Southwest Airlines remains the only airline in the US to continuously make a profit every year of its existence except the first one. They have now been around for over 30 years.
People want things to be as cheap as possible, as long as their personal safety is not compromised.
Also, there is absolutely nothing wrong with being a 'virtual' airline - what Boss Raptor obviously doesn't take into consideration is that airlines that have leased their aircraft can hand them back (with penalties) in a market downturn ... whilst those that own their aircraft will not be able to sell them and in any case will have to incurr huge book losses. Far better to have cash in the bank rather than tied up in assets!
Nor were Laker or Air Europe anything like the LCAs. Laker was a long haul operator that was not bankrupt when it was forced out of business by BA, Pan Am, TWA and BCal (only one of which is still around today); Air Europe was a cheap but full service airline which also suffered at the hands of the BA dirty tricks department.