To be clear, that question in the title doesn’t at all reflect my beliefs, but that is a ridiculous explanation that is being thrown around. Here in the United States, we’ve just seen Spirit Airlines cease operations , and of course there’s a political blame game going on . But the simple reality is that Spirit failed to turn a profit for seven years, and lit many billions of dollars on fire. There’s one question that often comes up — why do ultra low cost carriers in the United States struggle so much, while some foreign ultra low cost carriers are extremely profitable? For example, Ryanair is one of Europe’s most profitable airlines, and has among the best margins in the entire global industry. What drives that disconnect?…