Airlines keep adding cheap new routes: is flying getting better?
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Hello and welcome. Airlines add cheap new routes. But fares are higher. Are these routes really good for us? Derek, who worked at airlines. Marisa, who writes about travel. Thomas, who studies airline routes.
Derek, you saw this from inside. Frontier says twenty-nine dollars. What does that really cost a passenger?
That twenty-nine dollar fare is not the real price. It is an introductory headline fare. Add a bag, add a seat, and you pay three times more. The spreadsheet tells a different story.
Marisa, you check what people really pay. Is three times more the real number?
Often more than three times. I booked a Frontier flight for a friend. The fare was twenty-nine dollars. With one bag and one seat, eighty-nine. But the real question is bigger: average U.S.
Eighty-nine dollars, and Spirit still died charging those fees.
Yes, and that is my point. Spirit died, and fares went up. Average U.S. fare was 436 dollars in Q2, nine percent higher. Fewer carriers, higher prices.
Thomas, you study airline routes. Does adding more routes mean better business, or did Spirit's model break?
New routes are not the problem. Spirit planned fuel at 2.24 dollars a gallon. It hit 4.51. The model broke on cost, not on cheap fares.
No, no, wait — fuel hit everyone, only Spirit collapsed.
Right, Marisa.
Fuel hit everyone, yes. But Spirit had no loyal passenger. The fees pushed people away, so nobody paid extra. That is a model problem, not only cost.
Key vocabulary
- fares — prices charged for travel tickets
- passenger — person traveling on a vehicle or airline
- collapsed — failed or fell apart suddenly
- airline — company that operates flights for passengers
- flat — staying level, not increasing or changing
- headline — main or prominent feature advertised prominently
- introductory — serving as an introduction; initial or opening
Comprehension questions
- Why does Derek Coleman think the twenty-nine dollar fare is not the real price?
- What happened to average U.S. fares after Spirit airline died?
- Why does Thomas Pearce think Spirit's business model broke?
- What is Marisa Gutierrez's main problem with Spirit's fees?
- What does Derek Coleman say happened to other airlines when fuel prices rose?
True or false?
- Marisa Gutierrez booked a Frontier flight and paid eighty-nine dollars with one bag and one seat. T / F
- Thomas Pearce says the problem with new airline routes is that there are too many of them. T / F
- Spirit airline planned fuel costs at 4.51 dollars a gallon but it hit 2.24 dollars. T / F
- Average U.S. airline fares in Q2 were 436 dollars, which was nine percent higher than before. T / F
Fill the gaps
- But are higher.
- Thomas, who studies routes.
- What does that really cost a ?
- It is an introductory fare.
- No, no, wait — fuel hit everyone, only Spirit .
Discuss in pairs
- Do you think cheap introductory fares are good for passengers, or do they trick people? Why?
- Which is more important for an airline: cheap base fares or no hidden fees? Explain your opinion.
- If more airlines add new cheap routes, do you think average fares will go down or stay high? Why?
The whole debate, free every day Students can hear the full 6-minute episode with a synced transcript in the RoundTalk app.
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Comprehension- Because passengers must add a bag and a seat, which makes the price three times more.
- Fares went up nine percent because there were fewer airlines.
- Because fuel costs doubled, not because of cheap fares.
- The fees made passengers leave, so they did not pay extra money.
- Other airlines survived because fuel hit everyone, but only Spirit collapsed.
- True
- False
- False
- True
- fares
- airline
- passenger
- headline
- collapsed
roundtalk · https://www.getroundtalk.com/listen/english/a2/airlines-keep-adding-cheap-new-routes-is-flying-getting-better/worksheet/