Skybus began to sell tickets this morning. As their press release mentions, at least 10 seats on every flight will be offered at $10(excluding taxes and fees). All flights will be operated by Airbus 319 aircraft and all destinations…for now, will be served nonstop from Columbus, OH…their hub.
On May 22nd, service will begin to Burbank(which they bill as Los Angeles), Portsmouth, NH(which they bill as Boston), Kansas City, and Richmond. On May 29th, they’ll add Bellingham, WA(which they bill as Seattle/Vancover), Ft. Lauderdale, and Greensboro/Winston Salem, NC. On June 12, they’ll add Oakland, CA and a second daily flight to Burbank.
Skybus promises to keep its fares lower than the competiton by…as they put it….
- Using state-of-the-art technology to ensure high productivity.
- Minimizing the time its aircraft are parked at gates or spending time taxiing on runways by using only highly efficient airports.
- Flying all Airbus A319 full-size jets, one of the most fuel-efficient aircraft in commercial service.
- Providing customers with an informative, easy-to-navigate web site that allows them to make and change reservations, rent cars, reserve hotel and resort accommodations, and purchase admission to popular attractions without the need for an expensive call center.
- Maximizing revenue through a variety of ways including offering advertisers space on both the inside and outside of Skybus’ fleet.
Now, let’s translate that…and highlight some other ‘pluses’…from their Rules of Flying.
- Don’t pay for everyone else’s baggage – First two bags – $5. After that, $50. Excess size and weight also incur a charge. Any item larger than 32x47x47 will cost $25, and weight over 50lbs is $25.
- Hungry? Thirsty? Bring cash. – No complimentary beverages, snacks, pillows, blankets, etc. And if you want to bring your own food…don’t. It cuts into their profit margin.
- Bring a book – No In-Flight Entertainment. Not that we expected it.
- Don’t Call Us – They have NO call center. Apparently, phone banks cut into the profit margin as well. Even Ryanair has the equivalent of a 900 number for calls. We hope their online customer service is well-staffed.
- Don’t Be Late. We won’t Be. – Yeah, right.
- Don’t Expect an Army of Gate Agents – Or any. They subcontract everywhere. The operation is less than 50 actual employees. So no one will be there until the plane is most times.
- Yeah…we’ve got preferred seats…Sort of – For $10, you can board before anyone else…Of course…what order do the $10 people board in?
- Tickets are nonrefundable – Not really a surprise. The change fee is $40, which isn’t horrible.
- Bigger is not Better – Their rationale for serving Portsmouth, NH and calling it Boston-adjacent. We’d rather serve Portsmouth on its own merits…ie people who would have went to Boston instead.
- No spontaneous dancing in the aisles – Not likely…there’s probably a fee for it.
We are concerned about this…the no-frills approach that works in Europe coming to the United States. Bargain basement handling. An airline should have a phone. It should have people there for more than 5 minutes before and after the flight to deal with the situation…even if it is a handling company. It should be proud to fly to Portsmouth…and not try to sell it as Boston…And no food of your own is just petty(although it probably saves on cleaning costs). We wait to see if the level of service is above Ryanair, as the product is clearly a US version of it.