This is an interesting debate however one can't help looking at the legacy charter operators in the same breath. Maybe as a result of having the life squeezed out of the short haul sun routes to France & Spain (certainly in the competitive South-East corner) the traditional holiday companies have reacted by steadily increasing the cost of traditional charter flights to slightly further afield destinations.
Its now ironic that you can fly cheaper with a traditional flag carrier or similar via a hub than it costs to fly point to point with a charter operator (operating as a 'low cost' carrier) to those mid - long haul destinations.
All of this I'm convinced is relatively short term, under 30's today with new families are less reliant on travel agents and holiday companies as their parents were, also with comparison tools online becoming the norm in searching for travel options this exploitation of the traditional holiday maker is surely not sustainable.