Fuel-burdened Skybus slices some routes, adds others
Sky-high prices for Jet A, the propellant of choice for commercial jets, strike again. Discount airline Skybus is either axing altogether, or paring back routes from its Columbus (CMH) hub.
Skybus is eliminating nonstop service to Chattanooga (CHA) on April 15, and shelving one of its two daily nonstops from CMH to both Newburgh, NY (SWF), and Chicopee, Massachusetts (CEF). The former is north of New York City, in the Hudson Valley. The latter is an alternative airport for Hartford.
Columbus isn’t the only airport taking a hit. The discount airline plans to stop flying from Greensboro, NC (GSO) to Gulfport/Biloxi (GPT) altogether on April 15. On the same day the carrier intends to eliminate one of its two daily flights to each of the following destinations: Gary, Indiana (GYY), Wilmington, Delaware (ILG), Punta Gorda, Florida (PGD), and Newburgh, New York. Gary acts as an alternative airport to Chicago, and Wilmington is another option for Philadelphia flyers.
Even as Skybus cuts routes some places, it’s adding them in others – hoping to gain traction. On June 1 the discount airline will launch nonstop flights from Chicopee, Massachusetts to St. Augustine, Florida (UST).
St. Augustine is in the greater Jacksonville/Daytona Beach area. Also planned is new service from Chicopee to Punta Gorda, Richmond (RIC) to St. Augustine, and Newburgh to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Portsmouth (PSM) serves the greater Boston area.
Skybus brands itself as an unbundled, low-fare carrier – an airline where you pay extra for things such as food. The carrier offers ten $10 tickets on every flight, every day.
It, like major hub-and-spoke airlines in this country, has been buffeted of late by soaring Jet A prices. This past weekend, the price of the jet fuel was hovering around $3.50 per gallon.
© Cheapflights Ltd Jerry Chandler
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