Let the price rise, target the high income, high expectation, individuals with a MUCH better experience. Get the marketing, the environment, the service levels, right.
Sadly, I can't think of any other solution either.
Except it isn't necessary to let prices rise. What is needed is a well run business, properly funded, and marketing its product to the customers you correctly describe. Nobody in the UK has yet done this - for a start it could be done only with modern composite planes and integrating GPS into navigation from early on.
BTW the owner (the person who put the money up) of ACE was a male. But he wasn't involved on a day to day basis.