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Piedmont Triad International Airport (GSO)

cityboi

By cityboi
in The NC Triad

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kmurphy19662003 Whistle-Stop

kmurphy19662003

Posted
Posted

Enough about the airport code then. So who wants to talk about Skybus?

What kind of passenger count has there been on the existing Skybus flight? I'm too lazy to look it up myself but I find it hard to believe there is enough point-to-point traffic between Columbus Ohio and the Triad to consistently fill an A319 to as much as half-capacity at any price. I think even a 50 pax commuter jet flight would be marginal. Neither airport is a destination for what could be considered heavy tourist travel so the normal customer load would have to be business travelers. Speaking for this business traveler, we like frequency and frequent flyer miles. And while price and a non-stop are considerations we will choose a reasonable price and a hub over a rock-bottom price if it means we can get the first two points and can have the ability to rebook on a flight the same day and avoid an overnight stay if our flight is canceled. I can't say that Skybus fits the criteria. (This is hypothetical - I fly often but I have never flown to Columbus from anywhere.)

For the vacation destinations starting next year I can kind of see it. But even then I would think the demand would be too uneven to support a regular daily schedule. I suspect their business plan was based on $40 per barrel fuel. At $100 a barrel, I

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suburban george3 Town

suburban george3

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I'd like to hope this lazy man's analysis is wrong and they will succeed and prosper. But how they are going to do it just puzzles me. Anybody else have an opinion? (Hopefully more educated or at least more optimistic than mine.)

Skybus just had a 'PR' disaster at the Columbus base last week. 2 of the jets went out of service cancelling many flights. Since Skybus has no agreements with other airlines, that leaves Skybus passengers with the 'joy' of having to fend for themselves with other airlines dealing with Holiday traffic. The company did offer refunds and tried to rebook on other Skybus flights. Approximately 1,000 travellers were effected, but it made national news.

No flights from/to PTI were effected.

Also making news at he same time, Skybus lost $16 million in the three months ending Sept. 30th.

I would expect Skybus to bleed cash for a while, but I'm not really aware of how well capitalized they are. I haven't heard many people speak highly of the airline as it seems employee training is not a priority with the company. I hope for PTI's sake, they catch on and make it, but the loss of cash and the holiday 'black eye' doesn't bode well.

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suburban george3 Town

suburban george3

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In another 'fiasco' for Skybus airlines, passengers were stranded Saturday night after a pilot called in sick for the flight to Hartford. Skybus doesn't have crew on standby for such situation, so they are required to ground these flights. The more I hear on blogs about how 'bad' this airline is, it just concerns me that they will not succeed at PTI or any market.

FOX8 News Article On Skybus Flight Grounded at PTI

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suburban george3 Town

suburban george3

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Skybus is increasing fees for checked baggage from $5 per piece to $12 and also increasing priority boarding fees from $10 to $12.50. This is an effort to keep ticket prices down in the face of rising fuel prices.

FOX8 Article About Skybus Fee increases

Has anyone flown Skybus? How was their service and the flight? I have looked at some of their flights to Gary, IN and Burbank, CA. I still haven't found fares that would make it more attractive to fly them out of PTI over driving to Charlotte or Raleigh with a legacy carrier. I worry this airline won't last long enough to help PTI in the long term.

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suburban george3 Town

suburban george3

Posted
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Has anyone flown Skybus? How was their service and the flight? I have looked at some of their flights to Gary, IN and Burbank, CA. I still haven't found fares that would make it more attractive to fly them out of PTI over driving to Charlotte or Raleigh with a legacy carrier. I worry this airline won't last long enough to help PTI in the long term.

*BUMP*

Just curious if anyone has had an experience with Skybus? Their fares are looking more attractive as I am planning some trips later this year...

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crowe1856 Unincorporated Area

crowe1856

Posted
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*BUMP*

Just curious if anyone has had an experience with Skybus? Their fares are looking more attractive as I am planning some trips later this year...

Flew them in January.

Pros: Cheap tickets. Widebody planes (not the sardine cans you typically get out of GSO).

Cons: We were delayed 30 min leaving, and over 3 hours on the way back (so much for the efficiency of no frills service and brand new aircraft). Delays were an extra drag because they serve smaller airports that don't have as many "pass the time" amenities.

I too have some travel plans later this year, and will give them another try- but I'd think twice if I were on a tight schedule.

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suburban george3 Town

suburban george3

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Posted

I am looking to fly Skybus to Burbank the weekend before July 4th and returning on 4th of July w/e. Currently they are running at least $100 cheaper than competitors out of GSO/CLT/RDU.

There is some news on Skybus, it is cutting back service to PTI due to rising oil prices:

The New Orleans (Gulfport/Biloxi) flight will be terminated. Some other cities are reduced to 1 flight per day, they are New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Ft. Myers. Skybus will only be offering 11 flights out of the airport, effective April 15th.

None of the 80 PTI based employees will be effected.

FOX8 Report on Skybus Cuts.

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suburban george3 Town

suburban george3

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Apparently Skybus is done

I was afraid this would happen, this is bad news for PTI. Airlines are going to struggle for the forseeable future and so will our airport.

I have two friends who just flew to Burbank this past week and are supposed to return Sunday, I hope they are aware of this on their vacation! Since Skybus had no agreements with their competitors, you're on your own to find alternate transport.

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JerseyBoy Burg

JerseyBoy

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Posted

:(

This is very unfortunate for our airport. I was never too impressed with the business model for this company from the get-go. I guess you got what you payed for...

I wonder what the terms and conditions were for the incentives the Triad gave to SkyBus? Does anyone here know? Even if they agreed on paying the money back, judging by how they left their customers out in the rain, I doubt we'll be seeing one penny of it back.

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JerseyBoy Burg

JerseyBoy

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Posted

The problem really had more to do with the cost of oil and not how the business was operatered...just another example of how the current presidential administration has failed our country.

I'm sure as time goes on you'll hear more stories about how they had a certain amount of unpaid bills and were barely making a profit, if at all. I find it very ironic that the former CEO left a couple of weeks right before the whole business went down... :whistling:

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sean Whistle-Stop

sean

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The problem really had more to do with the cost of oil and not how the business was operatered

Ding, ding, ding... you're spot on! Sadly, this won't be the end of airlines failing to operate without the platform of cheap abundant petroleum. I'm worried about the fate of our beloved PTI and can't feel optimistic about its future. With regards to oil, 85 million barrels a day is the most we have ever pulled out of the ground globally; guess how many barrels a day we use globally? Economies are wobbling...

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hueion39 Whistle-Stop

hueion39

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The problem really had more to do with the cost of oil and not how the business was operatered...just another example of how the current presidential administration has failed our country.

Come on now, you can't scapegoat Bush for everything. To what extent do you credit overreaching regulation which increases costs?

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luvdowntowngso Whistle-Stop

luvdowntowngso

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Hey! I have an idea. Why don't we just kick the remaining airlines out of PIT?......Especially bloodsucking Delta and US Airways. They are totally taking advantage of the situation at the airport. They are robbing us with their out-of-control fares. You can't blame anyone for going to RDU or CLT.

Skybus was our only hope. I think 24,000 Skybus passengers in February spoke to the desperate need for a low-cost

airline at PTI. Their leaving is a very sad situation.

We all need to face the facts. With jet fuel reaching the ozone layer, along RDU and CLT so close by, PTI will never really

be a true passenger airport. I hate that fact more than anyone! Is it really anyone's fault? No! It is more of a "who got there first" issue along with geography! We are truly "stuck" in the middle of two emerging metro areas. In many cases, we can take advantage of that fact in very positive ways. However, when it comes passanges airports, we are pretty much screwed!

With 65% of the US population living within 700 miles of the Triad, we should realize and focus on the strengths of our location and emerging interstate network. If we work at it, we can become one hell of a distribution and transportation hub. FedEx is an excellent start!

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intcvlcphlga Hamlet

intcvlcphlga

Posted
Posted

Come on now, you can't scapegoat Bush for everything. To what extent to you credit overreaching regulation which increases costs?

I'm trying to figure out what exactly you are asking with the question: "To what extent to you credit overreaching regulation which increases costs?" I don't think you can lay the demise of Skybus at the feet of Bush, but the overall structural problems with our economy and the energy crisis we are facing are very much the result of his extreme indifference to fiscal responsibility, his tone deafness to geo-politics, his pre-emptive (dishonest) warmongering, his inability to grapple with scientific realities, etc. I feel sorry for Obama, Clinton and McCain, one of whom will have to spend the next 4 years cleaning up the incredible mess wrought by Bush, Cheney, Rove, Rumsfeld, Rice, etc. It will be necessary for our next president to rebuild not only our economy, but virtually every single aspect of this country, from foreign policy to education to the health of the planet.

Hey! I have an idea. Why don't we just kick the remaining airlines out of PIT?......Especially bloodsucking Delta and US Airways. They are totally taking advantage of the situation at the airport. They are robbing us with their out-of-control fares. You can't blame anyone for going to RDU or CLT.

Skybus was our only hope. I think 24,000 Skybus passengers in February spoke to the desperate need for a low-cost

airline at PTI. Their leaving is a very sad situation.

We all need to face the facts. With jet fuel reaching the ozone layer, along RDU and CLT so close by, PTI will never really

be a true passenger airport. I hate that fact more than anyone! Is it really anyone's fault? No! It is more of a "who got there first" issue along with geography! We are truly "stuck" in the middle of two emerging metro areas. In many cases, we can take advantage of that fact in very positive ways. However, when it comes passanges airports, we are pretty much screwed!

With 65% of the US population living within 700 miles of the Triad, we should realize and focus on the strengths of our location and emerging interstate network. If we work at it, we can become one hell of a distribution and transportation hub. FedEx is an excellent start!

I have an idea - let's resurrect Piedmont Airlines!

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