Times have changed and airline marketing spend has evolved. As recently as ten years ago, it was generally essential to know the name of the airline which operated your preferred route. Then you could check their company website to view availability and fares. Now you no longer need to know the brand names of operators on any route. If you log on to any of the large flight aggregator websites (or do a google search), they will do this job for you - and this has become the default flight search tool for much of the direct online booking market. Simply enter route and dates on these websites and a comprehensive list of fares appears, ranked by either price or duration of journey (you tailor the preferences). Customers then select the combination which best suits their needs, and with one click they are redirected to the website of the operator or agency offering the deal.
No need to know the brand name of carriers serving the route any more. And conversely, little need for those airlines to spend a fortune raising local brand awareness. If you do happen to know the name of the carrier you wish to book with, then you can of course book directly via the company's own website as before. But if you don't know which airline operates the route you wish to fly - or what your best interlining options might be - these comparison sites do the legwork for you in moments. And furthermore, if you're only aware of one amongst multiple carriers on a route, you may not secure the best deal available if you don't check with a flight comparison website before booking. Knowledge which was once the exclusive preserve of the most experienced travel consultants has been democratised by the internet. It's a level playing field out there now. Brand awareness is no longer the issue it used to be for less well known carriers. Anyone with average computer skills can easily find the airline's deals anyway.