American Airlines

American Airlines appears in Spirit Airlines and the future of cheap flights as one of the legacy carriers that competed more directly with [[SpiritAirlines|Spirit Airlines]] after adopting lower upfront ticket options. The episode groups American with [[DeltaAirLines|Delta Air Lines]] and [[UnitedAirlines|United Airlines]] in the “revenge of the legacy carriers” story.

American’s role in this source is to illustrate Basic Economy Copycat Strategy and Airline Loyalty Program Moat. A large network and loyalty ecosystem can make a cheap ticket from an incumbent more attractive than the same headline price from a smaller budget carrier.

Connections

• [[SpiritAirlines|Spirit Airlines]] - budget carrier affected by incumbent imitation.
• [[DeltaAirLines|Delta Air Lines]] and [[UnitedAirlines|United Airlines]] - other legacy carriers in the source.
• Basic Economy Copycat Strategy, Airline Loyalty Program Moat, and Airline Market Price Discipline - concepts connected to American’s role.