Airlines’ ‘Premiumization’ Formula Is Beating Low-Cost Carriers

Nothing is more valuable on a plane than space. There are mathematical reasons for that, but if you’ve ever spent hours stuck in a middle seat or had the person in front of you demolish your knees while shooting backward into nap mode, you also just know it in your heart. Every inch of cabin space is carefully meted out; there’s no wiggle room, literally. And some of the ever-dwindling inches between you and those in adjacent seats have been sold twice. Who gets to use the armrest depends on who’s most game to make enemies.

Knowing all of this, ...