Radical new low-cost US carrier: Don’t bring your own food

Extreme low-fare airline Skybus plans to create some new turbulence into US airspace with flights beginning next month, according to company officials.

Already well established in Europe, the carrier will try for a comeback in the US on May 22 with a well-financed start-up, said The New York Times.

Skybus Airlines promises at least 10 seats on every flight priced at $10 one-way — before taxes.

“If it sounds like People Express and Laker Airways — low-price carriers that made a splash, expanded too fast and then collapsed — there are similarities,” said the Times.

But the organizers of Skybus are counting on the $160 million cushion that they have raised and on a big change in consumer behavior to help the carrier follow the success of Ryanair, the Irish airliner that the growth of low-cost, no frills service.

Like Ryanair, Skybus, based in Columbus, Ohio, is charging extra for many items — $5 to check a bag, $10 for a preferred seat, $2 for a soft drink.

Carrying food on board?  Not allowed, according to Skybus’s Web site, “unless you brought enough for the whole plane.”

The airline will sell tickets only through its Web site, avoiding the expense of maintaining a reservations call center or paying a sales commission to travel agents. Skybus is also outsourcing its maintenance, the staffing of ticket counters at airports and its baggage handling  —  all to keep costs low.

“Don’t call us,” the Web site explains. “We don’t have a phone number.”

Skybus’s success will depend heavily on the overall health of the air travel market. As the market grows, there is room for many approaches, so long as they are well managed, concluded the Times.

Skybus’s top walk-up fare will be $330 one way, before taxes. But it has many very low fares — $40, $50, $75 — one way, before taxes.

Initially, Skybus will connect Columbus to Burbank, Calif., near Los Angeles; Portsmouth, N.H., near Boston; Bellingham, Wash., near Seattle; Kansas City, Mo.; Richmond, Va.; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; and Greensboro, N.C. In June, flights are planned to Oakland, Calif.

On Skybus, “other than using the restroom, everything comes with a fee,” said Brandy King, a spokeswoman for Southwest.

If it’s any indication of future success, in the first three hours the Skybus Web site was up with fare information, 30,000 tickets were sold.

Report by David Wikening