US airlines: Sun Country's model seems robust as other ULCCs struggle

During the past few years Sun Country Airlines has been somewhat of an outlier in the US aviation industry since its transition to an ultra-low cost airline in 2018.

Although Sun Country has migrated to the ultra-low cost model, it has forged its own path within that label - diversifying into cargo and charter operations alongside its scheduled services. Sun Country has stated that 72% of its revenue is driven by scheduled services, followed by charter operations at 18% and cargo's 10% share.

Its approach has been different from that of the larger ULCCs Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines - ULCCS that now find themselves battling margin pressure, which has resulted in their business models garnering scrutiny.

Sun Country is also facing its own unique headwinds at the moment. However, the fundamentals of its niche model remain solid, and the company seems confident in its ability to handle those challenges, including the potential for more low cost competition at its headquarters in Minneapolis-St Paul International airport.