Branded fares: US value-add hybrid airlines work up basic economy

Branded fares have become a mainstay in US airline discourse as the country's largest global network airlines, American, Delta and United work to capture their projected revenue targets from a new phase of product segmentation. Now the country's value-add, hybrid airlines - Alaska, Hawaiian and JetBlue - are crafting their own basic economy offering to compete more effectively and drive up their respective revenues.

Alaska is the most advanced of the three hybrids, having fully rolled out its Saver Fares out across its network in early Jan-2019. Its lowest tiered fares are one pillar of the company's plans to generate millions in new revenue this year.

Both JetBlue and Hawaiian plan to introduce a lower fare level in 2019 and those operators, along with Alaska, are no doubt betting on garnering a definite level of upsale to drive revenue growth in the future.