Bluejackets From United States, joined Mar 2004, 274 posts, RR: 4 Posted (4 years 1 week 3 days 3 hours ago) and read 4793 times:
The top story in today's Columbus Dispatch Business section had news of a new LCC, Skybus Airlines, moving closer to starting up operations. The new airline has gained financing from several well-known organizations in the Columbus area, such as the Dispatch's owners, Wolfe Enterprises.
The airline is shooting for a Fall 2006 date for their first flight. They plan to serve new destinations that are not currently served non-stop from Columbus. It is mentioned in the article, west coast cities are a high priority for Skybus.
By spring of 2006, the airline hopes to have bought aircraft and hired employees. Skybus plans to use 150-seaters, which could mean A320 series or B737 series aircraft. There is a possibility the airline could use Columbus' other airport, Rickenbacker (LCK), which has a charter terminal, for their ops instead of CMH.
Analysts are skeptical about starting a brand new carrier in the current state of the airline industry.
My opinions: I believe this thing could work in Columbus. Those travelers who fly through CMH on a regular basis, and head west on a regular basis, will flock to Skybus for non-stops. The question is, will the yields be high enough? Maybe for 1X or 2X daily to LAX, SFO, SEA.
I think if the airlines establishes themselves as a quality, friendly airline which also offers low fares and non-stop destinations from CMH, it could become the airline of choice, almost a "hometown" airline for Central Ohioans. The question remains though, is there enough demand for all these new flights? It will be a challenge to consistently fill the flights. Columbus in no New York City, Chicago, or LA.
I think if the city of Columbus gets behind them, flys them, supports them, and endorses them, those across the nation will as well. It is a crowded market for these kind of carriers with JetBlue, AirTran, Spirit, Frontier, and you can add Southwest in there too. CMH is lacking all of those carriers except WN. There is a wide opening for someone to take them on. If Skybus can be competitive, offer lower prices than other LCC's, a quality, enjoyable flying experience, and a build a good reputation, there could be an even bigger LCC battle brewing.
Good luck to Skybus and their team!
Edit for image & mention of LCK
[Edited 2005-06-30 15:13:25]
[Edited 2005-06-30 15:24:27]
It's funny when I tell people I love planes and they think I'm weird.
DeltaRules From United States, joined Sep 2001, 3130 posts, RR: 15 Reply 1, posted (4 years 1 week 3 days 2 hours ago) and read 4684 times:
Interesting...LAX is by far the most traveled to market that doesn't have non-stop service from CMH. ( http://www.port-columbus.com/flight/stats/quarterly/2005_1q.pdf Page 5) They may be able to do something with a CMH-LAX flight. Why would they try & start an airline with the industry in the shape it's in?
I'd be interested to see if they would fly out of LCK...there may be a problem with space, though. The terminal there is tiny- I was there last week. It has a baggage claim, two ticket counters & an escalator. That's it. There are only two gates; Pan Am has Gate 1 & Hooters uses Gate 2, even though they aren't used the whole week (PA flies in Fri-Mon & I think Hooters isn't all week with their flights to MYR & Gary).
PVD757 From United States, joined Aug 2003, 3205 posts, RR: 19 Reply 2, posted (4 years 1 week 3 days 1 hour ago) and read 4644 times:
Too bad they will use 150 seat 320's since only LAX has enough demand to fill that sized aircraft (to markets without nonstop service). They will almost have to serve some markets that have cureetn service if they are have any hope of surviving...
Bluejackets From United States, joined Mar 2004, 274 posts, RR: 4 Reply 6, posted (4 years 1 week 3 days ago) and read 4553 times:
Quoting PVD757 (Reply 2): Too bad they will use 150 seat 320's since only LAX has enough demand to fill that sized aircraft (to markets without nonstop service). They will almost have to serve some markets that have cureetn service if they are have any hope of surviving...
Yes, I'm not quite sure where they think all of these pax will come from. It sounds like they are still pretty confident nonetheless.
I think they will start out on some established routes too, like CMH-NYC, CMH-ORD/MDW, CMH-DCA, CMH-PHX, CMH-Florida.
Quoting TinPusher007 (Reply 5): I think you will see DL beefing up service (hopefully) out of CMH to defend its focus city.
It seems as though they are already taking a step towards that with the expected announcment of CMH-SLC service with Delta Connection on E-170 jets this fall. Looking further ahead, if Skybus wants to go CMH-LAX, I could see Delta doing the same thing. There may be some empty seats though if demand doesn't pick up.
It's funny when I tell people I love planes and they think I'm weird.
DAL767400ER From Germany, joined Feb 2005, 5434 posts, RR: 53 Reply 9, posted (4 years 1 week 3 days ago) and read 4537 times:
A new LCC at these times in the industry, and the smallest plane a 150-seater, great idea :roll: . Most large markets (with few exceptions) are already served from CMH by either WN or DL, plus some other LCC's with limited flights. And if this airline wer to start, you can bet DL would pull a NW@IND and beef up service from CMH. SLC is a given, and perhaps there might be more "connecting the dots" done by DL, like CMH-RDU, CMH-MSY, CMH-GSO or even CMH-LAX. Hey, perhaps the Columbus Airport Authority is setting this up to get DL to do just that .
OPNLguy From United States, joined Jun 1999, 13092 posts, RR: 83 Reply 11, posted (4 years 1 week 3 days ago) and read 4505 times:
Quoting Tornado82 (Reply 10): Isn't this the same outfit who tried to woo a desperate PIT into giving them money, but PIT didn't have the money to invest?
I believe you're referring to Ed Beauvais' "Project Roam" which is a different deal...
The Skybus outfit is headed by Captain Ken Gile, a former Southwest Flight Ops exec, and a quite capable (and nice) guy...
ALL views, opinions expressed are mine ONLY and are NOT representative of those shared by Southwest Airlines Co.
MaverickM11 From United States, joined Apr 2000, 11283 posts, RR: 47 Reply 15, posted (4 years 1 week 2 days 23 hours ago) and read 4429 times:
Quoting 1MillionFlyer (Reply 14): then why do they overnight 5 airplanes there and their planes are 70-100% full every time I fly them from CMH?
Seeing as the average load factor for all except for three of their routes out of CMH in 2004 were all below 65%, I'd say that's not stellar. It's not as bad as their CLE station but it's not great.
Absolutely. I think CMH area has the population to support this service.
They can also generate traffic from east cost to midwest (or vice versa) that prefers not to change planes in places like ORD.
Quoting TinPusher007 (Reply 5): I think you will see DL beefing up service (hopefully) out of CMH to defend its focus city.
Sure bet. They are making something of an effort at CMH so they will respond.
Quoting MaverickM11 (Reply 13): And WN isn't doing real hot in CMH at all....
Surprising given the load factors I've seen. Perhaps they have missed the mark on service?
GothamSpotter From United States, joined Jan 2005, 345 posts, RR: 0 Reply 24, posted (4 years 1 week 2 days 22 hours ago) and read 4232 times:
How much coke do these airline execs ingest to think they can start airlines at a time like this? And where do they find investors, at Gamblers Anonymous meetings?
As someone who is starting a business in a field with some gigantic competitors, I don't wish anyone to fail. But I do question the sanity of those involved in these debacles. Realistically, the chips are stacked against me, just as it is against these speculative airlines, but the cost of entry in our market is perhaps equivalent to a couple dozen roundtrips on Concorde, whereas these guys are throwing $100 million or more into the toilet.
P.S.: If there are any investors out there who would like to throw some coin into a venture that isn't affected by chaotic variables like fuel prices and weather, doesn't require exorbitant terrorism insurance and doesn't involve any union employees, let me know.
MaverickM11 From United States, joined Apr 2000, 11283 posts, RR: 47 Reply 25, posted (4 years 1 week 2 days 22 hours ago) and read 4239 times:
Quoting OptionsCLE (Reply 23): Are you sure about CLE? CLE-BNA and the return flight are always full when I fly. Can't speak for the rest of the routes
In 2004 CLE had the lowest load factor of all WN routes out of LAS and PHX at about 50% each. I don't think the average load factor for the entire station is above 60%.
E pur si muove -Galileo
26 MasseyBrown: Skybus, according to their DOT filing, is very thinly capitalized. They started in April, 2004 with $3.5 million about half of which was gone by the t
27 Bluejackets: Have you ever thought that customers would actually like a new, fresh, non-bankrupt, simple, reliable, cost-friendly, customer-friendly airline that
28 BoeingPride800: Kind of a lame name. I mean, AIRbus, and now SKYbus. lol.
29 Thomacf: I wonder if they went over to OSU and did a little homework on the idea of an airline hub in Columbus. Not only has this the general topic been discus
30 Bluejackets: I totally agree. I heard in their meeting the names BlueJet and TranAir were also tossed around before finally settling on Skybus! If the lack of cre
31 Tornado82: They also looked at combining Sky or Air with Midwest... but some bums already had that name too. (J/K to Skywest and Air Midwest, not calling you bum
32 Midway2AirTran: Count me the optimist, but this is what I think....Opportunity always looms in others' dimise, there has been no better time to get started if you ar
33 Bluejackets: Agreed, but if Skybus offered a quality airline and lower costs than at CAK/DAY/SDF, it could go back to a similar situation that we had in the mid/l
34 Stirling: That was laugh-out-loud funny. Formed to operate out of Fulton County/Atlanta-never did. Bought assets of Frontier Horizon in '85. Never did anything
35 Womack17: I firmly believe that DL will begin nonstop CMH/RDU service as the market is certainly a viable one. AA didn't stop that service because of pax loads
36 Bluejackets: Good idea, and Caravelle could promote free history lessons! How about: Tressel Airways (with pic of Tress on the tail) Cowtown Airlines (black and w
37 Tornado82: And like Jet Blue has different tail patterns... they could have different ways of dotting the I in Ohio on the tail.
39 Luv2fly: I could see them pulling from DAY and CVG, though the other airports, CAK, SDF and CLE would be a stretch due to the distance.
40 Dutchjet: How about........GOODBYE COLUMBUS, or GOODBUY COLUMBUS....to tie in the LCC idea? I dont think this will work, there is already a lot of competition i
42 CaptOveur: As someone whose family lives in Dayton and flies there often I am getting kind of sick of CMH getting all the air traffic. I positively hate the Colu
43 Bluejackets: Indeed, it is a mess to drive to CMH from any direction (with the east being a bit of an exception) during the 4-6PM hours during the week. The morni
44 1MillionFlyer: F9 starts 2x daily service to DEN and points west and south starting 8.31 with Horizon CRJ-700's. F9 already started 2x CAK-DEN with A319 on 6/15, so
45 CaptOveur: "F9 starts 2x daily service to DEN and points west and south starting 8.31 with Horizon CRJ-700's." It won't last a year.. Dayton has a knack for piss
46 Bluejackets: Good deal, maybe those Horizon CR7's and F9 will come to CMH after they're out of DAY!
47 1MillionFlyer: I agree sadly. I was born at Wright Pat and lived in Fairborn and Beavercreek twp from 0 to 18 years old. I left DAY for CMH lived there for 12 years
48 Stirling: THAT IS BRILLIANT! NO! I am dead serious. I think you should fire off a letter as soon as possible...but first CYA, and get PAID. Don't be one of the
49 1MillionFlyer: I thik they should call it "Cash Cow airlines" serving Cow Town. or perhaps "Chapter 11 Air"
50 DAYflyer: Perhaps CO's service levels and competitive pricing have something to do with it
51 WesternA318: Rock on DAYFlyer! I would have to agree with you on that, after being on a CLE-LAS 738 and then a PHX-CLE 73G the other day. Although I dunno what WN'
52 N766UA: What a truly terrible name for an airline. I refuse to fly an airline called "Skybus." The name "Airbus" is derogatory enough and they're just a manuf
53 GMUAirbusA320: Wow...hopefully they'll give people double or triple miles!! With any luck, they'll run up all kinds of great discounts and when DL runs Skybus out o
54 GMUAirbusA320: That wasn't a jab at you Tin Pusher...just DL
55 MaverickM11: No, but I have looked at the 2004 DOT data for WN in CLE, and CLE is terrible.
56 ContnlEliteCMH: Well, this *is* the city whose NHL team is named the Blue Jackets. Honestly, I couldn't think of a worse name when they unveiled it. Maybe if they ca
57 Smcmac32msn: I'd jump all over this if they flew into MSN. My bro lives near CMH and we fly back and fourth to see eachother. I'm sure he'd like it too considering
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