SKYBUS is ticking me off!!!!

[greatam]

It seems to me that the OP is not complaining about the policy, but rather the lack of communication to/from Skybus. Their "we only communicate via website" approach is fine IF it works. To the OP, and to me, their communication does not work, because it does not exist.

 

Greatam, I tried your approach on the website. The ONLY 5 options Skybus provides are the 5 days PRIOR to my husband's arrival in GSO. So how could he possibly fly GSO-Wilmington before he even gets to GSO? That's the kind of frustration that results from lack of communication. We're on our third email to Skybus, asking for help/resolution. So far, no response at all.

 

If those are all the flights available, I personally would cancel the tickets. I think SkyBus is going down VERY fast. They have canceled flights left and right in the last two weeks. Which makes seats almost non existent. If this is a "MUST BE THERE" business trip, I would look for another airline.

 

IF you REALLY need to contact Skybus:

 

Bill Diffenderffer

Chief executive officer

(614) 947-3103

bill@skybus.com

billdiffenderffer@skybus.com

 

Ken Gile

President and chief operating officer

(614) 947-3104

ken@skybus.com

kengile@skybus.com

 

Charlie Clifton

Vice chairman

(614) 947-3105

charlesclifton10@hotmail.com

 

Judy Timberlake

VP of Marketing

(614) 947-3041

judy.timberlake@skybus.com

 

Denis Carvil

Vice president, ground and airports

(614) 947-3375

denis.carvil@skybus.com

[Jade13]

If those are all the flights available, I personally would cancel the tickets. I think SkyBus is going down VERY fast. They have canceled flights left and right in the last two weeks. Which makes seats almost non existent. If this is a "MUST BE THERE" business trip, I would look for another airline.

 

IF you REALLY need to contact Skybus:

 

Bill Diffenderffer

Chief executive officer

(614) 947-3103

bill@skybus.com

billdiffenderffer@skybus.com

 

Ken Gile

President and chief operating officer

(614) 947-3104

ken@skybus.com

kengile@skybus.com

 

Charlie Clifton

Vice chairman

(614) 947-3105

charlesclifton10@hotmail.com

 

Judy Timberlake

VP of Marketing

(614) 947-3041

judy.timberlake@skybus.com

 

Denis Carvil

Vice president, ground and airports

(614) 947-3375

denis.carvil@skybus.com

 

That is odd that a VP is using a hotmail account (probab only wants that one on the web).

[bsdmhutch]

Not sure how Skybus will fare in the near-or long-term ... they started service March 13 out of Chicago Gary airport with two roundtrips daily to Greensboro. Now, a mere 10 days later, they are down to only one roundtrip between Chicago and Greensboro.

 

Greensboro is not their main hub...it's secondary. They cut several underperforming routes from Greensboro. My hubby flew on them in Jan and loved them, but we have had issues with canceled flights too. Ours was because of fog. Plane couldn't get into Greensboro, therefore there was no plane to go back to Columbus.

 

Just because they are trimming underperforming flights, does not mean they are headed down the tubes. I know several other airlines that are canceling flights left and right too and now is the time of year they re-evaluate ALL their schedules to see how they can make them more cost effective. You know, the fuel prices aren't helping matters any either. Several flights have been canceled lately due to not having enough passengers on that flight to warrant the fuel expense. And some of these are big name airlines.

[Cruisin' Ron VA]

Greatam, I think you are being helpful, but I'm not sure the OP wants the help:confused: .

 

Well sometimes its not what you say but how you say it. ;)

[greatam]

. Several flights have been canceled lately due to not having enough passengers on that flight to warrant the fuel expense. And some of these are big name airlines.

 

Please provide documentation. This has been bandied about the internet and every case has proven to be an urban legend.

[pms4104]

Just because they are trimming underperforming flights, does not mean they are headed down the tubes. I know several other airlines that are canceling flights left and right too and now is the time of year they re-evaluate ALL their schedules to see how they can make them more cost effective. You know, the fuel prices aren't helping matters any either. Several flights have been canceled lately due to not having enough passengers on that flight to warrant the fuel expense. And some of these are big name airlines.

I did not say they were tanking ... but it does seem odd they would cancel 50 percent of their Chicago-Greensboro capacity a mere 10 days after introducing the service, not even giving themselves a fair chance to develop any type of market share/public following. Not even enough time to determine which of the two daily flights might/might not be underperforming.

 

Agreed, fuel prices are taking their toll all over the place (like at my neighborhood pump, for starters) and many carriers indeed are changing flight schedules for various reasons ... but, as I stated, seems odd they'd be so quick to pull half their capacity from a newly introduced city.

 

If I recall reading correctly elsewhere (these boards and/or local newspaper), all of their flights feed into and out of Greensboro ... so that is the main city in their system. So, if I want to go to Columbus, I go to Greensboro first then onward to Columbus.

[Cruisin' Ron VA]

I am not sure I understand the Greensboro thing. Anytime I look at Skybus for curiosity for prices of places I want to go I always have to choose Columbus as my first stop. This is from RIC which is the closest airport for Skybus from where I live. So no matter where I want to fly I have to go to Columbus first then continue on. What worries me is it seems I have to create two seperate booking to do this.

[pms4104]

I am not sure I understand the Greensboro thing. Anytime I look at Skybus for curiosity for prices of places I want to go I always have to choose Columbus as my first stop. This is from RIC which is the closest airport for Skybus from where I live. So no matter where I want to fly I have to go to Columbus first then continue on. What worries me is it seems I have to create two seperate booking to do this.

My bad ... just took a look at their website and it appears more flights go in/out of Columbus than Greensboro. The mid-point city likely determined by where you are and where you want to go.

 

I already knew of many of their budget-minded policies but what really jumped out at me on the website was: if you have two flights be sure to allow enough time to claim your bags, schlepp and recheck them for the next flight.

 

I didn't play long enough to see if you have to book two separate flights but if that is true ... guess there are no thru-fares and perhaps the total price involving more than one flight is more hassle than I care to bother with.

[bsdmhutch]

If I recall reading correctly elsewhere (these boards and/or local newspaper), all of their flights feed into and out of Greensboro ... so that is the main city in their system. So, if I want to go to Columbus, I go to Greensboro first then onward to Columbus.

 

Their main hub is in Columbus. That Chicago/Gary, IN one is one of the very few that you cannot fly direct to Columbus. There are several destinations that I would have to fly from Greensboro to Columbus to catch.

[bsdmhutch]

Please provide documentation. This has been bandied about the internet and every case has proven to be an urban legend.

 

No time....sorry. I have other things going on and no time to spend researching flights that I have no intention going on.

 

It was just a statement and not meant to be taken so far in depth. I just happened to see this thread and since I have done some searching on them, I thought I would offer my help. Sorry.

[greatam]

I did not say they were tanking ... but it does seem odd they would cancel 50 percent of their Chicago-Greensboro capacity a mere 10 days after introducing the service, not even giving themselves a fair chance to develop any type of market share/public following. Not even enough time to determine which of the two daily flights might/might not be underperforming.

 

Agreed, fuel prices are taking their toll all over the place (like at my neighborhood pump, for starters) and many carriers indeed are changing flight schedules for various reasons ... but, as I stated, seems odd they'd be so quick to pull half their capacity from a newly introduced city.

 

If I recall reading correctly elsewhere (these boards and/or local newspaper), all of their flights feed into and out of Greensboro ... so that is the main city in their system. So, if I want to go to Columbus, I go to Greensboro first then onward to Columbus.

 

They have two hubs-Greensboro and Columbus. You can get a direct flight from Greensboro to certain places up the East Coast without going through Columbus, which means point to point service. That was a nice enhancement and flights from Boston (Manchester NH) to NYC (Newburgh, NY) for $10.00 are a heck of a bargain. But if you can't get there on time, what good are the tickets? Skybus only has 7 planes and after what happened at Xmas when two went mechanical and they stranded a lot of people, I haven't thought much about them until my own employee started having problems.

 

Not only did they cancel/cut the Gary flights, but they cut some of the Greensboro flights. My employee has been dealing with this since January. He had purchased tickets for his adult kids at college to see him and Grandma during Spring Break in Kansas City. Flights have been changed, flights have been canceled. He finally through in the towel and bought other tickets. One of his girls ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY had to be back at school for a recital. He just couldn't take the chance anymore. Only reason I know anything about SkyBus, other than my general interest in the aviation industry.

[Cruisin' Ron VA]

 

Flights have been changed, flights have been canceled. He finally through in the towel and bought other tickets. One of his girls ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY had to be back at school for a recital. He just couldn't take the chance anymore.

 

Sounds like a lot of the major airlines these days. :rolleyes:

 

All it takes is one thunderstorm and American Airlines can come to a complete stop! :eek:

[greatam]

 

All it takes is one thunderstorm and American Airlines can come to a complete stop! :eek:

 

DFW-yes

 

But with AA, AT LEAST you have a CHANCE of making your destination close to on time. Reroute through ORD/RDU/STL. Don't HAVE to go through DFW. If you are already AT DFW, you have no choices. But if you are just leaving on your trip, you can generally reroute. With SkyBus and a couple of the other VERY small LCC's, you have NO chance to reroute. They have too few planes and very limited schedules.

[pms4104]

And ... they don't play nice with any other carrier. So if Skybus and other low-cost carriers have problems, you wait for an available seat on that carrier only. At least with the legacies your ticket can be endorsed to a different airline.

[pms4104]

Not sure how Skybus will fare in the near-or long-term ... they started service March 13 out of Chicago Gary airport with two roundtrips daily to Greensboro. Now, a mere 10 days later, they are down to only one roundtrip between Chicago and Greensboro.

To clarify ... it wasn't just that they cut half their Chicago-Greensboro service, they cut half their total service 10 days after opening up in Chicago!

[pms4104]

Skybus only has 7 planes and after what happened at Xmas when two went mechanical ...

 

That's 29 percent of the fleet down for mechanicals!!!!!!

[greatam]

That's 29 percent of the fleet down for mechanicals!!!!!!

 

And it happened either Xmas morning or Dec. 24 morning. Emails were sent out early in the morning, so lots of people went to the airport anyhow. They were just STUCK. It was all over the Midwest newspapers when it happened.

[pms4104]

And it happened either Xmas morning or Dec. 24 morning. Emails were sent out early in the morning, so lots of people went to the airport anyhow. They were just STUCK. It was all over the Midwest newspapers when it happened.

I missed or paid no attention to the media hoopla, as Skybus had yet to come to our area ... and we were freshly returned from the Amsterdam and, likely, catching up on laundry or some other menial chore.

[YoPhilly]

Well, I'm glad my husband only paid $32 RT b/c it certainly appears that neither flight may be operating by the middle of May.

 

We may take your advice and just get a refund.

[Cruisin' Ron VA]

Ok well wasnt it JetBlue not too long ago that had a huge mess and the CEO had to publicly apologize?

 

Hmm was it Continental that held their passengers hostage on their planes when the snow came down?

 

And of course a recent thunderstorm in DFW shut down American Airlines.

 

Point being it can happen on any airline for any reason no matter how big or small.

 

Start driving.

[greatam]

Ok well wasnt it JetBlue not too long ago that had a huge mess and the CEO had to publicly apologize?

 

Hmm was it Continental that held their passengers hostage on their planes when the snow came down?

 

And of course a recent thunderstorm in DFW shut down American Airlines.

 

Point being it can happen on any airline for any reason no matter how big or small.

 

Start driving.

 

You are missing the point. The SkyBus cancellations on Xmas morning were MECHANICALS. No more planes, no other flights, no agreements with other airlines to get the pax moving. All your examples are weather related.

[wrp96]

And then there's the fact that less than a year after the airline started the CEO has resigned to return to his book writing career http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2008-03-24-skybus-ceo_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

[Jade13]

And then there's the fact that less than a year after the airline started the CEO has resigned to return to his book writing career http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2008-03-24-skybus-ceo_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

 

Here's the article:

 

 

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Skybus Airlines has made an abrupt change in its corporate cockpit, replacing the chief executive who guided the low-cost carrier through its launch and first year.

In a statement from its Columbus headquarters, Skybus says Bill Diffenderffer has resigned to resume a book-writing career and will be succeeded as CEO by Mike Hodge, the company's chief financial officer for the past year.

Skybus Chairman Robert Kidder says Diffenderffer feels it's time for others to move the airline forward.

The company has endured some bumps since it began flying on May 22, 2007.

Over two days during Christmas week, Skybus canceled up to a quarter of its flights because of problems with two of its planes. Recently, it has been dropping flights and destinations because of high fuel costs.

[Globaliser]

I agree that schedule changes etc can happen on any airline, and that anyone who booked Skybus expressly agreed to their (lack of) communications policy and can't grumble about it afterwards just because they never thought for a moment that anything might go wrong.

 

But it seems to me that the writing is very likely to be on the wall for this airline. It is not a happy picture at all.

[musicgirl63]

If those are all the flights available, I personally would cancel the tickets. I think SkyBus is going down VERY fast. They have canceled flights left and right in the last two weeks. Which makes seats almost non existent. If this is a "MUST BE THERE" business trip, I would look for another airline.

 

IF you REALLY need to contact Skybus:

 

Bill Diffenderffer

Chief executive officer

(614) 947-3103

bill@skybus.com

billdiffenderffer@skybus.com

 

Ken Gile

President and chief operating officer

(614) 947-3104

ken@skybus.com

kengile@skybus.com

 

Charlie Clifton

Vice chairman

(614) 947-3105

charlesclifton10@hotmail.com

 

Judy Timberlake

VP of Marketing

(614) 947-3041

judy.timberlake@skybus.com

 

Denis Carvil

Vice president, ground and airports

(614) 947-3375

denis.carvil@skybus.com

 

I tried...they got bounced back as not found