If you are familiar with Spirit Airlines then you should already know where I’m heading with this article. Why are airlines who have a reputation for bad customer service and cramped airplanes, like Spirit Airlines, still one of the most profitable airlines in the US? And why are we still flying on these airlines?

More and more we find less amenities when we fly. We no longer get free drinks, peanuts, and movies. The highest expectation we’ve come to admire is limited to lower baggage fees, which are actually quite high! So why are these airlines, who deprive us of comfortable flying and smiles while boarding, still turning a great profit? If the simple answer is because we fly with them, then the real question is why are we still flying with them? The simple answer to the real question is because of the low air fare. As always, it comes down to the money.

There once was a time when flying was considered a luxury to be desired by a higher class of people simply because it was those people who could afford that mode of transportation. As these airlines started accommodating the mass they reduce their overheads by cutting out the privileges that classified this transport as luxuries, turning it into a basic “get you from A to B”. But as we can see from the economic reports that have already peeked out in 2015, the economy is turning for the better all over the world and may actually begin to demand these luxuries once again. I doubt any significant changes will take place soon but it’s nice to know some airlines, though more expensive, like Southwest, still makes you feel like a cloud in the sky topped with a smile, when you’re willing to pay for the extras!