Mileage Addict you are on to something. If they do in fact succeed, it won't be long before legacy carriers are putting more seats in Y, charging for everything, and making flying a Wal Mart in the sky. Lets hope Skybus goes the way of Independence Air.

I think the race to the bottom idea for service misses the mark. What we are seeing worldwide is service differentiation, and that's a wonderful thing for everyone. On the high end, we see 100% business class airlines and frequent upgrades to the premium and even coach cabins for some carriers. Skybus, Ryanair and the like go for the low end. There is a market for a variety of approaches.

It is not a wonderful thing for the business traveler with an overly strict travel policy that says pick the lowest fare no matter what.

I guess not, but such policies need revision with the introduction of ultra low-cost carriers.

^
What I am afraid of is not differentiation per se, but that the reasonably comfortable middle (where I usually fly as a domestic business traveler) will shrink or disappear. And if there's no middle, you can guess where I'll have to fly if it's on someone else's dime.

The airlines going for the "high end" you describe aren't flying US domestic routes, and that's where I am ... so differentiation would still mean the short end of the stick for travelers like me.

On one hand, I'd like to see Skybust succeed (Which they won't...), as ultra LCCs tend to attract the "undesirable" element (i.e., The Greyhound crowd, non FFs, the general riff-raff...) and keep them off of the legacies, which cater towards the business traveller (i.e., Those of us who have to fly whatever the cost...).

On the other hand, I think the bad habits of the LCCs could leach into the legacy carriers. Actually, they already have. Personally, I really don't care about the cost and I don't mind if it goes up to cover expenses, as airfares are actually lower than they were 25 years ago if inflation is taken into consideration. When I have to go somewhere, I really don't even take cost into consideration, I choose by schedule only, and I generally buy last minute full Y tix.

I'm willing to pay for a better experience and amenities such as F and C, FF programs, and lounges. I would just as soon stay in an Econlodge as I would fly a LCC.

Domestically, Virgin America and JetBlue have introduced a coach product that while not high end, is a substantial improvement over legacy coach.

Okay, fair enough, that is true. Still waiting for VX to serve any route that I fly, but it'll happen someday ...

SX launches new routes from CMH/GSO-SWF
 

HI all,

Skybus is added more new routes from CMH-SWF will inaugurates on Jan 6 & GSO-SWF Feb 25, 2008. Here's press releases from Skybus will inaugurates in Jan/Feb 2008. Here it is:

http://ask.skybus.com/about/skybus/s...ssReleaseID=33

Thanks all! :)

Huge Skybus fan
 

As one who lives 35 min from CMH, Skybus is a blessing, not because of low cost only). For the first time ever, my family of 5 flew direct to Richmond versus 9 hours on the road.

The boarding experience was very similar to Southwest. I had just flown 5 days earlier to New Orleans on Southwest so I have a back to back comparison and the A319 is much quieter than the 737 (which I love) and the comfort (or discomfort) level was the same.

Skybus announces in the terminal that no food is allowed but they do not check for food. I brought food on and could easily have eaten it but to be respectful I did not, afterall we were flying for $10 a ticket and it is only fair that they should make some profit on food and drink which was reasonably priced.

I was so thrilled with the experience I have booked a $35/ticket family trip to KC which puts us 3 hours from Omaha to visit family. Otherwise, Omaha is a $200 trip each with a change of planes (something I will not do with 3 kids under 10), yes we do have to drive 3 hours, something we are accustomed to and we would have to rent something either way.

Thank you, Skybus, for keeping other carriers fares into CMH low! I fly there several times a year and appreciate the competition...

I wish that Skybus would add service to a Texas market or two. I'd fly to CMH more often for visits if the fares were lower.

Skybus has lost $16M over the last 3 months.

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/fligh...bus-loss_N.htm

SkyBus - Diverted to Orlando(MCO)
 

I was flying SkyBus yesterday 12/22/07 from Portsmouth, NH (PSM) to St. Augustine, FL (UST) on SkyBus flight 1105. Scheduled 6:14PM departure, 9:06PM arrival.

The flight departed PSM late at approximately 8PM. This was my 2nd SkyBus flight (the first one was from PSM to CMH a few months ago), and this time my sister was along for the trip to visit family. We paid extra to board in group 1 and were happy with the boarding process. Because of ice on the ground, the plane was parked at a gate (the only gate) in PSM and they said they are not allowed to have people walk on the tarmac when there are icy conditions; so boarding was only from the front of the plane.

They ran out of some food items but we ended up buying Boneless Buffalo Wings for $8, and two bottles of Bailey's Irish Cream for $5 each. Those two items didn't really go together but we were hungry because of the delay and had to eat something, and Bailey's is always tasty.

I really like the idea of buying food that I can choose to eat as opposed to just peanuts that most airlines give.

At approximately 10:30PM we start to make our descent into UST and the flight attendants collect all the service items. We start to descend but then we stop decending.

About a minute later the captain tells everyone over the intercom that due to low ceiling (fog) we are unable to land in St. Augustine and are being diverted to Orlando.

The initial plan is to land in Orlando and then refuel and fly back to UST when the weather clears. I think to myself that fog doesn't usually clear at night so the instant we land I am going to call my Dad and have him start driving to Orlando to pick us up.

One of the flight attendants announced that since they have never flown into Orlando they do not know exactly what the protocol will be and they do not know at the moment if we will be able to get off the plane. As soon as they get more information they will let us know.

Right around 11PM we land in Orlando (MCO). The instant we touch down I call my Dad to tell him to start driving to MCO. It seems like we rode all the way around the airport and finally come to a stop nowhere near any of the terminals. I look out the window and I can't see anything beyond 200 feet because of the fog. The captain announces that we won't be able to leave the plane and hopes after refueling the weather will clear in UST. He also mentioned that another flight from CMH to UST was diverted to Daytona Beach.

The airport people pull a staircase up to the front door of the plane and the captain/2nd officer get off the plane to try to expedite the refueling and probably talk to corporate.

Meanwhile I talk to my Dad again and I tell him that SkyBus will attempt to fly back to UST; but my Dad says it is still extremely foggy there so he will continue driving to MCO.

After about an hour the captain makes an announcement that the flight is now cancelled and we will deplane in MCO. They close the plane door and we taxi over to one of the United gates. For some reason it takes the United ground crew several tries to get the jet bridge aligned to the plane but finally succeed. Our baggage will be handled by United and can pick it up at carousel 25, and there will be buses to bring us back to St. Augustine.

My sister and I make our way into the terminal and I call my dad again to tell him the flight is officially cancelled and to pick us up at MCO at United.

After the train we make our way downstairs to baggage claim and all of our bags are already there. I didn't stay to listen to the details of the bus to UST, but most people were in good spirits considering the situation was out of their hands and SkyBus didn't keep us on the plane any longer than necessary. Some people were even happier because Orlando was their ultimate destination, unfortunately for us our final destination was Jacksonville.

It was 1AM by the time we had our luggage and was waiting at curbside to be picked up. At 1:30AM my dad shows up and we are on our way home.

I didn't see any signs of buses, but I didn't see other people from our flight either who were waiting to get bussed. It would be interesting to see what was done and how fast on such short notice at midnight.

Everything considered I was happy with my SkyBus experience. The crew kept us informed, and the flight attendants came thru the cabin a couple times and stopped at every other seat to talk to people to see if they had any questions and explained to everyone the latest informaton they had about the diversion.

After driving we finally made it at home at 4AM in the morning, and I slept until noon!