The Iterated Prisoner’s Dilemma, one of the most important models in game theory, predicts that business firms that screw their customers should fail, not succeed. But check out this recent report in Bloomberg Businessweek: The most hated airline is also the most profitable. Here are some excerpts:

Spirit Airlines inspires a special kind of wrath among the American traveling public: It’s the industry leader in customer complaints by a wide margin. Over the last five years, Spirit’s rate of complaints to the Department of Transportation was three times higher than other U.S. airlines … The loathing has also inspired a dedicated Twitter feed: @hatespiritair. Its customers will probably find this annoying, too: In spite of the rancor it inspires, Spirit has become the most profitable U.S. airline in terms of its operating margin and return on invested capital. Spirit’s 16.2 percent margin is highest among U.S. public airlines, as is its 26 percent return on capital, according to data compiled by Bloomberg … Spirit shares have gained 439 percent since its mid-2011 public offering at $12.

Since neither the rational actor model nor the repeat Prisoner’s Dilemma model seem to hold in this case, how would you model or otherwise explain this perverse outcome?

Data visualization courtesy of Slate.