Are Budget-Airlines Safe?
In a word: yes. Just because budget-airlines charge cheap fares, it doesn’t mean they compromise on safety to save costs. In fact, budget-airlines are arguably safer than many of their traditional “full service” airline competitors for a number of reasons:
- Brand New Planes
Most budget-airlines only came into existence in the last decade, and as a result have some of the newest models of airplanes currently in service which have the latest safety mechanisms and procedures.
- Streamlined maintenance
As well as having new planes, budget-airlines also typically use only one model of plane. The Boeing 737 is the most popular aircraft used by low cost carriers around the world. By only having one model of aircraft in their fleet, budget-airlines streamline their maintenance and repair costs and make staff training much easier, rather than having several different types of older airplane in a legacy fleet to maintain, each with their own idiosyncrasies.
- Keeping A Flawless Safety Record
The perception that budget flights are inherently less safe than full service flights is a difficult one for low cost carriers to erase, so budget-airlines are hyper sensitive about maintaining their reputation and flight safety record. They realize that an accident would be a disaster for their company in every sense of the word. As such, budget-airlines strive to have flawless safety records rather than considering any compromise on safety in order to cut costs.
The world’s oldest budget airline, America’s Southwest, has never had a crash in 40 years of operation – that’s over 12 million flights. South West pioneered much of the uniform way of running an airline with the same planes and streamlined procedures which has been adopted as the blueprint for virtually every other budget airline. The UK’s two biggest budget flight operators, Ryanair and Easyjet, have also never suffered a crash throughout their company history.
Budget-airlines: How Do They Manage To Be So Cheap?
Budget-airlines revolutionized the air industry with low fares by adopting a completely different way of working to the traditional airlines. By ditching expensive overheads like free food and drink, only using the same type of airplanes to minimize maintenance, training and repair costs, and flying to airports with cheaper landing fees, the budget-airlines have passed on huge savings to their customers. This business philosophy has been adopted by pretty much every budget airline around the world.
By selling tickets electronically online or via telephone, the budget-airlines marketing costs are much lower too – no travel agent commissions to pay or paper tickets to print and post. Virtually all budget-airlines use a system of dynamic pricing on their tickets, which means their prices change continually based on demand. Usually the further ahead you book a budget ticket, the cheaper it will be. Sometimes you can get last minute bargains on empty flights, but usually the closer you book to your departure day, the less of a bargain it will be.
You can get the best value from budget-airlines by being prepared in advance:
- book your ticket as far in advance as possible to save money
- check the exact location of the destination airport and how far it is from the city you want to visit – and how to get there from the airport
- know your baggage limits and pack accordingly to avoid excess charges
- take a packed lunch with you (but leave the liquids at home)
Here’s a quick run down of the pros and cons of flying with budget-airlines:
PROS
- Cheap!
The main reason why budget-airlines are popular – you get there just as fast as a much more expensive, full priced airline for a fraction of the price
- Quick and convenient to book online
Selling tickets online is not only good for the airline but also much more convenient for the customer too – a couple of clicks and you’re done
- You only pay for what you want
Food and drink are not free on budget flights, which is no problem on short hops. On longer flights, budget-airlines provide blankets, entertainment sets and hot meals all for a fee. If you’ve thought ahead, you can save on all of these costs.
- Frequent special fares with virtually free flights
Budget-airlines run frequent promotions where they slash their ticket prices even further for a limited time period. Budget Airline Guide provides notification of these offers to make sure you don’t miss out.
CONS
- Airport can be difficult to get to and from
Budget-airlines fly to more obscure airports to lessen landing fees, but the side effect can be that the airport can be a couple of hours journey away from the actual destination, eating up savings on air tickets for taxis and buses.. A new trend is the building of terminals specifically for budget-airlines at existing airport locations – both Singapore and Kuala Lumpur have recently opened Low Cost Carrier Terminals that provide basic facilities and still let passengers take advantage of the existing travel services into the city.
- Possible delays from turnaround
Just like a bus route, budget flights go back and forth on the same route several times a day. As the day progresses, small delays can accumulate into running an hour or more behind schedule.
- Restricted baggage allowance
Most budget-airlines allow 15kgs of luggage, but are becoming more and more strict about their limits and will charge without exception for any excess baggage. Be aware of an airline’s stated baggage allowance.
- No transfer between flights – point to point only
If you’re trying to make a connection to another flight, don’t expect a budget airline to transfer your bags for you. You’ll need to collect them and check in all over again, as if for two separate flights. By only flying “point to point”, budget-airlines avoid the need for the complications of transferring passengers
- Minimal compensation if canceled
Don’t expect hotel accommodation at the airlines’ expense if flights are canceled for whatever reason. Budget-airlines provide the absolute minimum of compensation as stipulated by international aviation laws.
- No seat allocation
Most budget flights let everyone pile on to the flight and sit where they want, which can be a little stressful but apparently helps the plane load faster. Some airlines have now introduced an optional seat allocation service which incurs a small fee when booking.
Low-cost Airlines History: How It All Got Started
America
The budget flight revolution began in America with Southwest Airlines in Dallas, Texas. With flights turning profitable in 1973 and remaining so ever since, former lawyer Herb Kelleher proved the viability of low cost flights. In terms of passengers carried each year, Southwest is now the biggest airline in the USA and the second biggest airline in the world. It has no plans to expand to international flights.
Virgin’s Richard Branson, Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary and Easyjet’s Stelios have all acknowledged their debt to Southwest and its inspirational business model. Ironically US low cost carrier Skybus launched in 2007 modelling itself on the UK’s Ryanair. Branson has recently launched Virgin America, his own entry into the USA domestic market with low prices but better customer service options, such as pay per view movies and music, fresh food that can be ordered through the seat screen, mood lighting, and a power socket for laptops in every seat. Virgin Atlantic has also reintroduced a First Class option to its flights.
UK
London’s Heathrow remains the busiest airport in the world and the UK’s capital still the most important travel hub in the world. For decades Heathrow’s status meant that airlines operated a virtual monopoly and charged astronomical prices. First challenged by Freddie Laker in the Seventies with his budget Skytrain flights to the USA, the 1990s saw the rise of UK low budget pioneers Easyjet and Ryanair as they opened up London’s previously neglected Stansted airport. Easyjet and Ryanair have studiously avoided direct competition on the same flight routes and between them now offer cheap flights to a huge amount of destinations across Europe.
Asia
South East Asia has witnessed explosive growth in the budget airline market since 2000. Malaysia’s AirAsia has rapidly expanded to become the major carrier in the region, operating right across the subcontinent and opening up the possibility of flying to many Asians who previously would never have considered it due to the cost. AirAsia’s success has generated a host of rivals, notably Singapore’s Tiger Airways and Australia’s Qantas owned Jetstar. Both of these airlines are competing aggressively with each other on Asia to Australia routes as well as within the domestic Australian market, which is dominated by the low cost Virgin Blue. AirAsia’s next plan is to launch AirAsiaX, a budget long haul carrier to Europe.
The Future – Long Haul Low Cost Carriers
Virgin Atlantic is bridging the gap between short haul and long haul with 3+ hour flights. Richard Branson has also taken a 20 per cent stake in AirAsiaX, the proposed low cost long haul carrier that will operate from Kuala Lumpur, following the model of its sister company AirAsia, which is the dominant low cost carrier in South East Asia.
In the emerging low cost long haul flight market, food, blankets and entertainment are much more important to travelers than on short hop flights. This “pick and mix” style of upgrades provides more comfort for travelers and more profit for the airlines, provided they can anticipate their customers needs correctly. Qantas owned Jetstar has already begun offering this method on 8 hour flights between South East Asia and Australia.
Posted Feb 22, 2009
