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Something Else: Only 10 months in business, but Skybus had a great run

by Eric Marotta, Editor
It was a heck of a run while it lasted. Who would have thought you could get a round-trip air fare from Ohio to Los Angeles for $40? Perhaps it was just too good to last.

Now that gasoline prices are approaching $4 per gallon, perhaps a lot of things about the way we live are too good to last.

My wife and I made two trips to California last year on Skybus, the upstart, Columbus-based ultra-low-fare airline that made waves for 10 months, then suddenly folded in early April.

The operators, investors and government agencies that offered the airline millions to make Columbus its hub apparently didn't consider the price of oil might rise from around $60 per barrel to more than $100.

State and local incentives totaled 57 million in hopes the new airline would bolster business in the Columbus area. That's according to the Columbus dispatch, whose subsidiary Wolfe Enterprises Inc. joined investment bankers Morgan Stanley, Fidelity and others to invest $160 million in startup capital.

The airline also relied on low-wage, non-union workers and computerization of ticket sales to cut costs, along with use of relatively out-of-the-way airports.

Smaller airfields are cheaper, and to cut costs even more, passengers walked across the tarmac and climbed stairs to get on and off their planes. I thought it was cool -- that's how ambassadors and presidents land!

* * *

For me, it seemed like a gamble with my first ticket purchase last April.

I hadn't seen family in a few years, and my grandmother and grandfather were 92 and 89, respectively, and not doing too well.

The airline still hadn't made its first flight, but was taking reservations.

Its online reservation system was a challenge, but with 10 seats on each flight reserved for $10 fares, I jumped.

The total cost for a round-trip ticket ended up being $40 -- that's $10 each way, plus another $10 each way in taxes and fees.

I booked our second trip in July, spending a total of $160 on tickets for myself, my wife, our daughter and granddaughter.

Our flight wasn't until January, but we saved at least $1,000 over what any other airline would have charged.

I was lucky. You had to be fast to get the cheap seats.

An hour after I got an e-mail announcing the airline was booking flights from December through March, the $10 air fares were gone and one-way ticket prices to Los Angeles were in the $75 to $125 range.

That's still pretty cheap.

* * *

Things looked good for Skybus. Although it lost $16 million its first quarter, the airline said that was to be expected in such a start-up venture.

The airline then began expanding. It added routes and made Greensboro, N.C. and Portsmouth, N.H. secondary hubs. It even got a license to fly to popular Caribbean destinations.

In January, it was the busiest air carrier at the Port of Columbus, having served 122,000 passengers. The airport credited Skybus for 2007's record year in terms of passenger volume.

Other airlines announced they were cutting service in Columbus due to competition from Skybus.

Even without getting up at 5 a.m. to check my e-mail for $10 deals, I found the airline's fares were low enough I could look forward to flying cheap to numerous destinations.

I was plotting a 2009 ski vacation to New England, a trip to Mardi Gras next February and a skin diving trip to Florida.

Then came disquieting news.

The price of oil kept climbing and reached $100 per barrel -- yet Skybus didn't adjust its fares.

The airline cut some West Coast flights. It canceled plans to start other routes.

The chief executive officer abruptly resigned in late March. Then the airline's No. 2 executive quit.

The airline folded April 5, leaving passengers and flight crews stranded nationwide. About 450 Columbus area employees lost their jobs.

* * *

Not even a month later, skyrocketing gasoline prices are beginning to take a toll on the national economy and at home.

I don't care if Europeans pay $8 per gallon. In the United States, $4 per gallon of gas is going to hurt.

There's talk of rising food prices, truckers' strikes and hard times coming.

I still want to take those vacations, but now I wonder how much they'll cost. Today, it would cost me more to drive to Columbus than it had cost to fly one-way to Los Angeles on Skybus.

In the long run, no matter what happens, or how hard things get, I came out ahead.

I got to see my grandparents, who both died early this year.

And I got a piece of all those millions spent trying to make Skybus work.

E-mail: emarotta@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3171