Is This Tiny Airline About to Challenge Delta Air Lines?

Is This Tiny Airline About to Challenge Delta Air Lines?

For most of its 35-year history, Sun Country Airlines has been a perennial also-ran in the airline industry. It's hard to survive as a smaller airline in the U.S., and Sun Country has been further hampered by periodic mismanagement.

However, Sun Country may finally be serious about improving its competitiveness. Last week, the company hired longtime Allegiant Travel (NASDAQ: ALGT) executive Jude Bricker as its new CEO. Bricker's appointment will likely usher in a new strategy at Sun Country Airlines. This could give it a better shot at competing with market leader Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Sun Country's main base of operations.

Sun Country Airlines was lucky to survive the Great Recession. The combination of record oil prices and plunging demand caused several airlines to go bust in 2008. Moreover, Sun Country found itself in the midst of a scandal that year, as its chairman and CEO was arrested on fraud charges. The company was only able to survive by filing for bankruptcy and forcing employees to take a massive temporary pay cut.

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Source: Fool.com