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Skybus Airlines Goes Belly-Up; No More Bargain Basement Burbank-to-Columbus, OH Flights For Us
Just weeks after announcing the addition of more flights from Burbank Airport, discount airline Skybus is closing down today and plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The shutdown was revealed late yesterday; all flights were completed Friday, but the airline had flights scheduled through to September 2, reports the Daily News.
Skybus was an airline with a lofty mission to provide lower-cost air travel between second- and third-tier destinations in the continental United States. They attracted a lot of attention for their innovative practice of letting a few seats on each flight go for $10. They operated two daily flights out of Burbank's Bob Hope Airport, and enjoyed a modest popularity (for those interested in traveling to either Columbus, Ohio or Greensborough, North Carolina) in their first months of operation: "At the Burbank airport, Skybus had 92,928 passengers in 2007." The rising cost of fuel had a serious impact on the less-than-a-year-old Ohio-based company, and maintenance issues forced them to cancel flights during the 2007 Christmas holidays.
News of the shutdown and impending bankruptcy means the company's 450 employees are now jobless, and many passengers must now rebook and recoup their payments for the flights. Skybus says passengers are eligible for refunds, and must do so through their credit card companies.
Earlier this week, Aloha Airlines shutdown their operations, and ran their last flights in and out of Los Angeles International Airport.
Photo by marada via Flickr
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