On "low cost" airlines and what I would substitute them with.

If you're complaining about high fares on airlines that include food and drink and prefer so-called "low cost" airlines, don't complain. Because if you use your common sense, all the facilities such as food, drink, in flight entertainment etc. you get on board is already paid for in your expensive ticket.

These so-called "low cost" airlines charge more or less the same amount for pillows, blankets, entertainment and beverages, the only difference being that you have to customly order them instead of actually paying for everything in advance.

For me, flying on an airline for anything more than an hour with having to customly pay for facilities is unthinkable. Just about every airline I've flown on has in-flight facilities which is already paid for in the ticket fare.

And it's not like passengers don't notice the difference between these "low cost" airlines and regular airlines. It's just that they're willing to suffer a few hours with discomfort to reach their destination instead of paying more money.

This video parody shows what people think of "low cost" airlines:


My alternate:
If you want your airline to be known as a "low cost" airline, then it's time to prove it as such.
This means all the basic facilities should be available on board but their costs should be low. Instead of having an expensive meal paid for in the passenger's ticket fare, I would include a cheap snack that you commonly find in snack stores such as wrapped sandwiches, burgers etc.

Even a packet of peanuts would do. Better to keep everything low cost instead of customly charging passengers for the most expensive things and hold on to the recognition of a "low cost" airline.

And though not entirely necessarily but strongly advisable, I would operate more fuel efficient planes such as next generation 737 series with winglets that save about 7% of the total fuel and if I'm not mistaken they also save each passenger 7% fuel costs when they pay their ticket/baggage fare.

Or if you're a bigger airline with further routes and larger passenger capacity, then I'd recommend the upcoming Boeing 747-8, the Boeing 777-200LR/300ER and/or the 767-400ER.
Anything an airline does to make the fares cheap while providing the basic facilities brings it closer to the actual definition of a low cost airline.