Wednesday, April 25, 2007

But I Don't Want to Go to Ohio

Another UK import, this time in the airline industry, is poised to possibly shake things up. Or go belly up as those before it. Skybus, operating out of smaller airports*, says that some seats on every flight will cost $10. Group boarding, though for $10, you can pay to get in a preferred boarding group. Soft drinks are $2, and you can't bring your own food on board (unless you bring enough for everyone). Their flights from Seattle/Vancouver (ooh, dual country) leave a lot to be desired. Honestly, is there really that much call for traveling from a remote airport in the top corner of the U.S. to Columbus, Ohio? I could get there for $10, leaving May 29. The soonest $10 flight back is December 15, though. They also don't have a 1-800 number, you can only buy online. And the maintenance, ticket counters, baggage handlers, etc. are all outsourced. But that's really the wave of the future, right? A company whose sole purpose is to manage groups of people, without having to mess with all that messy stuff like hiring/firing/etc. Suddenly the people who do the work are inter-changable. Don't like the deal? Fire the entire staff and contract with a different company.

*Bob Hope International... aka... Burbank? Small? Yeah, I suppose you do have to walk out to the planes and if a plane overshoots it ends up in the street, but still, it's a great alternative to LAX, begrudgingly my preferred.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

As someone who will be forced to fly out of LAX against his will in two weeks, I am with you that I'd rather fly in one of those single engine prop planes out of Chino airport than have to deal with the crap at LAX.