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.

I should add that the only thing that might prevent legacies from moving in this direction are the unions. Try getting UA or AA FAs to hawk sun tan lotion and blankets and pillows and there might be one big uproar. Most of the FAs I speak to are already p.o. about all of the food sales that they must now do and feel like cashiers at McDonalds.

Most of the legacy FAs have an unrealistic idea of what their jobs are really about. The Skybus FAs will have a much clearer sense for the job: bolstering the company's revenues while keeping customers happy. Yes, there's the safety aspect of the job, but lots of low-skill jobs have safety training and responsibilities, but that doesn't alter the nature of the job.

I'm not trying to insult FAs -- they perform a very useful service. It's just that, as Skybus shows, you can give some folks a couple of weeks of training, a price list, menu and a card swiper, and they're ready to fly.

It would not be inconceivable that legacy airlines will follow Skybus' lead with respect to non-elite passengers. For example, they could:

a. Reduce seat pitch through most of the economy section, retaining 31" seat pitch in a small "premium economy" section for elites.

b. Charge for checked baggage, meals, seat preassignment, personal TV, etc.. They could make these free for some level of elite.

Given that the legacies' service for non-elites is already inferior to that of the big "low cost carriers", it would not be surprising that they follow Skybus to the bottom of service to squeeze a few more cents out of each flight.

Has any FTer flown skybus yet? What did the interior look like? Was it covered in ads? What about food did they really confiscate food you brought on board?

There's a thread in Newsstand that has some video from a local news report that shows the interiors. Too lazy to look it up for you right now.

Yes the inaugural PSM-CMH route on N521VA. The interior was leather Recaro seats that actually had a decent amount of room. No seatback pocket, but rather a plastic holder above the tray table for the safety cards. No ads except the Recaro label on the tray table lock.

I didn't have time to bring food on board and had an early morning CMH departure keeping me from leaving the airport -- for that reason I tried their $10 meatloaf which was probably a 4/10. Hardly the gourmet that they claim.

There were sponsored PA announcements and they do come around with a cart trying to sell all of the same .... you find in Skymall catalogs.

Overall not a bad experience if you can get a $10 fare. If not, don't even bother!! UA/AA/WN/NW/CO win anyday. And who the hell would pay $330 one way on them when they could probably have WN for equal or cheaper???

gq

What we're neglecting is Skybus' tight seat pitch. I've seen people estimate anywhere from 30" to 28". 30" since its current planes are second-hand, but their new 319s will be max capacity, i.e. potentialy 28". How are people going to tough it out in a cramped seat for hours, when you aren't even allowed to bring your own food (unless if you claim medical or religious exemption)?

What I really feel for, are pennypinching business travelers in cities served by Skybus. Imagine if a company's accounting forces employees to fly on Skybus. No more miles. No upgrade. Now that's truly miserable - all of ya right now have it easy! :)

From their website....

Richmond....A few Washington's away from DC

Ok, calling BWI a DC airport is pushing it already. Marketing Richmond as a DC airport is ridiculous. I hope their pax enjoy 2 hour drives to their FINAL destination.

How do you fit an average sized American male (5'8") into a seat with a 28" pitch?

Uncomfortably. (And isn't the avg height for an adult male more like 6'0"?) In any case, if you're any bigger than Freddie Patek*, you are not going to like this airline.

*Bonus points for me for dropping the mid-70's Royals reference into this thread.