Spirit Airlines today announced plans to add three new routes from New York’s LaGuardia Airport, although there is one route in particular that I find fascinating.
Spirit Airlines LaGuardia transcon flight
From June 12, 2021, Spirit Airlines will operate a service only on Saturdays between New York LaGuardia (LGA) and Los Angeles (LAX).
The schedule for this 2,469-mile flight has yet to be revealed. I expected it to fly west in the morning and then east in the afternoon, but I can also be totally wrong.
LaGuardia perimeter rule
You may be thinking “why the hell are you talking about a weekly transcon flight by Spirit Airlines, of all airlines?” I find this route very interesting, since it was last operated by any airline 15 years ago, in 2006.
It all comes down to the LaGuardia perimeter rule. As a result, airlines are prohibited from operating nonstop flights to points more than 1,500 miles from the airport. Why is there a perimeter rule? Well, it was implemented by the Port Authority to protect the New York and Newark JFK airports.
There are two exceptions to the perimeter rule – flights to Denver and flights on Saturdays. For anyone wondering about the Denver exception, it exists because when the rule was implemented in 1984, it was the only 1,500-mile route in operation, so an exception was made for that.
The perimeter rule does not apply on Saturdays, as LaGuardia is largely a business airport, so it is a much quieter day for the airport. This is also exactly what Spirit Airlines is taking advantage of here. Of course there is a certain irony here – long-term LGA for LAX would be a top-tier commercial route, but now we are seeing an ultra-low cost carrier operating this route over the weekend.
Why don’t more airlines operate this route?
It is possible that something obvious is missing here, in that case, please let me know. But why has no other airline operated an LGA flight to LAX on Saturdays for the past 15 years?
Airlines generally have some extra space in their LGA schedule on the weekends, and presumably American could at least route some of its A321Ts from LAX to LGA, instead of JFK on Saturdays. So why don’t airlines do that? I can suggest some answers, but I’m thinking that something may be missing:
- Is this because balancing slots in JFK and LGA is too complicated? Before coronavirus, there were “use or lose” restrictions on slots, so would transferring flights from JFK to LGA on Saturdays leave airlines below the minimum slot usage requirements?
- Or, ultimately, is it about managing expectations? These routes are largely based on business travelers, so you don’t want to get people excited about flying between LGA and LAX, only to realize that only a small percentage of flights are able to operate that way.
Result
Starting this summer, Spirit Airlines will operate a service only on Saturdays between LGA and LAX. Spirit Airlines is the first airline in about 15 years to operate this route.
The reason this route is not served in large part is because of the LaGaurdia perimeter rule, which requires most flights of 1,500 miles outside the New York area to operate outside of EWR or JFK.
What is your opinion on Spirit’s exclusive LGA to LAX flight? Bright, kind of pointless, or meh?