Little Airlines, Big Ideas

WOW Airlines and La Compagnie are airlines that are challenging the high cost international ticket the legacy carriers are charging.  La Compagine flys 757's with 74 seats all business class between New York City and Paris, charging about $2,000 round-trip vs. $5,000 to $11,000 for the same seat on a larger carrier.  The next carrier is WOW.  WOW uses Airbus 320's to fly between Baltimore and Boston to Reykjavík, then connecting to 18 different cities, all starting at around $400.00 round trip.  WOW has a very Spirit Airlines or Peoples Express feel to them.  You buy a seat and everything else is purchased, like luggage fees, food, beverages, ect. 

WOW Air, as of February 2014 operates 3 A320's and has orders for 3 more.  They also have orders for 2 A321's   WOW is based in Iceland and flys into 13 countries including the US.  WOW has 170 employees and estimated passengers carried this year at 450,000.  La Compagnie operates 1 Boeing 757 with 74 all business class seats.  They are based out of CDG Paris and fly to EWR Newark, NJ. The Pilots are all under a French employment contract.

I think both models will be successful.  Spirit and Southwest have already proven that low cost coach carriers are desired by the value driven public.  WOW having such discounted lower fares to international destinations will put the airline in a position where it can fly at higher capacities than most other airlines.  La Compagnie will be a hit with the business traveler and corporations who book business fares.  A first class seat to Paris that costs less than the major US carriers, yet offers the same frills, without the lack of bin space and crowded aircraft that coach seats bring, should appeal to many business travelers and couples.  

These airlines will definitely make it hard on the US international airlines.  Airlines like Delta make a lot of their money on their business class seats on international flights. There's no doubt that these low cost carriers will hurt profits from the major carriers.  


https://www.lacompagnie.com/en/the-company/who-we-are
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Compagnie
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WOW_air
http://wowair.us/the-wow-experience/our-story