The Air Show Sun Country's CEO on the Future of Ultra-Low-Cost Carriers
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Sep 17, 2025 Jude Bricker, CEO of Sun Country Airlines, offers insights at the APEX Global EXPO 2025. He discusses Spirit Airlines’ recent bankruptcy and the implications of a potential merger. The conversation touches on the unique challenges faced by ultra-low-cost carriers, including fleet management and rising operational costs. Bricker explains Sun Country's variable capacity model as a game-changer. He also explores innovative aircraft acquisition strategies in a post-pandemic market and the importance of enhancing in-flight experiences to attract modern travelers.
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Loyalty Programs Tilt The Playing Field
- U.S. network carriers leverage massive co-brand and loyalty scale to extract billions in benefits that ULCCs can't match.
- That loyalty advantage makes the U.S. market uniquely hard for ULCCs compared with other countries.
Variable Capacity As A Competitive Edge
- Sun Country's edge is extreme schedule variability, concentrating flying on peak days and shrinking off-peak activity.
- That variable-capacity model lets them keep unit costs competitive in major airports with less-than-daily service.
Stabilize Flying With Cargo And Charter
- Use charter and cargo to stabilize block hours and avoid paying minimum guarantees in slow periods.
- Build the airline with very low fixed costs to handle large seasonal utilization swings.
