A discussion about the airline industry, airline employees, and all things related

Having been granted a waiver from the Department of Transportation to begin ticket sales before the application is approved the nation's newest low cost carrier started selling $10 tickets at their website this morning.  Ten seats on each Skybus flight will sell for $10 plus all taxes and fees bringing a round trip ticket to near $40.  (Recent check still has many tickets at the $10 price)  And the $10 tickets are not a promotional fare.

Skybus will be using Airbus A319’s on lease from a company until Airbus starts delivery of the 65 A319’s that Skybus has ordered. 

Skybus will be rolling out destinations in stages.  Los Angeles (Burbank). Kansas City, Fort Lauderdale, Richmond, Boston (Portsmouth), Seattle and Vancouver (Bellingham), Greensboro/Winston-Salem, and San Francisco (Oakland) are cities that Skybus will serve in the coming weeks. 

Skybus, modeled after Europe’s ultra low fare airline Ryanair, hopes to keep costs down by automating everything.  They only sell tickets online, they offer check-in online or at kiosks, will charge for checked luggage, will charge for beverages on board, etc.  They will even sell you SMS and email updates about your flight. 

But for $10 a ticket plus taxes…

Now Skybus has been critized for the really low wages they pay their staff, the hub airport they will use for their operations and the fact that there will be no jet bridges for passengers.  Have fun walking to your plane in the winter in cities like Columbus, Portsmouth, and Kansas City.       

The real question is will the American public embrace cheap flights over the things they have come to expect on the airlines?  

Columbus Dispatch 

picture via Columbus Dispatch