I'll tread in here with some trepidation.
Firstly, I'll make clear I'm biased .... I spent over 17 yrs working for EI and enjoyed it.
You'll see from that I was working at the time FR came on the scene and started impacting.
I miss those times and particularly the folks I worked with.
I have flown with FR and I have to say that my experience to date has been that I got just what it said on the tin.
Paid very little, got from A to B and then back to A exactly as I should and on time.
Service was as expected/paid for ...... "hello, goodbye".
The a/c was newish ans the seat OK.
The only nit-picking criticism I can just about come up with is that the crew's english wasn't all that clear.
But then I've travelled with many "foreign" airlines with the same issue and havn't seen cause to jump up and down complaining of it.
Apart from the language bit I really saw no difference in the trip beween FR & EZY flights.
Because of my background I have a sort of love/hate/respect/annoyance viewpoint on FR.
I can't stand some of the rubbish MOL comes out with .. but I can't help admire his consistency and ability to promote the company and achieve objectives.
I will watch the prog with interest.
However, how often do you watch such things, with industry knowledge, and sit there willing them to actually ask the crucial question which would clear up something only for the interviewer to suddenly move on
For me it boils down to the fact that I can get to travel at a low cost. I compare the fares and decide.
For day trips (planned in advance) with no bags then FR (or EZY) often work out better value.
For trips requiring luggage or the chance that my plans might need to change it might be a "legacy" carrier.
FR clearly meet a market demand at the moment. Time will tell if they can continue to do this and if it's FR being smart and responding to a market led demand or creating one.
Part of me would love to see the "good old days" back ... but annother part of me realises that might be good for me but not for the punters!