1. Who wants to go to Columbus?Like its European brethren, Skybus offers an exclusive point-to-point service. Its website does not allow you to book connections through its hub in Columbus, nor are you protected if you book a back-to-back ticket through Columbus and your inbound flight is late. If you want to run point-to-point service, your hub must be a large city where people actually want to go (e.g. New York for jetBlue, Atlanta for AirTran, Denver to a lesser extent for Frontier). I guess Skybus thinks it can attract passengers from Cincinnati and Cleveland, but other airlines have tried to set up hubs in Columbus (most recently, America West), and they've all failed.
2. Who wants to go anywhere else they fly?
Skybus brags that it provides service to small, uncongested airports. The problem is that many of these airports are long distances away from the markets they're supposed to serve. Portsmouth is 53 miles from Boston, Greensboro is almost 100 miles from Raleigh and Charlotte, Richmond is 100 miles from Washington, and Bellingham is over 100 miles from Seattle (only 35 miles from Vancouver, but with a perpetually-busy border crossing bottleneck in the way). Once you factor in the time and cost to get to these distant airports, you're not saving much at all.
3. Who do you call when it all goes to hell?
Skybus makes a big deal out of the fact they don't have a call center. Everything is done over the internet. Supposedly, if your flight is cancelled, the website will automatically make alternate arrangements for you. Let's see how that works when the first big Midwestern snowstorm of the year hits. There are always unforeseen issues that require the assistance of a live person on the telephone. I couldn't tell you what they are now, but I assure you, they happen. And, for that matter, let's see what happens if technical difficulties cause the website to refuse to ticket your booking, especially after your credit card is charged.
4. Who wants to deal with the sales pitch?
Another way Skybus keeps its fares cheap is by reportedly paying flight attendants $9 per hour and then giving them a commission on all on-board sales. The result is predictable -- aggressive, repeated suggestions that you purchase drinks or snacks or souvenirs. I don't want my airline travel to involve repeatedly fighting off sales pitches, especially when I'm in a captive environment. Frankly, I'd rather pay a few extra bucks just to be left alone.
5. What happens when you're thirsty? Another way Skybus will make money off its inflight sales is through its policy that outside food and drink are prohibited. While many other airlines have buy-on-board food services, virtually all domestic airlines at least give you free soft drinks, even if they charge you for crappy snack mix. They also tell you that you are welcome to take your own food and drink aboard. Now, it's a well-established fact that air travel can be an incredibly dehydrating experience. Denying people from attending to this health concern unless they pay an additional fee (which is likely exorbitant) is deplorable.
5 comments:
Don't forget crowded planes (156 seats on an Airbus A319 that most airlines put 124 in two classes.)
Safety. What kind of rookie A319 captains are they going to get for $65k/year? The going rate is twice that.
Columbus is already served by two LCCs...Southwest and JetBlue.
good analysis. i agree with your sceptism. in fact, I'm writing an article on them this week for Airline Weekly, an industry newsletter i publish.
I was on the first cancelled Skybus flight on Thursday. I witnessed it "all go to hell" and why it's so important for airlines to operate call centers. I don't see this airline surviving if they continue this way. I'd gladly sacrifice the $10 airfare for the peace of mind that I'll be able to contact an actual human over the phone if I have any questions/concerns about a flight. And I also question the pilot's decision-making skills. We should've never taken off from Columbus if the weather was so bad on the East Coast. We ended up sitting on the plane for 4 hours in Hartford (not our destination)before they decided to take us back to Columbus. 9 hours total on a plane for a flight that should've taken 2 hrs. I won't be flying Skybus again.
I've flown Skybus three times to Chicopee, Massachusetts. The first time, our return flight was canceled due to mechanical problems. We had to drive 2 1/2 hours to Portsmouth, NH to return that evening. The second time we flew, our return flight was also canceled, due to weather. We had to wait until the next day to return (rather than drive to Portsmouth). The third trip our flight out was delayed 4 hours, but our return was on-time.
For all three flights, the flight times were changed by Skybus, after booking by as many as 6 hours.
The Airbus A319's are great planes. However; the distance between seats is ridiculous!!! No flight is full. They should remove a row or two and increase the distance. I'm 6'3" and my knees do not fit. I have to raise my knees off the ground to fit. There's about 10 or 11 inches between the seats!!! I fly all the time for my job. I would never fly Skybus, due to the chance of a canceled flight. I can deal with the probability, but with three bad experiences in a row, it will be some time before I attempt another flight.
The distance between rows is ridiculous! I find it hard to believe that this is legal! You can't have a bag that blocks your easy exit from your seat. But it's OK to have the seats so close that you can barely get out?!? How can the FAA allow this to happen?
I hope someone takes legal action against Skybus for the distance between the seats.
The Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point area is home to over 1.5M people. Raleigh is less than 80 miles from Greensboro. GSO has experienced a 20-25% increase in passengers since Skybus started flying there. I think you are miscalculating the draw that this airport has.
Post a Comment