Independence Air iClub - The End Is Nigh

I have been a huge supporter of Independence, but after some negative experiences as of late (unexplicable delays and cancellations, rude employees in GSO, etc.), I think maybe it's time to let go.

I have been a huge supporter of Independence, but after some negative experiences as of late (unexplicable delays and cancellations, rude employees in GSO, etc.), I think maybe it's time to let go.

I have flown iAir on many, many ocassions--enough to have earned 4 free flights and 75% of the way to a 5th, and with the VERY low fares you can guess how many flights that is. :)

The one troubling thing with iAir is the seemingly endless state of being disorganized. The gate areas often look like a warzone.

The gate attendants all seem endlessly flustered, and their customer service skills, quite frankly, stink.

As I fly the same flights regularly, I see the same staffing issues week after week, after week. It never changes....

I'd love iAir to last--namely because the flights are cheap--and as an owner of a small business that helps me tremendously. But, they need to show some improvement, and they just haven't.

I've contacted customer service many times, and they just give me lip service--and aren't even good at that, to be honest.

Between the lack of improvement and the fear of them running out of money, and stranding me someplace, I have begun looking to other airlines for bookings in the next few months.

Maybe I'll try them again, but they really need to improve.

I have flown iAir on many, many ocassions--enough to have earned 4 free flights and 75% of the way to a 5th, and with the VERY low fares you can guess how many flights that is. :)

The one troubling thing with iAir is the seemingly endless state of being disorganized. The gate areas often look like a warzone.

The gate attendants all seem endlessly flustered, and their customer service skills, quite frankly, stink.

As I fly the same flights regularly, I see the same staffing issues week after week, after week. It never changes....

I'd love iAir to last--namely because the flights are cheap--and as an owner of a small business that helps me tremendously. But, they need to show some improvement, and they just haven't.

I've contacted customer service many times, and they just give me lip service--and aren't even good at that, to be honest.

Between the lack of improvement and the fear of them running out of money, and stranding me someplace, I have begun looking to other airlines for bookings in the next few months.

Maybe I'll try them again, but they really need to improve.

They have almost single-handedly reduced the prices for flights out of IAD to BOS. Since I'll be commuting to BOS each week for school on my own dime this fall, I really need for these guys to stick it out.

Maybe they'll end up in perpetual CH.11 like UA. But I wish them the best.

I work as a Frontier CSA and I handle transcon DH flights - I will agree that the operation is disorgnized. Besides lack of training for both airlines, combine that with baggage being handled by Swissport at a sister station, locally by Frontier, and Independence baggage service, there are many unhappy bags. :) Additionally, the DH cabin crews often do a poor job of cleaning their aircraft, and due to contracts and budgets, all Frontier gets to use to clean the DH plane is a little dustbuster type vaccum, hence the return to IAD can be very dirty on the transcon flights. I will say that loads have been very good and the planes in good shape and service generally very good on the flights I have flown. I do hope they survive.

I Used To Work For Flyi In The Flight-ops Department And Can Say I Understand What You Are Saying. Like I Said In My Exit Interview, You Can't Get People To Work In Dulles For "normal" Airline Pay And Expect Them To Be Able To Survive. I Tried It And It Doesnt Work. The Employees That Are There Try Hard, But There Is Only So Much They Can Do. Since They Don't Make 80k Plus A Year Like Everyone Else In The Northern Virginia Area, Flyi Cant Retain Anyone. If They Raise Prices To Pay Employees, Passengers Leave. Honestly, If You Want 1st Class Service, Get A Buisiness Jet, Otherwise Deal With It Or Take The Train Or The Bus. Airlines Have Their Problems, But It Is The Best Form Of Transportation. You Get What You Pay For.

I Used To Work For Flyi In The Flight-ops Department And Can Say I Understand What You Are Saying. Like I Said In My Exit Interview, You Can't Get People To Work In Dulles For "normal" Airline Pay And Expect Them To Be Able To Survive. I Tried It And It Doesnt Work. The Employees That Are There Try Hard, But There Is Only So Much They Can Do. Since They Don't Make 80k Plus A Year Like Everyone Else In The Northern Virginia Area, Flyi Cant Retain Anyone. If They Raise Prices To Pay Employees, Passengers Leave. Honestly, If You Want 1st Class Service, Get A Buisiness Jet, Otherwise Deal With It Or Take The Train Or The Bus. Airlines Have Their Problems, But It Is The Best Form Of Transportation. You Get What You Pay For.

Does United pay a lot more than FlyI for Dulles based workers? Is 'normal' airline pay what Delta pays in Atlanta and AA in Dallas?

Does United pay a lot more than FlyI for Dulles based workers? Is 'normal' airline pay what Delta pays in Atlanta and AA in Dallas?

Dude, I worked for FlyI back in the ACA days, and the pay stunk. Average seniority on the ACA ramp was 1.5 years. The problem with "the regionals" like AWAC, MESA, Comair, ASA, etc, is that the pay is so much lower than the majors, like even UAL. UAL at IAD might have a similar starting pay scale, but there are (were) mechanisms in the contract to pay employees about $20/hr after about 5 years. Contrast ACA's top at $14/hr, which occured at about 14 years. I saw my largest pay increases after a year... After 1 year of service, I was making $10.50/hr, year two would have brought me $10.92. I would have seen dismal increases for the rest of my "career" there. You NEED experienced employees to run a solid operation, unfortunately, you need to pay people to stick around. Those are two undisputable facts of airline life. Oh yeah, and compared to the other regionals, we were paid better than most of them. The problem is that IAD is a very high cost of living area, and our "hub premium" pay included a $.50 pay differential from the outstations. That $1,000/yr extra meant nothing.

I looked at corporate (HQ) jobs way back in the day, and it takes a masters degree to make at a regional what you can make with a BS outside of aviation. For example, most entry level jobs had a salary of $20k-$30k, and a masters degree brought you $40k-$50k.

The undisputable facts of life is that you need to pay people well to keep them, but the airlines can't afford to pay them. The ones that used to pay well are almost all bankrupt. Those that aren't are telling their employees to take a pay cut otherwise they might file BK and then the employees will have to take what they can get.

I'm a consumer now, and I buy tickets. The problem for me is that the more a ticket costs, the less I fly. The sad fact of life is that fuel prices are killing the airlines, and I have a choice in flying. I can't afford to pay more just because fuel prices are going up.

The one troubling thing with iAir is the seemingly endless state of being disorganized. The gate areas often look like a warzone.

The gate attendants all seem endlessly flustered, and their customer service skills, quite frankly, stink.

As I fly the same flights regularly, I see the same staffing issues week after week, after week. It never changes....



Glad to see nothing's changed since United booted them...

Glad to see nothing's changed since United booted them...

Um, I wouldn't go that far. I've also had some very poor United Express experiences out of IAD.

Um, I wouldn't go that far. I've also had some very poor United Express experiences out of IAD.

I have had bad experiences with ALL airlines--and I have had bad experiences with all businesses I have every interacted with.

My point was that iAir does not seem to be improving.

I fly the same routes routinely, using iAir, Delta, and UAL. There are problems that come up everywhere, it is part of air travel.

What I see with iAir is that they don't ever seemt to learn from their mistakes.
The same routes have the same problems week, after week.

[QUOTE=IADMCO]--and I have had bad experiences with all businesses I have every interacted with.[QUOTE]

I'm sure you are a nice person, but I have to say that after I read a generalization like this, the only image that popped into my head is that passenger that is never satisfied with anything people can say or do to appease them. This led me to take your thoughts with a grain of salt.

Just a thought for future posts.

Actually, the point I was trying to make is that problematic situations arise regardless of what business you are interacting with, not just airlines--that is, things never go perfectly and things happen that might make a situation less than ideal. It is to be expected.

I am actually quite the opposite of what you envision. I rarely complain when such situations arise, but rather will call customer service later to offer constructive criticism so that they can take it and try to improve. Typically, there are more than enough people complaining at a gate when a situation merits it, so for the most part, I simply observe and see if the company, in this case iAir, responds appropriately, and improves.

As I have observed that the situation is not getting better with iAir, and see similar situations ocurring repeatedly (i.e. insufficient crew for flights, poorly organized boarding processes) it leads me to take my business elsewhere.

Believe, me I am more than satisfied with most business I deal with. At the moment, iAir just is not one of them.

And, if you read my original post, I've given them ample time to change, and I'm not even saying I won't try them out in the future (if there is an opportunity to do so).
[QUOTE=IADMCO]--and I have had bad experiences with all businesses I have every interacted with.[QUOTE]

I'm sure you are a nice person, but I have to say that after I read a generalization like this, the only image that popped into my head is that passenger that is never satisfied with anything people can say or do to appease them. This led me to take your thoughts with a grain of salt.

Just a thought for future posts.

Um, I wouldn't go that far. I've also had some very poor United Express experiences out of IAD.

Maybe my post wasn't clear - DH (at least at IAD and ORD) sucked when it was UX, and it still sucks as FlyI. Disorganized, poor customer service, rarely on time.

AWAC took over a lot of the former DH routes for UX out of IAD, and they suck too.

I have had bad experiences with ALL airlines--and I have had bad experiences with all businesses I have every interacted with.

I don't think I've ever had a bad Starbucks experience.

I had a bad experience with the Starbucks IN the FlyI IAD terminal!

When it comes to DH's service I have found that their younger FAs tend to be excellent, the older ones are hit or miss. The gate agents in IAD tend to have very very poor English skills which can make it very hard to deal with them. (Before I get flamed for this I am bilingual and can understand two languages above the ones I speak.) However the supervisor level employees in IAD tend to be very good.

I was concerned with Independece Air shutting down for business when I saw this subject. Thankfully, it's still around to keep some good prices in place.

The question is how quickly they are spending their cash reserves...

Uh. What did you expect for a $58 RT ticket? That drives an airline to low wages and, thus, turnover. Learn to pack light, gate check or carry-on and kick back for a flight that now costs 1/4 of what it used to cost out of IAD.

Timothy

Maybe my post wasn't clear - DH (at least at IAD and ORD) sucked when it was UX, and it still sucks as FlyI. Disorganized, poor customer service, rarely on time.

AWAC took over a lot of the former DH routes for UX out of IAD, and they suck too.

And yet FLYI is still the third best domestic airline according to T&L magazine. Tell me why UAL did not get this award?

BBB

It seems like Iair needs an employee overhaul. The customer service component is lacking tremendously.

Last week I was on a flight out of GSO to MCO, with 7 other family members. The flight was cancelled due to a broken plane and our only option was to take a almost 2 hour van trip to Charlotte and eventually arrive at MCO 5 hours late. This meant the rental car counter would be closed and we would have to wait all night at the airport for a car. Throughout our entire bad experience the Indy Air employees were very helpful and happy to assist us. At IAD, the staff made sure several of our party made an earlier flight in order to make the rental car connection. Maybe some locations have poor employees but everyone we met at the 4 airports went the extra mile to help us. I have flown with the majors and had planes break also. It happens to everyone. This was my first flight on Indy and would still fly with them again.

Well it's not surprising that these experiences are occuring at IAD - the airport sucks.

I flew BNA to IAD regularly for the first 6 months this year and the Independence Air staff in Nashville are EXCELLENT. Very professional, happy, fun-loving - it was refreshing to see.

It's a shame the Dulles staff are in disarray.

And yet FLYI is still the third best domestic airline according to T&L magazine. Tell me why UAL did not get this award?

BBB

UAL didn't get the "third best domestic airline" award because it isn't. ;)
Link? What were the criteria? How could an all-CRJ regional carrier with no F, horrible ontime performance, etc. win any legitimate "best" of anything award. :confused: :confused:

UAL didn't get the "third best domestic airline" award because it isn't. ;)
Link? What were the criteria? How could an all-CRJ regional carrier with no F, horrible ontime performance, etc. win any legitimate "best" of anything award. :confused: :confused:

You sound jealous.

:D

You sound jealous.
:D

He has CRJ envy. Its not the size of your plane that matters, its how you fly them. ;) :D

Here is the link:

http://www.travelandleisure.com/worldsbest/results.cfm?cat=othercairlinesdomestic

They point out themselves that for the FIRST time, a major has not made the list, so they are certainly eligible.

It is strictly a reader's poll, so having a CRJ fleet or any other "business" related facts or figures are not taken into account. The bottom line is that passengers love the product, and they have spoken up about it. One can obviously tell by the list that the six majors are not delivering what the flying public wants out of an airline.

I have been a huge supporter of Independence, but after some negative experiences as of late (unexplicable delays and cancellations, rude employees in GSO, etc.), I think maybe it's time to let go.

I take it all back. Flights to/from GSO this weekend were excellent.

Experienced a hold on the tarmac Friday for about 45 minutes (typical IAD thunderstorms), but the pilot kept us updated and allowed everyone to get up and move around and use their cell phones. Flight attendant passed out bottled water.

Subsequent 37-minute flight included friendly service with:

choice of beverage (including very good Arizona green tea)
snack basket (Sun Chips, granola bar, or pretzels - offered to look for cookies in the galley if anyone wanted those instead)
hot towel (actually hot, too)
mints

On UA or US Express, you are lucky to get a beverage.

I really hope FLYi survives. Return flight yesterday was completely full as far as I could tell. First time on Independence (probably my 20th or so flight with them) that we've boarded by rows. Everyone seemed very pleased with the plane and the service.

Have to say, I've flown IA out of BDL a number of times, and have been favorably impressed by the friendly and competent staff there. For the prices we paid, no complaints.

Love that AZ green tea. First time we had it the FA announced he would be bringing it round, and it sounded as if he said "Arizona icecream tea" -- sure had us wondering what that might be! :D