Eos Airlines files for bankruptcy

by Grant Martin on

Eos Airlines filed for bankruptcy in the New York courts yesterday. This puts two of the three startup all-business class carriers out of business in the last four months (MaxJet folded in December), leaving Silverjet the only remaining contender.

At least they tried to run a few flights after officially shutting down operations. Several flights between JFK and Stansted ran today in an attempt to get a few strandees moved around. Apparently during the Skybus incident people just showed up at the airport and found kiosks and gates deserted. That’s not cool.

As of Monday, April 28th though, all operations will cease.

If you were booked on Eos, you’re going to need to call your credit card company to explain the situation and dispute the charges. Silverjet is also offering assistance to those stranded on their website, but don’t expect any free handouts.

So long Eos, you’ll be missed. :(

So long, Oasis Hong Kong

by Grant Martin on

The Low Cost Carrier massacre continues, with the newest victim being one of the first budget long-haul, international airlines. Oasis Hong Kong was founded in February of 2005 with the idea that competitive fares on the Hong Kong – Vancouver and Hong Kong – London routes would make a killing for the company. I remember the glee of shopping around for super cheap 150£ budget tickets between London and Hong Kong a few years back, only to take the shorter route on Cathay over the Pacific. I was never able to find a good time to make it out to London or Vancouver to hop on an Oasis flight — I guess I never will.

The departure of Oasis Hong Kong is our first strong sign that domestic airlines’ oil woes are being felt felt around the globe. While it is true that world markets are all generally in decline, many people don’t consider how many airlines are really out there and how many are struggling in the modern economy.

Those who are now stranded by Oasis are encouraged to call a hotline set up by Cathay Pacific to gobble up any stray passengers, while others who have already booked and paid are possibly eligible for a refund. Several stipulations do apply to earning that cash, however, so you’ll have to read the website carefully to make plans.

Farewell Oasis Hong Kong. I wish that we had met.

What strange things have been found on planes?


Click the image to read the bizarre story…

Frontier Airlines goes BANKRUPT

by Grant Martin on

Low Cost Carrier Frontier Airlines (F9) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday, citing an issue with their credit card processing company, the current financial market and jet fuel as their detriments. Apparently, the company that processes all of their credit card transactions announced that they were taking a bigger cut out of all of their sales which would drastically affect the bottom line for Frontier.

I don’t know enough about the credit card market to tell you why they couldn’t switch processing companies or how close to the red the airline was before this change, but apparently it’s significant enough to warrant Chapter 11 protection.

Before you panic and call to dispute your credit card charges, remember that the airline is only reorganizing as they continue normal operations. No flights have been canceled (which is better than many legacy carriers today), employees will still be on hand to check you in and the airline will continue to take reservations. Chapter 11 is only a means to reorganize finances while operations continue and is an unfortunate, although common, occurrence in the aviation industry. Northwest and Delta Airlines both went into and came out of bankruptcy in the last few years, and both are now operating in the black.

That’s not to say you shouldn’t be cautious about booking. Make sure you keep your receipts and document your transactions if you book a ticket in case you eventually need to dispute a charge. The nice thing about Frontier is that they have a fairly customer-centric attitude — hopefully they would never straight out abandon passengers like Skybus did last week.

In the meantime, continue booking with Frontier as you normally would (albeit carefully). If the airline has any chance of making it out of bankruptcy, it’s if passengers like you and I have faith in the airline and continue paying for tickets.

Check out Frontier’s restructuring website if you want more details on operations.

Skybus may return again: Some ideas for making a go of it

by Jamie Rhein on

Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, so might Skybus. Yesterday, there were several stories about the possibility of Skybus Airlines’ return. The first story I heard was on the radio. Next came the nightly news. According to the stories, John Weikle, the airline’s founder, said he’s been working out ways to bring it back.

Weikle pointed to Allegiant Air as an indication that no-frills airlines can work. In order for the airline to pull it off, it needs to up the on-time performance and control expansion. Considering that Skybus has the planes, it has the logo, it has people who have probably not found jobs yet, AND there is the space in airports designed specifically for Skybus, it seems to me that the ingredients are there. Even since yesterday, I’ve talked with more people who were either going to buy tickets or who bought tickets all the time in order to visit relatives.

Now, it’s almost impossible to fly anywhere from Columbus without stopping somewhere along the way–often in an opposite direction. For people who are older, changing planes is problem. Why not promote Skybus as the airline that brings family members together. Another thing that I think would help push the smaller airports is to have step by step directions on how to get to the larger cities from the small airport locations. For example, have it spelled out how to get from Stewart Airport in Newburgh, New York to Grand Central Station. I don’t think it’s that hard, but it’s something people need to know in specifics. If the directions are in a format so they could be printed off, even better. How handy, people might think.

Another idea I have for a user-friendly addition is to have a page to click on at each airport location that highlights the things to see in the area. Click on Greensboro, North Carolina and you’ll find out information about what it’s near. I’d really like to know what’s near Greensboro, North Carolina without having to search myself. When I went to Allegiant Air’s Web site, I saw information about Allegiant Air destination towns and photographs. This put me in a traveling mood. Also, Allegiant’s Web site looks like it changes with new highlights. Smart. If Skybus could only get some more investors. An article in the Dispatch today said that those in Columbus shouldn’t hold our breath. I do have my fingers crossed.

Skybus goes bankrupt!

by Grant Martin on

Skybus just announced that they’re ceasing all operations and have declared bankruptcy. According to their website, they’ll continue to close out flights today, but after that all bets are off. Being as it’s 11:30 at the time of writing, I think that it’s safe to say nobody else will be flying Skybus.

According to the new modified website “Passengers holding reservations for Skybus flights scheduled to depart on or after Saturday, April 5, 2008 should contact their credit card companies to arrange to apply for a refund.”

At the fall of ATA earlier this week I know that I was complaining about high oil prices and the competition that pushed the budget carrier of 35 years out of business. But I didn’t expect the woes to be so widespread. I would now speculate about other carriers but don’t want to jinx anyone.

We’ll keep you updated on what happens on this surprising news.