David Casey is Senior Network Planning Editor at Routes, providing insight on network strategy and development across the Aviation Week Network. This includes the daily Routes Digest, Routes magazine and the Routes Aviation Podcast.
History tells us that crises spur new business models in the aviation industry, with struggling carriers making way for more ambitious and innovative players to enter the market and capture share.
Just as the state-owned Gulf airlines took traffic away from US and European legacy carriers by connecting passengers through their hubs following the 9/11 terror attacks, LCCs with the operational flexibility to offset the lower load factors with cheaper ticket prices also thrived.