Here are the exact numbers for Ryanair:

Scheduled passenger revenues increased by 27% to
Euros: 1,433.4m due to a combination of increased passenger
volumes on existing routes, the successful launch of new bases
at Liverpool, Shannon, East Midlands, Pisa and Cork and a 1%
increase in average fares.

Ancillary revenues increased by 36% to Euros: 259.2m, a faster
growth rate than passenger volumes, reflecting a strong
performance in non-flight scheduled revenues (primarily car hire,
hotels and travel insurance), on board sales and other ancillary
products. Ancillary revenues continue to grow at a significantly
faster rate than passenger volumes.

http://www.ryanair.com/site/about/in...nualreport.pdf

So, while this 259m euros isn't most of Ryanair's revenues, it is most of its operating profit.

Ancillary review will NEVER make up the gap here. What are they going to get -- $5 per pax for luggage? Faced with a charge, more folks will carry it on. And how many $2 cokes are you going to sell? My guess is one per pax. Priority boarding revenue will be near zero, as the cheapskates who book these fares aren't going to fork over another $10 to get a better seat. And biz travellers will be few and far between on SkyBus.

I know some of the European carriers make some money booking hotels on their websites, but the market for that in the US will be very small. It's a very mature market, and I see little reason to believe SkyBus pax will shift their hotel bookings to Skybus from the established players.

Spirit Airlines doesn't seem to think that'll work either. That's why they're selling $6 and $69 airfares. They're following the same business model and they have a lot of longish flights too, maybe not CMH to BLI, but Guatemala City to FLL, for example.

SkyBus is apparently also involved in less-than-candid timeshare sales on their website.

http://www.airliners.net/discussions....main/3377886/

This may be "yuckier" than I thought.

Spirit sells very few $6 airfares -- usually limited to a couple Wednesdays 3 months from now. A lot different than selling 10 $10 seats on all your flights.

I'm not sure Spirit will be successful in their current "unbundling" strategy, but their odds are exponentially higher than Skybus'. They are a "real" airline with a "real" business strategy.

Yuck might be the work for it. I called for the Disney World "vacation package", and sure enough, it includes a mandatory time share presentation. The guy on the phone tosses that in there very late in the process.

It might be legal, but it's yucky all right.

Good Ideas for Skybus to use as Alternative Airports like there bellingham idea

Rochester, MN - Twin Cities less then 80 miles
Rockford or Gary Airport - Chicagoland
Long Island or Westchester (I think it's that but might be wrong) - NYC area
North Las Vegas Air Terminal - Lol, man that would be nasty
Tijuana (San Diego) - Joking
Birmingham - Market as Atlanta and the Entire South

That would be me. I have a ticket to LEB scheduled for next week that cost me $275 - I think the cheapest fare on US for the CMH->LEB route.

I'm scheduled to visit my girlfriend three times next quarter through PSM. Total cost... $110. For that price, as long as I get there and get back alive, they can put me in an overhead compartment. :D

On another note, has anybody figured how many planes they'll be flying with this initial schedule and what routes each one will take? If somebody wants to schedule their own connection with them, having it posted in plane 1, plane 2 format would be great. That way if a plane is flying CMH-BUR-CMH-PSM you know you have a pretty good shot of not missing a connection, sans checked bags, of course.

Anybody notice this rule?

In other words, by paying the extra $10 for priority, you limit your options in the event your plans change! You run the risk of forfeiting your entire fare and then having to buy a full fare new ticket without priority to replace the worthless priority ticket. Good grief. But then they sell insurance. So the insurance is really mandatory, if it covers this situation, which isn't clear.

I suspect that was just poorly worded on their part. I'll bet that what they meant to say was that your priority boarding status will carry over only if it is available on the other flight. It wouldn't make sense for them to punish those paying them extra.

Maybe. But they say the same thing on at least two different pages of the web site, and each time the word "limited" is used twice. The contract of carriage doesn't mention this rule explicitly, although it does say reservation changes are "subject to availability".

They must be putting on a marketing blitz because I live in LA, and today two of my friends mentioned this new company to me. I guess CBUS has got billboards everywhere and its being promoted on the radio.

That $10 from early boarding is pure profit for Skybus and if do not get it they don't get it; it is an easy way to attract a lot more revenue. I bet they are going to see more checked luggage than you expect. If you can pay half as much on Skybus as you otherwise would on a legacy wouldn't you be willing to pay $5 a bag? Just as you assert that Skybus will have few business travelers lesiure travelers going to FL for a week of fun and sun need more luggage and will pay that $5.

Regarding hotel/car rental/etc comissions you are forgetting that FTers tend to be very travel savy and have no problem taking 5 extra minutes to book a hotel through the company's website for exta points but when (to use the FT term) Ma & Pa Kettle are booking travel they see the options right there and can get it all down quickly and easily; that is where the revenue is derived from. Even if Skybus refers them to another website, say hotels.com for example, they most likely will get a fee for sending the passenger to the site; especially if they book.

Lastly never underestimate a small business trying to save money on air travel. Skybus will not have $10 fares 6 hours out from departure; their last minutes fares, while not bargain basement, will be cheaper than the legacies which will most likely result in one of two things. The first is that the legacies will be made to compete at levels that are not profitable for them. The second is that the legacies do not price match and price sensitive businesses will start flying Skybus; especially on shorter trips.

Are you really a student, as in college student? You've got a quite a mind for this stuff.

Well, look at the shape America West was in when Parker took over. It may just have been a case where they couldn't make it work given the condition they were in at the time. Also, Skybus has a very different business plan than America West did. Just look at the seating to see what I'm talking about. America West has 124 seats in their 319's (12/112), while Skybus plans to put 156 seats into the same plane type. I will, however, concede that trying this out of Columbus is batty, just because of the size of the city.

Keep in mind that most airlines also get revenue from freight in the cargo hold - although I question how much they could carry while carrying that many passengers. Also, could the shear number of seats that they are cramming into the planes bring the CASM down? Does anyone know easyJet's CASM for their 156 seat 319's? I tried to Google that, but found no relevant information.

Speaking of easyJet, you can probably get a sense of what Skybus will charge for their in flight sales from this section of easyJet's website.

Right now there is an ad on Spirit's website promoting airfares to Honduras for 8¢. Just Saying.

A few months ago, Skybus announced that, while they hadn't finalized their destinations yet, they had ruled out Las Vegas and Chicago. I kind of got the feeling that that was a polite way of telling Rockford to piss off :D .

One thing that causes me some concern is the range of the 319 with that many passengers. The range of the 319 is 3700NM, but that is with 142 passengers. The longest flight by easyJet with the 319 is 1363NM (LTN-IST), while the longest flight by Skybus is 1833NM (CMH-OAK). Does anyone here know weather or not that is a problem?

My guess is that this Skybus should also operate as mainly an airline for leisure travel. WN for years attracted that class of travel through its "down home" humor (quite honestly not something I really want out of an airline). As WN has moved into bigger airports and began attracting last minute business travelers looking for cheaper altneratives their "good old boy" corporate facade has changed a bit. Skybus good do well creating a positive image with the ma and pa kettle crowd. Believe if my company told me to fly Skybus I would very quickly tell them where to stick that 156 paxs A319. And I would have no desire to travel with them when it is on my dime, $10 fares or not.

The key difference is that Southwest actually executes their model very well - and strives to take very good care of their customers. Call 1-800-Southwest, for example, and you're talking to a human faster than when I call either the UA or AA elite lines. Plus, any fare I buy on Southwest is completely changeable. Flying them, even with the cattle call, is better than flying any legacy carrier without elite status.

Skybus is jumping out of the box almost taking pride in a surly, unfriendly demeanor. It's the opposite approach to WN. The $10 fares earned them some media run, but this thing isn't going to last.

I agree that WN does take good care of its customers unlike legacys that only really care about the top elites or premium (paying) paxs. Notice that WN is not having hordes of paxs living at MDW for several days after weather issues in Chicago but you see it with AA at ORD. The issue for Skybus is the first time there is major weather issue in Columbus Skybus' lack of infrastructure to handle planes full of displaced paxs will show immensely. And then in order to quite the storm of media, government, and regulators they are going to need to put that infrastructure in place. And that will become costly and there goes their "operating at a five cents a mile per passenger" business model.

I can't help but wonder if Skybus has an unlisted phone number that they will distribute in the event of weather emergencies. Of course that raises the question of how do you staff said line.

As much as I love the basic model of what Skybus is doing the idea of not having a call center at all, in any form, is IMHO pushing the envelope just a little too far.

That's a very good observation. We're all focusing on the business models, but it's worth remembering that no model can overcome poor execution. I do think that Skybus can make this work, but we'll see how they do when it comes to actual flight operations.

Another opposite from WN is that Skybus has made a complete and total bet on 1 market - Columbus. Both operationally and service-wise (for example, I can't book MCI-CMH-XXX on Skybus...it's only CMH).

WN took the opposite approach: distribute the network so that no single airport can kill the entire organism. The Chicago example is perfect: when they get smacked with a big snowstorm, UA and AA are hosed pretty badly. WN is only hosed sorta-badly, because they can move people through other places besides MDW, even though MDW is a pretty big operation for them.

Now if WN would only lose the cattle call, install some F seats, fly to Europe and Asia, recognize elite status, and... Oh, nevermind. ;) :D

Well, they have a phone listing:
4181 Arlingate Plz
Columbus, OH 43228
(614) 246-8800

Columbus, Ohio - the new IN destination?
 

This morning I open up my DING and, lo and behold, cheapest fares are into CMH. One-way fares thru DING:

AUS-CMH=$50
HOU-CMH=$50
MHT-CMH=$25
PVD-CMH=$25
SAT-CMH=$50

Of course, none of these origination cities are Skybus cities. Nevertheless, it seems curious that WN would target Columbus the same month Skybus plans its startup from that city. Coincidence? Any opinions about why WN is doing this?

In any event, CMH seems a cheap place to get to this month. Anything to do there?

Skybus news
 

A couple of news stories and clips from a Columbus' local TV station on Skybus' inaugural flight:

http://www.10tv.com/vplayer.php?clip...Experience.wmv

http://www.10tv.com/vplayer.php?clip...kes_Flight.wmv

According to the news, "there were some glitches, but most passengers didn't mind" and "the food is better than most airlines." But, one of the problems was that they ran out of food halfway into the flight.

I like the idea of this airline, but that local TV report was just plain silly. Toward the end, a passenger says that she liked how there was more legroom than with most other airlines! Huh? They put 156 seats in an A319, right? Isn't that about 20-30 more than the other carriers?

At the very end, note well the line about how the parent company of the station is an investor in Skybus.

The leased aircraft until they get their own have 144 seats so it probably isn't too bad right now.

Good luck to them of course........It will be interesting however to see whether Skybus will ALSO follow Ryanairs apparently "hands off" approach when problems do arise...

Check the Skytrax forums for numerous complaints about Ryanair pax being stranded after flight cancellations....

I can not imagine Americans putting up with THAT sort of treatment....

I still think this airline will fail. There are just so many things wrong with the business plan. I know the Columbus folks are all excited to have an airline, but few people are excited to travel TO Columbus (and since they're not really doing connections, that's pretty much your choice right now). For $10, people will flying anything. For $50, most will. But above that price, you'll start getting picky. I can't see higher fare biz travellers ever taking SkyBus unless there's no reasonable nonstop alternative. I think the lack of customer service will earn them huge negative publicity the first time things go wrong (and they will).

These guys would have had a shot had they located near a major metropolitan area (of course, all of those are pretty well served right now). The USA isn't Europe at the time of Ryanair's launch. There are many good lowfare alternatives.

Don't forget that you are NOT allowed to bring your own food and drink :td: This airline is a joke. By the time you add the costs of getting from your arrival city to where you actually want to go, it will cost you more.

I honestly don't think John/Jane Q. Vacationer think about the cost to get from the airport to their real destination, luggage fees, and the like when they buy their plane tickets. I think that besides tOSU students, they will be unlikely to get very much repeat business. Especially if they follow Ryanair's lead on irregular operations.

Per a post in this thread they apparently ran out of food in-flight. That's going to be a slight problem when you're expected to not bring your own. The next time the airline will be featured on the national news will be during the first big summer storm system that slams the country.

That is what is going to happen. Ma and Pa Kettle and their ten children are going to arrive at the airport clueless to not knowing what it is going to cost them to check their twenty bags, that even a soda for all of the little ones is going to cost, and if the kids get hungry well that's another $7 or so for a sandwich.

I agree with one of the Posters that people will fly Skybus for $10 to $50 for the hell of it (remember the foregone discounters of the 1980s and early
1990s that offered cheap, cheap flights to no where in particular). But no airline can survive on just dirt cheap flights, Independence Air tried and we see where they are today.

I think that an unhappy few might find they end up paying more, but the vast majority will pay substantially less. Breakfast is $5; lunch is $10 (the same or very close to the other carriers in coach). Humans are capable of eating nothing for the duration of even the longest of Skybus's flights, and comfortably so if they eat just before heading to the airport.

As for arrival cities, Burbank, Oakland and other Skybus destinations are real destinations. The only true boondocks destinations are Bellingham, WA (between Seattle & Vancouver) and Portsmouth, NH. But I doubt that very many Skybus customers who are flying to these places will be surprised to learn that they still have a ways to go to get to Seattle/Vancouver or Boston. I'll bet most of them have relatives/friends who are picking them up.

A question to the Skybus doubters:

If I had set forth Ryanair's business plan years ago, would you have been as skeptical of that as you are of Skybus's plan? You do realize that Ryanair is a financial success, right?

I hate to wish any business bad luck, but .... Skybus is taking things too far. WN has done great things for fares (even if I generally avoid them) but it has also permitted the other airlines to reduce the standards of service. If Skybus succeeds, the majors will reduce service even further and add even more fees.

Personally, I can't see how Skybus can succeed since I don't think American's will tolerate airports being called Seattle which are a couple of hours away from Seattle or the inability to call in on the phone.

On the other hand, someone willing to finance an order to 65 A319's disagrees.

Skybus is not Ryanair, the United States is not Europe. What works there will not necessarily work here and vice versa.

I never said or suggested that what worked for Ryanair will necessarily work for Skybus. I'm just suggesting that for the same reasons some doubt Skybus's chances, they would have doubted Ryanair's.

I'm not so sure. True Southwest has lowered fares and reduced the standard of service. I think Skybus is testing the waters, sort of a "let's see if we can take this a step further". Southwest customers are already willing to be herded onto single-class airplanes for cheap. Skybus is betting that these customers will be willing to forsake a few more amenities to save even more money. Think about it - for a family of four already on a tight budget, those Skybus tickets free up a lot of cash in the vacation budget, even compared to WN fares.

The issue of distance from the advertised city won't be a big deal for many. If you were going to rent a car in SEA anyways, what's the difference if you rent it in Bellingham? Gas, sure, but the vacationing family still saves money. WN customers are already willing to fly to BWI for Washington DC, or Islip for NYC.

Should Skybus succeed, my guess is that Southwest is the one who will feel the squeeze. The legacies won't likely stoop to Skybus levels. Hopefully they'd be able to re-focus on their core customers and bring their service levels back up to reasonable standard.

Let's not forget, Allegiant and Spirit have switched over to similar business models with apparent success. Allegiant's loads are over 80% and they just completed a pretty successful IPO.

That's my hope as well. For too long, the domestic carriers have sold essentially the same product, with minor variations. It would be good for consumers to have a genuine choice over the level of service they get in coach.

Skybus and perhaps others can offer the most bare bones product. Others, such as JetBlue now and Virgin America shortly, can offer interesting amenities, like in-flight entertainment systems. United's P.S. service is also pretty impressive.

So many FTers worry that Skybus might cause the other carriers to race to the bottom. I don't think that will happen.

Unforuntaley if Skybus fares well I do see legacies heading this way, AA is already watching this very closely. However, I think that for elites (at least for the 50,000 mile and up levels) the legacies won't subject them to some of the nonsense such as paying for seat assignments, checking bags, boarding first, etc. But if you are sitting in Y you can be assured on less seat pitch, paying for any food and drink and being hawked everything under the sun.