Definition
“Dominant design is the one that wins the allegiance of the marketplace, the one that competitors and innovators must adhere to if they hope to command significant market following” (Utterback, 1996, p.24).
According to OAG data (2012), traditional airlines have almost four times greater market share than low-cost carriers. Although Southwest Airlines was the first one that introduced the low cost business model (The economist, 2013), it is not followed by every airline in the world.
As you can see from the pie-charts below that around 22-23% market share occupied by the low cost airlines and the rest is occupied by the full-service airlines. (Airline Profiler, 2016)
Therefore, this business model does not command the market in the airline industry, even though it provides customer with the basic needs and lower cost of extra services for the airlines.
In order to reduce the costs, Southwest Airlines bought second hand aircrafts (Boeing 737 Jets) from Canada’s WestJet with an average age about 11 or 12 years (Huffpost Travel, 2013). Moreover, Southwest Airlines used their aircrafts more frequently compared to other traditional carriers. This was because Southwest Airlines didn’t have any flight routes which were longer than 4 hours that implied that one aircraft could make more than one journey in a day. (Flight Safety, Australia, 2015)
There are potentially two main hurdles that low cost airlines face in terms of safety, such as Southwest Airlines, aging aircrafts (as they bought second hand aircraft to start with) and tighter turnaround times (as they have to make more than one flight in a day). However, they still meet the Flight Safety Regulations. Although the customers like to spend less money to travel in low-cost airlines but safety is the first priority for customers and will always be.