Budget Airlines: Reliability Varies as Experts Offer Booking Tips

Budget airlines have expanded rapidly, offering rock-bottom fares and new routes. Yet reliability remains uneven, and travel experiences can be lengthy when problems arise. One traveler’s Cancún-to-Belize journey illustrates the risk: a 14-hour trek that included a mechanical issue, a diversion to Honduras, another aircraft swap in Guatemala, and a delay that left passengers dehydrated and frustrated despite the savings.

Industry experts attribute most delays and cancellations to inadequate aircraft and personnel resources at affected airports. George Novak, president and CEO of the National Air Carrier Association and a former FAA attorney, said most disruptions occur when a carrier only flies a single aircraft daily into an airport, making it harder to provide a replacement. 'If a carrier only flies one aircraft daily into an airport, it is much harder to provide a replacement or quickly move passengers onto another flight,' Novak said. 'Carriers with larger fleets and hubs have far more flexibility to handle disruptions.' Budget carriers typically operate point-to-point routes without hub networks to reroute passengers, a dynamic Novak described as the core difference in handling outages. He added that cancellations are a 'minimal risk,' but when outages occur, travelers may be stranded without viable alternatives. He also noted that crew scheduling compounds the problem: 'as with having a larger fleet, the larger crew base you have, the more likely you will be able to have aircraft crews on standby for re-positioning to handle those rare instances when crews 'time out' and cannot legally operate,' he said. This isn’t a safety issue; aviation authorities enforce identical standards across all carriers. The difference lies in the backup options available when something goes wrong.

What happens after those delays or cancellations reveals differences between airlines. Evan Oshan, principal at Oshan & Associates, P.C., who has spent two decades working on aviation cases, recently handled two weather cancellations on the same route and same day. One passenger was rebooked within four hours through the airline’s app, albeit on a flight the next day, with hotel discount codes and meal vouchers proactively offered. The passenger who flew a different budget airline? 'More than six hours on hold, no app rebooking option, and eventually forced to buy a new ticket on another airline for triple the price. [The airline] offered a refund only, no rebooking assistance, no accommodations.' 'No customer service phone number listed on their website, only email or chat, is a major red flag,' Oshan said.

This difference comes down to infrastructure, specifically an airline’s app. Check whether the app is self-service or if a customer service agent is easy to reach. 'No customer service phone number listed on their website, only email or chat, is a major red flag,' Oshan said.

Travel content creator Jessica Kameko Rooks, known to followers as 'the queen of surviving budget airlines,' has seen this divide firsthand. 'Southwest is usually the easiest to deal with because they are flexible about changes and keep you updated along the way. JetBlue does a solid job, too, since their app and text alerts often give you updates before you even start to worry.' 'On the other hand, [other airlines] can be a real headache,' she said, noting that some operators push passengers to use self-service apps and rely on bots that rarely solve problems.

Oshan identified three warning signs that predict trouble with budget carriers. First, missing phone support. 'No customer service phone number listed on their website, only email or chat, is a major red flag,' he said. Second, review complaint patterns: 'an abnormally high number of recent Department of Transportation complaints relative to a airline’s size' points to systemic issues. Third, scrutinize the fee structure: 'When base fares appear low but mandatory add-ons like seat selection or carry-ons nearly double the price, it signals an airline prioritizing revenue over operations.' Novak added that, in the world of lower-cost airlines, efficiency (often meaning fewer employees) is frequently the key to profitability and economic survival, though he cautioned that it doesn’t mean safety is compromised, but it can create an overload of issues for smaller teams.

Timing is critical. Summer thunderstorms hit budget carriers hardest because they have few backup aircraft, while December holidays create similar problems when carriers 'max out capacity with no wiggle room for weather delays,' according to Oshan. Dean Van Es, CEO of Fast Cover Travel Insurance, said smaller budget airlines generally have fewer aircraft and more limited route networks, making it harder to recover when things don’t go as planned: 'If a single plane is delayed or taken out of service, it can disrupt multiple flights, leading to longer delays and more cancellations.' Novak recommended checking official sources, such as the Department of Transportation or aviation authorities, for information on which carriers frequently cancel flights, strand passengers, or lose luggage, rather than relying on online reviews that tend to be negative.

Ultimately, navigating the budget-airline landscape is a cost-benefit decision. Novak stressed that it is not a safety risk but an operational risk, and that travelers should weigh how much flexibility they have and what they can afford in fees. For those who need precise timing or extra comfort, larger carriers may offer more reliable backup options. Rooks adds a practical note: 'Think about how much flexibility you have. If you need to fly at a very specific time, sometimes you just have to go with whichever airline offers that option, even if it’s not your favorite.' She also urges travelers to calculate true costs, as baggage fees can erase price savings: 'If you’re bringing a lot of luggage, budget airlines may not be worth it. The extra fees for carry-ons and checked bags can add up fast. Sometimes it actually costs the same, or even less, to book with a non-budget airline that includes bags, bigger seats, and a more comfortable experience.' Finally, Rooks reminds travelers to build in extra time for check-in and security and to rely on the airline’s app for updates rather than waiting on phone lines.