Why Airlines Fail: The WOW Air & PLAY Story feat. Birgir Jonsson (Ex-CEO, Play Airlines)
· 39 min · S1 E81
Episode Why Airlines Fail: The WOW Air & PLAY Story feat. Birgir Jonsson (Ex-CEO, Play Airlines)
Why do Iceland's low-cost airlines keep going bust, and can long-haul low-cost ever work?
In Episode 81 of The Indian AvGeek, Vishal Mehra speaks with Birgir Jonsson, founding CEO of PLAY Airlines, former Deputy CEO of WOW air & former CEO of Iceland Express. Three airlines, one vantage point on the low-cost transatlantic model.
In this episode:
- Why Iceland Express was the only profitable airline Birgir worked at
- How Iceland's hub-and-spoke model really makes money (hint: not from connecting passengers)
- Whether the A321XLR threatens the Icelandic stopover
- WOW air's wide-body gamble, its Delhi–Reykjavik launch, & why he calls the ₹27,000 fare a marketing stunt
- PLAY's fuel-price & demand shocks, and its ACMI pivot
- Norse Atlantic, IndiGo's wet-lease wind-down and what it signals
- SAS, Air France-KLM and consolidation, plus Norwegian's shrink-to-survive playbook
- His advice for airline founders, including India: protect cash and CASK
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