Lets all assume for a second that the airline that Mr Nemeth was referring to is in fact Skybus. I had actually thought originally that it was Festival, but the more I think about it Skybus does make more sense and our blogger (Roger) says it is in fact Skybus.
I only hope that they are direct flights and not simply to Columbus, where you transfer. I personally would take a flight from ORH to Florida direct on Skybus, but if there is a stop in Columbus then I would most likely go JetBlue or Southwest.
Same Time Next Year
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It’s been nearly a year since I wrote about the problems that come from
having 11 bosses who are not on the same page about anything, as well as
suggestion...
4 months ago
15 comments:
I think Skybus would make a good Addition for Worcester.
However, went on Skybus website and found that they fly out of Portsmouth,NH and Chicopee,MA.
Bracketed on both sides.
Looks like the only diresct flights go out of Columbus,OH so you would probably have to connect meaning no direct flights from Worcester.
Looks like they offer 10 seats for $10 per flight, otherwise $329.00 one way.
The only way Skybus could suceed is if they offer direct flight from Worcester @ $165.00 (one-way) $329.00 round trip.
At that price Skybus would be successful and would probably attract other airlines to look into Worcester.
Anyway just:
My two cents (after inflation)
Anonymous:
I just do not see how Skybus would consider ORH, when we could not keep Allegiant and they fly out of Westover and Portsmouth. That said "Roger" seems to be pretty good on this stuff and he said Skybus is the airline that Nemeth was referring to two weeks ago in the Telegram.
Bill
I guess losing Allegiant was more significant a loss than it seemed at the time.
See your point Bill
My two cents (after inflation)
Anonymous:
Allegiant is the leader of second-tier carriers. In fact they are the example for airlines like Skybus.
If I was Skybus and knew Allegiant could not make monies in Worcester, would I take a chance on this market when I already flew out of Portsmouth and Chicopee? Wish I am wrong but that is a hard sell.
Skybus is a very different business than that of Allegiant.
Skybus has not looked at G4's lack of success at ORH to drive any conclusion about Skybus' potential success.
The real prize would have been a focus city and I believe ORH should have gotten it. In the far notrtheast, they looked closely at Portsmouth, ORH, New Haven, Chicopee, Atlantic City, Trenton, Wilmington, Newburgh and others...
They passed on many of these for airside operational reasons. They didnt want ANY weight restrictions or chances for serious delays ...to a fault IMO. ORH's fog and ILS combined to make this a problem. They viewed revenue potential from too wide of a radius from each airport to almost render each airport equal. But if that is what you believe (that rev potential is equal), then ops will drive the decision by default. Thus Chicopee.
I firmly believe that if ORH had the right package ready with the right consultants in hand that they would be Skybus' NE focus city, not Chicopee.
As someone else pointed out, it's almost too late to have a big chance with Skybus for ORH. But if they can get them in here and fly to CMH, and people show up like I think they would (esp. vs Chicopee IMO) and ops problems are eased, then maybe Skybus would wise up to the revenue potential of ORH and grow here. That is if Skybus can weather the current oil storm to last that long...
Roger
I would think weather would be a problem for any city, not just Worcester. What is ILS? Is this needed at Worcester. Is it a factor why Allegiant left as well as other airlines prior? If yes then let's get it whatever it is.
As far as the oil crunch, what are other airport's charging for fuel. Let's undercut them and present this to Skybus.
On a SouthWest flight I remember them cleaing the plane off because it was freezing rain. Is this considered an airside op. If yes let's lock in a price i.e. do whatever it takes to get Skybus or another airline. Otherwise what's the point.
My two cents (after inflation)
Recommendation number 15 from two years ago: "Seek help from the State and Federal Government to upgrade landing system from Category 1 to Category 3 which would enable airplanes to land in heavy fog."
Roger what is G4?
How bad are oil problems hurting companies like Allegiant and Skybus?
G4 is Allegiant. B6 is Jetblue. Each airline has its own id.
ILS is Instrument Landing System. It allows pilots to land in IFR ("Instrument Flight Rules") conditions. IFR basically means that the weather is too bad to navigate by sight (VFR - Visual Flight Rules).
ORH has a fog problem, so ILS is rather important. There are many kinds of ILS and upgrades are quite expensive. You actually don't need much stuff for the lowest level, since it's more pilot procedures than anything.
The pilots that currently use Worcester Airport are just fine with the airport the way it is.
Let us go about our business
hmmm...
what airline do they fly for?
i WISH WE COULD SAY THAT THE wORCESTER TAXPAYERS WHO ARE PAYING THE FREIGTH AT THE AIRPORT are just fine with the way it is.
I am beginning to see that the taxpayers are subsidizing small time pilots who use Worc Airport when they play with their toys.
Either the place s/b closed or prices raised so I am not the hook for part of the annual deficit up there.
Not to be redundant, but I don't think that Skybus would do especially well in Worcester considering PSM is developing as a small focus city with the exact market Worcester would be looking to hit and while Skybus is expanding in CEF. I'm not saying its impossible, but it just seems very unlikely. I think they would do well though - as I think WN would potentially do well too. The ILS is a big problem though :-/
To my knowledge, de-icing is considered airside ops.
JPL
Also, last I checked on their website, making connections in Colombus and Greensboro are difficult because Skybus doesn't allow the purchase of connecting flight routes - in other words if you are flying to FLL through CMH you have to buy 4 separate tickets for each leg (CEF-CMH / CMH-FLL / FLL-CMH / CMH-CEF) which is a serious pain in the rear as it frequently leaves long layovers in obscure airports. I recently tried to get tickets to Gary IN (I fly to Chicago a lot) on Skybus and discovered that it would've taken me all day (literally) for a price that was either just below or even more than buying them on a mainline carrier out of BDL, PVD, or BOS. Nevermind that the flights were direct or required a very short stopover.
Jpl
Anonymous:
To the people who "put their hard work & lifesblood(?) into this airport"........who are you referring to?
Slaves? or
Indentured Servants? or
The City taxpayers? or
City employees who get paid to do a job and who are free to move onto other pastures when they want?
So just what is happening to the above mentioned "hardworking" people anyway? They getting bored driving ORH grounds 101 times a day in the name of Homeland Security, moose, and deer watches?
If so, try Monster.com.
Thanks
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