Fly i’s slogan is “Go your own way”, reminds me of the old Fleetwood Mac song “Go your own way”, one of my favorites, anyway. Independence certainly went their own way when they broke apart from UAL and decided to start a totally new business model offering low fares and friendly Southwest/JetBlue/Airtran style service using CRJs. From my experience flying Independence this past weekend I’ll say they really are a great little airline.
I never really expected much from Independence other then a seat and a drink but I was impressed with their overall operation and some of the niceties they give you. Overall their facilities and planes are very clean. Their CRJs are very comfortable with plenty of leg room for a small jet and the seats are a nice soft leather and rather supportive. My only gripe with the CRJ is the windows, they are to low and there aren’t enough of them.
For a little airline Independence is very professional, upon boarding on both flights you were greeted by the FA and the Capt., then on deplaning the Capt. was on the bottom of the air stairs thanking his passengers for flying with them. Other nice perks I didn’t expect were the hot towels, I love hot towels, I’ll fly first class just for the hot towels. There is nothing like a hot moist towel to wake you up on a 6 AM flight, followed by a refreshing mint to get rid of that early morning coffee breathe. These are the little things that make the difference to me when I decide to fly airline “A” or “B”.
Now with that being said this airline is neck deep in debt that will almost certainly knock them out of the game. Ever since Fly i left UAL they’ve lost money with no sign of turning a profit anytime soon. So why the huge debt load? Some say it’s their business plan and I tend to agree. While I believe their concept is sound their business plan, IAD hub, and lack of large jets is hurting them.
Lets face it IAD is a terrible hub airport and O&D airport. For travelers to and from Virginia and Washington, IAD is out of the way, hard to move around and if its bad weather boarding Fly i’s RJs without a jet ramp isn’t much fun. Then there’s the large jet issue, they don’t have enough. If Independence is going to be a mainline carrier they need large jets serving cities that are going to fill them. While this may be a bold move it may be beneficial for them to dump the RJs all together and start from scratch with only the A319s serving the leisure markets with low fares. The one thing they need is money in the bank from a new investor who sees their concept and brand of service is truly one of the best out there.
