- United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby told The Wall Street Journal in an interview on Thursday the budget airline model is dead, adding that these “crappy” models “screw the customer.” Kirby’s interview was on the same day, however, as the announcement of a partnership between United and JetBlue, which many consider to be a budget airline.
All eyes have been on airlines recently as problems with antiquated air traffic control systems have led to mass delays and cancellations—particularly at Newark Liberty International Airport.
But a silver lining for air travel customers this summer is that the cost to fly is likely to be “the cheapest it’s probably ever going to be in history,” United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said in an interview at a Wall Street Journal conference this week. That’s because so many customers have canceled their flights out of fear of further delays and cancellations that there will be more seats available.
“I don’t really like that, but you ought to book,” Kirby said. “This is short-term painful for us at Newark, but it’s long-term better because the FAA is going to do what they do at JFK, LaGuardia, which is manage the number of flights to be equal to the capacity of the airport.”
But just because United flights might be cheaper temporarily doesn’t knock them down to a budget airline. In fact, Kirby during the same interview dissed low-cost airlines, calling them a “crappy model” that was designed to “screw the customer.”
“It was like, trick people, get them to buy, and get them to come, and then charge them a whole bunch of fees that they aren’t expecting,” Kirby said. “Their problem is they got big enough that they needed repeat customers. They don’t get them.”
The model “is dead,” he added.
But budget airlines don’t see it that way.
“With the New Frontier, we offer a free carry-on bag, free changes, and free seat assignments in our economy product,” Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle told Fortune. “He must be referring to other carriers.”
Frontier is typically considered a budget airline, along with Spirit Airlines, Allegiant Air, Ryanair, and Breeze Airways. Those airlines didn’t respond to Fortune’s request for comment in response to Kirby’s allegations.
Some consumers also consider JetBlue to be a budget airline, and coincidentally, Kirby’s interview with WSJ happened to be on the same day United announced a partnership with JetBlue.
The deal—called Blue Sky—allows passengers to earn and spend frequent flyer miles between the two airlines. It will also eventually let each carrier’s elite frequent flyers to get reciprocal benefits and other business perks. The partnership is subject to regulatory review, but it could start as soon as this fall.
And budget airlines are far from the only offenders when it comes to tacking on extra fees and charges. Consumer advocates have long criticized the “unbundling” by which airlines, including United, have started charging to check bags, eat on the flight, and other amenities that used to be part of the ticket price.
United Airlines didn’t respond to Fortune’s request for comment about whether Kirby’s assertions about budget airlines conflicted with their JetBlue partnership.
Kirby insisted during his WSJ interview, though, JetBlue isn’t the typical budget airline model.
“JetBlue is not that at all,” Kirby said, calling the airline a poster child for customer satisfaction. He used the example of how JetBlue first put live televisions in its aircrafts. Kirby admittedly thought it was a gimmick at first, he said, but when he saw more than 20 people on his JetBlue flight watching TV, he changed his mind.
He thought, “holy cow, they got this right, and it was literally a turning point for me,” Kirby said. “JetBlue is founded in trying to be a better airline for customers. The budget airlines were founded in trying to have the absolute bare bones lowest cost. They may both be startups, [but have] two polar-opposite business models.”
