Spirit Airlines today announced plans to add three new routes from LaGuardia Airport in New York, although there is one route in particular that is interesting to me.
Spirit Airlines’ LaGuardia transcon flight
Effective June 12, 2021, Spirit Airlines will have a single service on Saturday between New York LaGuardia (LGA) and Los Angeles (LAX)..
The schedule for this 2,469 mile flight has not yet been announced. I would expect it to fly westward in the morning and then eastward in the afternoon, but I could also be completely wrong.
LaGuardia’s Outline Rule
You might be thinking, “why on earth are you talking about a one-time weekly transconvight on Spirit Airlines, of all airlines?” I find this route so interesting as it was last operated by any airline in 2006 15 years ago.
It all comes down to LaGuardia’s perimeter rule. This prohibits airlines from operating uninterrupted flights to points more than 1,500 kilometers from the airport. Why does the circumference rule exist? Well, it was instituted by the port authority to eventually protect the JFK and Newark airports in New York.
There are two exceptions to the perimeter rule – flights to Denver and flights on Saturdays. For anyone wondering about the Denver exception, it does exist, because when the rule was enacted in 1984, it was the only route of more than 1,500 miles, and an exception was made for it.
The perimeter rule does not apply on Saturdays, as LaGuardia is largely a businessman, so it’s a much quieter day for the airport. This is also exactly what Spirit Airlines utilizes here. Of course, there is a certain irony here – long-term LGA to LAX will be an absolute leading business route, but now we see that an ultra-cheap carrier will use this route over the weekend.
Why are no more airlines driving this route?
It’s possible I’m missing something obvious here, and please let me know. But why has no other airline operated an LGA and LAX flight on Saturdays for the past 15 years?
Airlines generally have a little extra room in their schedule at LGA on weekends, and presumably American can lead some of its A321Ts from LAX to LGA at least on Saturdays rather than JFK. So why don’t airlines do it? I can come up with some answers, but I think I might be missing something:
- Is it because balancing slots at JFK and LGA is too complicated? Before the coronavirus, there were restrictions on ‘slots’ to use or lose’, would it get the transfer of flights from JFK to LGA on Saturdays airlines below the minimum requirements for using the slots?
- Or is it ultimately about managing expectations? These routes are largely based on business travelers, so you do not want to excite people to fly between LGA and LAX, but only to realize that only a small percentage of flights can function that way.
Bottom line
Starting this summer, Spirit Airlines will operate a Saturday service between LGA and LAX. Spirit Airlines is the first airline in about 15 years to operate this route.
The reason this route is largely not offered is because of LaGaurdia’s perimeter rule, which requires most flights of more than 1,500 miles from the New York area to travel from EWR or JFK.
What do you take from the unique LGA and LAX flights from Spirit? Brilliant, kind of pointless, or meh?