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Spirit Airline Marketing

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Spirit Airline Marketing

Spirit Airlines was founded in 1964, and over twenty years company transformed from a

trucking company to offering tours and charter flights. As its routes expanded, the company

began to struggle with abysmal profits. This was mainly attributed to its non-commitment to a

specific strategy. As a result of huge losses for Spirit Airlines in the years 2004 to 2006, the

company decided that to avoid collapse, it had to re-strategize (Elian & Cook, 2013).

The company decided to look into ways in which it could provide value for the customer.

The decision was made to incorporate an ultra-low-cost approach. This employed Porter’s cost-

focus strategy (Kohli & Habibi, 2022). The company reduced all its ticket prices by a sizeable

amount such that it offered those who considered flying too expensive a chance to fly at an

affordable cost. By the year 2012, Spirit Airlines was ranked as the fastest-growing Airline in the

United States. Its load factor shot up to 84.5% (Elian & Cook, 2013).

However, to make this strategy work, Spirit Airlines scrubbed some services which were

previously considered standard and charged them separately. For example, if a passenger wanted

a glass of water, they had to part with 3 dollars (Elian & Cook, 2013). Seats were also non-

reclinable and more crumped together. This faced some complaints but, in its defense, the

company stated that these luxuries can all be acquired at an extra cost.

To maintain competitiveness in any market, a company has to understand the customers’

wants and needs (Camilleri, 2018). Spirit Airlines assured that its customers would never have to

pay for their basic needs. Moreover, the airline aims at ensuring that all customers are able to

afford a ticket. It even went ahead to offer 24dollar discounts to all its customers after a study

concluded that 99.9% of its customers considered them fair (Elian & Cook, 2013).
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In conclusion, despite a number of complaints, the approach used by Spirit Airlines has

worked in their favor and that of its customers. This is because even though the company charges

for extra services individually, it still offers the lowest costs as compared to other airlines. This

goes to show that as long as your customer needs are satisfied, businesses are bound to be

successful.
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References

Camilleri, M. A. (2018). Understanding Customer Needs and Wants (pp. 29–50).

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49849-2_2

Elian, J., & Cook, G. (2013). Spirit Airlines: Achieving a Competitive Advantage Through

Ultra-Low Costs. Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research, 23(1).

https://doi.org/10.15394/jaaer.2013.1602

Kohli, C. S., & Habibi, M. R. (2022). The mysterious world of airline pricing: innovative

practices and strategies for profit. Journal of Business Strategy, ahead-of-print.

https://doi.org/10.1108/JBS-12-2020-0270