North American Budget Airlines

Most of the budget airline industry's main principles, such as no-frills on flights and using secondary airports, are all based on business model pioneered by Southwest Airlines.

Southwest Airlines started operations more than 30 years ago with a simple notion: If you get your passengers to their destinations when they want to get there, on time, at the lowest possible fares, and make darn sure they have a good time doing it, people will fly your airline. And people sure have used Southwest.

Today, the granddaddy of budget airlines, flies more than 64 million passangers per year.

And in addition to growing in size, it's been profitable too, never making a loss in it's history. Also, Southwest is known for never having laid off employees.

North American Budget Airlines Industry

Over the years, Southwest has received a lot of competition, and now there are more than 15 budget airlines in the North American market.

Because there are so many budget airlines in the market, many of them have specialized into different categories, such as flying to smaller cities, or to foreign destinations as well. The active budget carriers in the North American market includes the following airlines.

AirTran Airways

Airtran is one of the America's largest low cost airlines, flying to over 40 destinations.

Destinations: Akron, Atlanta, Baltimore, MD/Washington, Bloomington, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Dallas, Dayton, Denver, Flint, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Grand Bahama Island, Greensboro, Gulfport, Houston, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Moline, Myrtle Beach, New Orleans, New York, Newark, Newport News, Orlando, Pensacola, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Raleigh/Durham, Rochester, San Francisco, Savannah, Tallahassee, Tampa, Washington DC, West Palm Beach, Wichita.

Allegiant Airways
www.allegiantair.com

Allegiant is a budget airline that started operations back in 1998, and is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Destinations: Allentown, Bellingham, Billings, Bismarck, Cedar Rapids, Chicago, Colorado Springs, Daytona Beach, Des Moines, Duluth, Fargo, Ft. Collins, Fresno, Green Bay, Idaho Falls, Killeen, Lansing, Las Vegas, Lehigh Valley, Lincoln, McAllen, Missoula, New York City, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Palm Springs, Pasco, Peoria, Philadelphia, Portsmouth, Rapid City, Santa Maria, Shreveport, Sioux Falls, South Bend, Springfield, Stewart/Newburgh, St. Louis, Toledo, Topeka, Wichita, Worcester.

America West Airlines

America West Airlines is a major budget U.S. carrier based in Phoenix. The carrier initiated service on August 1, 1983 and now flies to destinations in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

Destinations: Acapulco, Medford, Albuquerque, Memphis, Aspen, Mexico City, Atlanta, Miami, Austin, Milwaukee, Bakersfield, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Baltimore, Monterey, Billings, Monterrey, Boise, New Orleans, Boston, New York, Burbank, Newark, Calgary, Oakland, Cancun, Omaha, Carlsbad, Ontario, Chicago, Orange/Santa Ana, Cleveland, Orlando, Colorado Springs, Palm Springs, Columbus, Philadelphia, Dallas/Fort Worth, Phoenix, Denver, Pittsburgh, Des Moines, Portland, Detroit, Prescott, Durango, Puerto Vallarta, Edmonton, Raleigh/Durham, El Paso, Reno, Eugene, Sacramento, Farmington, Salt Lake City, Flagstaff, San Antonio, Fort Lauderdale, San Diego, Fresno, San Francisco, Grand Junction, San Jose, Guadalajara, San Jose, Costa Rica, Guaymas, San Luis Obispo, Hartford, Santa Barbara, Hermosillo, Seattle, Houston, Spokane, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, Tampa, Kansas City, Telluride, Kingman, Toronto, Lake Havasu City, Tucson, Las Vegas, Vancouver, Long Beach, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Los Cabos, Wichita, Manzanillo, Yuma, Mazatlan.

ATA

ATA, the budget airline, was founded in 1973 (its predecessor, Ambassadair started operations in 1972) and serves now more than 10 million passangers yearly.

Destinations: Aruba, Boston, Cancun, Charlotte, Chicago, Cozumel (Mexico), Dallas, Dayton, Denver, Des Moines, Evansville, Flint, Ft Lauderdale, Ft Myers, Ft Wayne, Gary, Grand Cayman, Grand Rapids, Guadalajara (Mexico), Honolulu, Indianapolis, Ixtapa (Mexico), Kahului Maui, Kona, Las Vegas, Lexington, Lihue, Los Angeles, Madison, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Moline, Montego Bay, Newark, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Puerto Vallarta (Mexico), San Francisco, San Jose, San Juan (Puerto Rico), Sarasota, Seattle, South Bend, Springfield, St.Petersburg, Toledo, Washington DC.

CanJet

The parent company of CanJet, IMP Group of Companies, has been on business for over 35 years. Canjet serves destinations in Canada as well as in the U.S.

Destinations: Deer Lake, Halifax, Moncton, Montréal, Ottawa, Sarasota, St. John's, St. Petersburg, Toronto, West Palm Beach.

Frontier Airlines

Frontier Airlines commenced operations on July 5, 1994. The airline serves cities in the U.S. and Mexico. The airline has been growing rapidly, gaining a 41st place on the Fortune magazine 100 Hot Growth companies list in June 2001.

Destinations: Alamosa, Albuquerque, Alliance, Amarillo, Atlanta, Anchorage, Austin, Baltimore, Boise, Cabo San Lucas, Cancun, Casper, Chadron, Cheyenne, Chicago, Cortez, Dallas, Denver, Dickinson, Dodge City, El Paso, Farmington, Ft Lauderdale, Ft Myers, Garden City, Gillette, Grand Island, Grand Junction, Hays, Houston, Indianapolis, Ixtapa, Kansas City, Kearney, Laramie, Las Vegas, Liberal, Los Angeles, Mazatlan, McCook, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Moab, New Orleans, New York, Norfolk, North Platte, Oklohoma City, Omaha, Ontario, Orange County, Orlando, Page, Phoenix, Pierre, Portland, Pueblo, Puerto Vallarta, Rapid City, Reno, Riverton, Rock Springs, Sacramento, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Fe, Scottbluff, Seattle, Sheridan, Tampa, Telluride, Tucson, Vernal, Washington DC, Wichita, Williston, Worland.

HMY Airways

HMY Airways is a Vancouver based budget airline. HMY is an acronym for Harmony, a corporate ideal for bringing together low prices and exceptional service.

Destinations: Vancouver, Toronto, Las Vegas, Los Angeles.

JetBlue

JetBlue Airways took to the air on February 11, 2000. To date, it has been the best funded start-up budget airline, with $130 million in capital when they started operations.

Destinations: Boston, Buffalo, Burlington, Denver, Ft. Lauderdale, Ft. Myers, Las Vegas, Long Beach, New Orleans, New York City, Oakland, Ontario, Orlando, Rochester, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Juan, Seattle, Syracuse, Tampa, Washington, West Palm Beach.

Midwest Airlines

Midwest Airlines started service on June 11, 1984, as part of K-C Aviation, a subsidiary of Kimberly-Clark Corporation. The company is headquartered in Milwaukee.

Destinations: Milwaukee, Boston, New York, Newark, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington DC, Atlanta, Orlando, Tampa, Ft Lauderdale, Ft Myers, Des Moines, Omaha, Kansas City, Dallas, San Antonio, Denver, Las Vegas, Orange County, Los Angeles, San Francisco.

Pan Am

A U.S. based budget airline.

Destinations: Boston, Manchester, Myrtle Beach, Orlando, San Juan, Punta Cana, Santo Domingo.

Primaris Airlines
www.primarisairlines.com

Primaris is a budget airline that began operations in June of 2004.

Destinations: Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco.

Song

Song is Delta Airlines low fare service airline. One thing Song is known for is the advanced in-flight entertainment technology for passangers, offered in partnership with Matsushita and EchoStar.

Destinations: Atlanta, Boston, Ft Lauderdale, Ft Myers, Hartford, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Newark, Orlando, San Juan, Tampa, Washington DC, West Palm Beach.

Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines has become the fourth largest major airline in America, and the most well-known of the budget airlines. With more than 30 years of history behind them, they now fly more than 64 million passengers a year.

Destinations: Albany, Albuquerque, Amarillo, Austin, Baltimore, Birmingham, Boise, Buffalo, Burbank, Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Detroit, El Paso, Ft Lauderdale, Harlingen, Hartford, Houston, Indianapolis, Jackson, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Little Rock, Long Island, Los Angeles, Louisville, Lubbock, Manchester, Midland, Nashville, New Orleans, Norfolk, Oakland, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Ontario, Orange County, Orlando, Phoenix, Portland, Providence, Raleigh/Durham, Reno, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Jose, Seattle, Spokane, St Louis, Tampa, Tucson, Tulsa, West Palm Beach.

Spirit Airlines

Spirit Airlines is a U.S. based low cost airline.

Destinations: Atlantic City, Cancun, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Myrtle Beach, New York, Orlando, San Juan, Tampa, Washington DC, West Palm Beach.

Sun Country Airlines
www.suncountry.com

Sun Country Airlines is owned by MN Airlines, and flies to over 30 destinations. The company started operations back in 1983.

Destinations: Acapulco (Mexico), Amarillo, Anchorage, Billings, Bismarck, Cabo San Lucas (Mexico), Cancun (Mexico), Cedar Rapids, Columbus, Cozumel (Mexico), Dallas, Dayton, Denver, Des Moines, Duluth, Eau Claire, Fargo, Flint, Fort Myers, Gillette, Grand Junction, Green Bay, Harlingen, Houston, Ixt (Mexico), La Crosse, Las Vegas, Laughlin, Los Angeles, Madison, Manzanillo (Mexico), Mazatlan (Mexico), Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Moline, Montego Bay (Jamaica), New York, Omaha, Orlando, Palm Springs, Peoria, Phoenix, Puerto Vallarta, Rochester, Rockford, San Diego, San Francisco, San Juan (Puerto Rico), Seattle, Sioux Falls, Springdale, Springfield, St Maarten, St Thomas (Virgin Islands), Tampa, Tulsa, Washington DC, Wausau.

Ted

Ted is United Airlines' budget carrier franchise that started in February 2004.

Destinations: Chicago, Denver, Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Ontario (CA), Phoenix, Orlando, New Orleans, Reno/Tahoe, San Francisco, San Jose, San Jose/Los Cabos (Mexico), Tampa, Washington D.C., Puerto Vallarta (Mexico).

You can find Ted's flight timetable at tedtimetable.com/Ted.pdf.

USA 3000 Airlines
www.usa3000airlines.com

USA 3000 may in some relations be called Brendan Airways, but the brand USA 3000 is most often used. The airline is headquartered in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

Destinations: Aruba, Baltimore, Bermuda, Hartford, Buffalo, Cancun (Mexico), Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Ft Myers, La Romana (Dominican Republic), Los Cabos (Mexico), Milwaukee, Montego Bay (Jamaica), Nassau (Bahamas), New York, Newark, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Puerto Vallarta (Mexico), Punta Cana (Dominican Republic), Rockford, St Louis, St Petersburg, Zihuatanejo (Mexico).

West Jet

WestJet was founded in 1996 in the principles of Southwest Airlines and Morris Air and the founding team was determined to make a similar concept successful in western Canada. It has been, at least on some past years, the second most profitable budget airline in Northern America, according to the company.

Destinations: Abbotsford, Calgary, Comox, Edmonton, Fort McMurray, Gander, Grande Prairie, Halifax, Hamilton, Kelowna, London, Moncton, Montreal, Ottawa, Prince George, Regina, Saskatoon, St John's, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria, Windsor, Winnipeg.


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