Independence Air Sale!

[cruiseguy2]

Book by September 1st!

 

GREAT Deals from Washington Dulles Airport:

to Los Angeles: $69

Orlando, Fort Meyers, Tampa, West Palm Beach and Jacksonville: $39

Seattle and Vegas:$79

San Fran: $89

 

Let's see:

Chicago to Seattle (with a stop in Washington Dulles): $109 WITH taxes per way

 

I paid $325 for my R/T fare with American Airlines to go to Seattle from Chicago!

 

These are great deals, especially with fuel being so high!!!

 

-Chris

[hdawson]

Great, IF Indepence continues to fly. Repeat, IF.

[Globaliser]

Great, IF Indepence continues to fly. Repeat, IF.

You have to ask whether this is commercial sense, or commercial desperation.

 

Mind you, it is classic fare sale season. ;)

[hdawson]

Independence is so financially weak, any booking is a crap-shoot. Thinking they may skip Chap 11 and just liquidate. The certainly can't afford $70 oil.

[MRF777]

I work in the airline industry, and I would avoid booking Independence, ATA and Northwest right now.

[hdawson]

To a great extent ATA is being proped up by Southwest.

[MRF777]

To a great extent ATA is being proped up by Southwest.

I still would avoid them.

[DanJ]

I would be less concerned with Northwest, which at least has assets, than FlyI right now. Them delaying their new Airbusses and getting a refund on deposits only bought them another month or less.

[rabelgirls]

:( Boy do I hate to hear this!! I just purchased tickets a few days ago. They are by far the cheapest that I could find for my dates. They are a very poplular airline here in WV. We are not a hub by any means, and have limited airlines that do fly here. I hope they resolve their financial problems soon and do not go belly up! I would hate to lose my ticket and/or my money.

[Globaliser]

I would be less concerned with Northwest, which at least has assets, than FlyI right now.

I think I'd also be less concerned with Northwest than with Delta.

I hope they resolve their financial problems soon and do not go belly up!

One should never say never, but they would have to pull off some miracles to resolve their financial problems. It is almost certainly just a matter of time, now.

[Andros]

I too have tickets already booked. I hope they last long enough to get past Nov. 4th. Would hate to miss my flight to London via Virgin. If something happens do they put you on another airline or am I just going to be SOL.:eek:

[hdawson]

Rablegirl. The situation in Charleston and Huntington will never improve. Both cities have rejected the concept of a regional airport like most other parts of the country. Neither city can support an airport to give proper service or offer competition. These two cities are 45 miles apart but inisist on having their own personal airport. A stupid concept. The idea of a regional airport has been rejected for 45 years. It seems that sometimes West Virginians learn slow.

[MrsPete]

I just flew Independence Air last weekend, and I was completely happy with them. Great price: Charlotte to DC for $40/person. Great service. On time. What more could I ask?

[DanJ]

For most flyers, it's simply price that matters. Unfortunately, they are in a last ditch effort to fill planes, and they are charging unsustainable fares to do it. I have heard they offer good service on board, but that doesn't mean people are going to pay what it's worth, after being accustomed to these money-losing fares.

 

We had an airline in Canada (Jetsgo) that had about the same lifespan as Independence has, and tried the same pricing strategy. Then the day before spring break, they shut the doors.

[DanJ]

Detroit News article on FlyI's possible pending bankruptcy.

http://www.detnews.com/2005/business/0509/20/A01-320682.htm

[wrp96]

Every article I've seen the last week discussing NW and Delta's bankruptcy has mentioned Independence Air as another airline to watch for bankruptcy, and not for a Chapter 11 reorganization, but for a Chapter 7 liquidation, as in it will stop running completely.

 

If I were you, I'd keep my Independence Air tickets but have back up plans in the works in case they do shut down.

[hdawson]

It's important to remember, that when an airline liquidates, there is no notice. You will turn on the news some morning and hear the announcement that XYZ airline has ceased to operate and the creditors have seized the assets. Employees are instructed not to come to work.

[DanJ]

And sometimes the employees aren't even instructed to do that. Sometimes they find out when they show up for work, as in the Jetsgo case I mentioned earlier.

 

Another indication an airline is planning to cease operations is unusual aircraft movements. It's not typically something the public notices, but in Jetsgo's case, the Air Canada forum at flyertalk was abuzz with reports of Jetsgo aircraft lining up at certain airports that usually don't see Jetsgo flights. They wanted to get their owned aircraft moved to a jurisdiction less likely to allow creditors to immediately seize them (Quebec).

[hdawson]

Check your flights and tickets. This will have an impact on quite a few people that rolled the dice.

 

Updated: 06:34 PM EDT

Independence Air cuts 600 jobs as shrinks flights

 

 

NEW YORK, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Independence Air, a unit of FLYi Inc. , said on Friday it planned to cut 600 jobs, or about 18 percent of its workforce, as it slims down its flight schedule in an effort to cut costs.

 

The move comes as FLYi, a former regional feeder airline struggling to succeed as a low-cost carrier, faces concerns it could be forced to seek bankruptcy protection from creditors.

 

Its shares rose 1 cent to 26 cents on Nasdaq.

[racephoto]

I too have tickets already booked. I hope they last long enough to get past Nov. 4th. Would hate to miss my flight to London via Virgin. If something happens do they put you on another airline or am I just going to be SOL.:eek:

 

Andros,

I am assuming you are flying into JFK to connect with Virgin? I think Independence stops flying into JFK on 10/30 now. If so, and they are planning to shuffle you off to EWR or LGA instead you may want to make sure you still have enough time to connect to your flight. Even if you do, you might just want to rebook with another carrier because getting from one airport to another is a gigantic pain and can take forever at the wrong time of day. I don't know what will happen if they fold, I don't think they have agreements with other carriers. I hope they can survive somehow.

[Andros]

I'm flying to Washington Dulles. I'm still a little concerned and have been watching closely. I recieved my confirmation from them today. As long as they make it till Nov. 4th I don't care. Keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks for your info it is greatly appreciated.

[racephoto]

That's good...I forgot Virgin flies out of IAD as well. It's funny, I never understood why some airlines like USAir, Continental, United and so on can get money thrown at them from all corners so they can go bankrupt and un-bankrupt multiple times, but an airline like FLYi is on their own. Guess not enough businessmen fly them. :-(

[hdawson]

racephoto. Actually Independence was way undercapitalized when they started their new airline service. And that was long before oil left the stratosphere. A business cannot give their product away and stay in business. Very unrealisitic fares.

[DanJ]

A lot of the times, with those big airlines, it's the people with a lot to lose who back them to restructure. GE owns a huge number of aircraft that the major airlines fly, and it's GE that you see a lot who does the investing to keep an airline in business. Indy's CRJ aircraft are mostly leased from Bombardier directly or from other airlines, and these people don't have the money to finance Indy's bankruptcy. They'd be better off taking back possession of their planes than giving Indy more money.

 

This is obviously just a part of the whole complicated mess though LOL.

[Andros]

I recieved another e-mail from Independence today. They were asking me why I haven't booked any flights with them lately:eek: . I wanted to respond but, it said on the mail not to respond directly to that mail. I wanted to ask them why my flight in Nov., already booked, didn't count.

 

HA HA HA HA HA! I just thought it was funny as H!

 

I'll be glad when it's over.