Skybus is flying

[lijk604]

Today is Day 1 for them...looks like this was the first flight.

SKB228 (all flights) (alert me)
Skyfreighters Corp. "Skybus"
Aircraft Airbus A319 (twin-jet) (A319/Q)
Origin Port Columbus Int'l (KCMH)
Destination Bob Hope (KBUR)
Other flights between these airports
Route DQN VHP J80 MCI J24 SLN J102 ALS J44 RSK
J64 HEC LYNXX8
Date Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Duration 4 hours 31 minutes
Progress 26 minutes left
4 hours 4 minutes


Status En Route (1630 miles down; 93 miles to go)
Proposed/Assigned Actual/Estimated
Departure 09:36 EDT 09:47 EDT
Arrival 11:01 PDT 11:18 PDT
Speed 453 kts 321 kts
Altitude 34000 feet 23100 feet

[T-Bird76]

Skyfreighters Corp. "Skybus"

Did anyone else but me pick that up? "Skyfrieghters"...now if that's not enough of a reason so stay away from that airline I don't know what is. lol

[nwafan20]

Skyfreighters Corp. "Skybus"

Did anyone else but me pick that up? "Skyfrieghters"...now if that's not enough of a reason so stay away from that airline I don't know what is. lol

Haha, I saw it but just never thought of it that way... haha

[lijk604]

Rather ironic isn't it.

[PhilDernerJr]

I don't understnad what peopel's beef is with them. There is a large market for people would would be willing to forego the amenities to fly cross-country for $40. Do you really disagree?

[Alex T]

Its just that they fly Airbuses.... :-P


I do not have a beef with them, we as an airline are not really concerned about them, if there is a market that serves to cater people who dont care but just want the dirt cheap prices, Skybus will cater to them.

No one is forcing you to fly them so why complain?

If your gonna worry about the airline prices go down, we want them to go down as a consumer, lower prices means more affordable flights, if the airline cannot compete with that then maybe they shouldnt be flying themselves or trying to compete.

The Airlines just fly the routes, its up to the passengers to make THEIR flying trip as smooth as possible, whether its choosing to fly a cheap airline with good service, WN, or flying an airline with meals in coach, CO or to fly in first class everytime, on AA.

Alex

[T-Bird76]

Phil go read their rules of flying and tell me when did checked bags become an amenity? Come on bro lets get real, you barely get amenities with today's major airlines but they are going one step further. In some ways they seem to be doing sort of a bait and switch, lore you in with low prices and nail you with what's not included, I'm sorry that's not consumer friendly. I don't have a beef with them at all, they just won't get my money.

I can fly WN and B6 coast to coast for next to nothing and speak to a live person when I have an problem, check my bag, get a basic snack, watch some TV, and experience some good customer service. For 60 bucks more I'd choose that. Unless you have an emergency and are drop dead broke the last thing you probably should be worrying about is a vacation if another 60 bucks is going to put you over the edge.

[mirrodie]

Tom, while all that might be true, I am fairly certain that when Southwest started, it was probably met with the same criticisms. It was a new idea in a time dominated by legacy carriers.

While it may seem like Skybus is hte pits and they are taking it too far, I can't shake the thought that I am sure WN suffer from a similar stigma attachment in the beginning.

[T-Bird76]

I think what most of you are missing is the ramifications this will have on the other carriers. If they are successful and begin to make inroads other carriers may very well have to copy some of their service. Now most of you don't fly as much as I do so I don't expect you to understand but from a business travelers perspective any further reduction of service will truly make it a pain to fly.

The airlines have already cut back to the point that loyalty to only one carrier means nothing. NW now charges you for exit row and certain aisle seats, US never lets you use miles to upgrade, Delta still has major issues with baggage, and the others give you next to nothing in general. I still have problem when I pay a full fare coach seat and bubba sitting next to me paid $500 less and I get nothing extra.

This is threat to certain levels of service business travelers have come to and have the right to expect. What Skybus is doing is taking the little customer service that exists in this industry and throwing it away completely. The fact is, there is not a market for everyone and while most people think price dictates demand that couldn't be farther from the truth. Study after study finds that price isn't even in the top five reasons consumers choose how to spend their money. The number one reason every single time is service. Consumers expect a certain level of service and when they don't receive it they won't come back.

Skybus's model is based solely around secondary revenue generated by advertisements, buy onboard, and other non upfront charges. If people have a bad experience not only will they have Skybus on their mind but whatever company they've been staring at for the last few hours, good bye advertises. Buy on board even on the mainline carriers isn't a way to generate large amounts of revenue but more so to substitute for the lack of free food, the margins for most buy on board items is pretty low.

Whether or not the model works is to be seen, they'll have to try to tap into markets where the demand is required. My prediction is that Virgin America will be far more successful then SkyBus based sorely on their level of service.

[LGA777]

Tom, while all that might be true, I am fairly certain that when Southwest started, it was probably met with the same criticisms. It was a new idea in a time dominated by legacy carriers.

Mario, keep in mind when WN started and for their first several years of service they where what was then called a "Intrastate" carrier meaning they only flew within the borders of one state, Texas. PSA was the same in California, as was Air Florida in their early years as well in Florida.

This was pre deregulation and the airline industry in the US at the times of WN's birth was a very different animal with different types of carriers for different types of flying.
You had the trunks including AA, BN, CO, DL, EA, NA, PA, TW, UA, WA.
You had the regionals including AL, Air West, FL, NC, OZ, PI, SO, TTA, then
You had the intrastates including Air Cal, Air Florida, PSA. and WN, then
You had the supplementals including Airlift, Capital, ONA, Saturn, World.

So really they where just another piece of a very large and complex pie !

Regards

LGA777

[Alex T]

Also, when SWA started, no one really did complain, passenger wise, most of them loved SWA from the start, and was not met with the same criticism that Skybus seems to be receiving.

People loved back then when WN started, you could hop on any flight, choose the seat you wanted on board and get free cockails, in a comfortable seat pitch served with great and friendly service.

, and I am not being biased, that is just simply the truth.

Alex