I don't think that the so called "low cost" airlines deserved the title in the first place "low service" would be a better title.
As the fuel cost becomes a bigger proprtion of the total ticket price it will be no longer worth the risk of flying with low service airlines because due to the very restrictive ticketing policy that the low service sector has the passenger will have too much to loose if he misses a flight.
I won't fly with one of the low service airlines now because the difference between the cost of a "low service" ticket and the normal airlines is not great enough to cover the hassel factor.