for aircraft, if you are to buy a heck ton of aircraft, you get a bulk discount. When Ryanair started, the world was recovering from 9/11. Flying was falling out of fashion due to this. So what did Ryanair do? They hit up Boeing and bought almost 200 aircraft at a discounted price. The same went with Spirit and Airbus. They then set up deals with the aircraft makers for large order discounts, therefor making it cheaper in the long run to buy that many aircraft.
So essentially, this is aircraft Costco. Ironic, because I live in Washington.
NK doesn’t really have hidden charges per say, as long as you your eyes and read their policy. Sure you’re going to pay extra for a checked bag and to have your boarding pass printed at the airport, but that information isn’t hidden.
I fly PHX-PDX once a month, and have been since August 2012. As much as I enjoy the magic that is flying I have no loyalty to any airline, when US Airways was around (bring back the A321 in the game btw) I flew them the most but also flew Alaska, Delta, Spirit and Southwest. On this route Southwest has always been the most expensive, the few times I’ve flown them it was simply because I had no other choice. I think they’re overrated and the boarding process is silly, I like knowing I can be the last person one the plane without being stuck in a middle seat.
