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By Newsweek Editors
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Romance is taking flight in the Midwest, thanks to Sun Country Airlines. Sweethearts Kevin Boulier and Jodi Wran, living in different states, used to say it was too expensive to see each other more than once a month. Fares on Northwest Airlines, the Midwest's dominant carrier, were just too high. Then, this summer, spunky Sun Country offered regular service between Minneapolis/St. Paul and Milwaukee. Soon the happy pair were flitting back and forth every few weeks. "I definitely would not have been able to see her'' without Sun Country's bargain fares, says Boulier, who can say no wrong of this unlikely Cupid.
Sun Country is counting on just that kind of affection to win over the hearts of customers long dependent on Northwest, which controls nearly 80 percent of the traffic through its hubs in Minneapolis and Detroit. Using provocative advertisements and rock-bottom fares, the scrappy carrier has expertly played off fliers' long-simmering resentment toward its bigger rival. "It's like David and Goliath," says Sun Country marketing director Lori Barghini. "Only we don't want to kill Goliath, we just want him to move his foot a little."
It's a good time to be the underdog in the airline business. Soaring fares, rude ticket agents and cramped seating--and no end of delays--have made major airlines the industry consumers love to hate. For Sun Country, the conditions are particularly ripe. Northwest's domination and its reputation for indifferent service earned it the moniker "Northworst" among the bruised and battered Midwesterners who fly the airline--and who lately have shown a palpable hunger for alternative ways to get out of town.
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Northwest spokesman Jon Austin, acknowledging some of the airline's service problems, vows to put up a fierce fight against Sun Country. "They chose to go into 10 of our largest markets with the intent of taking business away from us,'' Austin says. "We take that extraseriously.'' Northwest has already matched many of Sun Country's low fares and clearly enjoys a host of powerful advantages, including a fleet of 410 planes, compared with Sun Country's meager squad of 16.
But Sun Country has the momentum. The Minneapolis-based carrier got its start 16 years ago as a vacation charter operator, shipping planeloads of tourists in loud shirts to sunny climes like Aruba and depositing them back home a week later with equally loud sunburns. In 1997, millionaire travel tycoon William La Macchia Sr. bought control of Sun Country for more than $40 million. Soon afterward it began offering a few scheduled flights, and this summer it ramped up to offer service to 10 cities, including New York and Los Angeles. The private company said it made a small profit last year, selling $250 million worth of tickets to 2.6 million customers.
Along with deep pockets, La Macchia brings a lot of attitude, highlighted by an ad campaign that regularly sticks a thumb in the eye of giant Northwest. One early billboard read, HONK IF YOU WANT ANOTHER AIRLINE. Television ads highlight its helpful customer service, featuring Sun Country CEO Bill La Macchia Jr. going door to door, taking out the garbage for potential customers. But Sun Country's biggest weapon is price. A weekend round-trip ticket from Minneapolis to New York's JFK is $368 on Sun Country, compared with $1,212 on Northwest.
How are such low fares possible? Sun Country operates with low overhead and relies heavily on one type of plane--737s--which means spare parts, maintenance and crews are all interchangeable. That bargain-basement cost structure suggests Sun Country is likely to keep on uniting happy couples. As for Kevin Boulier and Jodi Wran, their courtship has blossomed. After two years of long-distance love, she just moved to Milwaukee.
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