Very interesting Skybus article

[Kristie]

knowing that the CEO resigned today....he probably took his money and ran... I think that says even more that they probably won't be around for much longer. I don't know how they even can with all the prices escalating like they are.

It's no flight of fancy from Gary-Chicago International Airport
The area's '3rd airport' offers stripped-down service, and the Skybus flight to North Carolina was cheap, ahead of schedule—and had beef jerky

Rail terminals at airports are usually bustling places, but South Shore Line trains go right past the Clark Road crossing near Gary-Chicago International Airport—except on the rare occasions when passengers ask a conductor to stop the train.

Only one person, with a backpack over his shoulder and a Skybus Airlines ticket to Greensboro, N.C., tucked in a jacket pocket, requested to exit the train at the Clark Road flag stop Tuesday morning.

That was me.

The intent was to assess the door-to-door travel experience of flying from Gary-Chicago under the new Skybus service that started March 13. Skybus offers the only regularly scheduled flights at Gary.

Your time at the airport and in the air flies by because of a combination of factors. They include the absence of congestion (a few cargo flights, mostly) at Gary-Chicago, the relatively short distance to Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro (Skybus' only destination from Gary) and the entertainment/annoyances provided by Skybus flight attendants who push a cart down the aisle selling sunglasses, Vera Wang perfume, crochet kits and beef jerky.

Supporters in Hoosierland say Gary-Chicago is the most viable contender to become the Chicago area's third airport, but their enthusiasm over the latest airline to give the airport a try encountered turbulence almost immediately.

On Wednesday, a day after my trip, Skybus announced it will slash service at Gary-Chicago in mid-April, from two departures and two arrivals daily to only one.

Chris Curry, the airport's director, says he's not panicking. His hope is that Skybus offers flights to Florida from Gary later this year. But there is no guarantee that Skybus will still be flying to Gary by then, given the fragile condition of the airline industry and the volatility of fuel prices.

The price I paid to fly from Gary was certainly attractive. Although I was not lucky enough to snag a $10 airfare that Skybus offers on 10 seats aboard every flight, my round-trip ticket was $142, including taxes and fees.

On the day I booked the airfare on the Internet, the same non-stop itinerary to Greensboro from O'Hare International Airport was $756.48 on United Airlines and $1,118.97 on US Airways. And neither of those serves beef jerky.

On the morning of the trip, my $5.50 train ride from the Millennium Station in downtown Chicago was on schedule, disturbed only slightly by the rhythmic snoring of a woman two seats away.

And just as advertised, a 14-passenger van was waiting at Clark Road to shuttle train riders to the airport for the first of two flights of the day to Greensboro. From Greensboro, Skybus serves other cities from California to Florida.

The fare from the Clark train stop to the airport, a distance of about a mile, is $1. It's that low because the Gary airport authority subsidizes the ground transportation service. To lure Skybus to Gary, the airport authority also waived up to $200,000 annually in landing and terminal fees for two years.

Once at the airport, there isn't much to do. A sign said a restaurant, named Viddles Express, "purveyors of fine foods," will be opening soon. Vending machines and tables fill the space for now.

When the orange Skybus plane landed and parked near the terminal, about 50 passengers traveling from Greensboro walked down the stairs that were rolled up to the aircraft. Skybus does not use jet bridges because not all the airports it serves has them.

It took little time for the 17 passengers on my flight to go through screening conducted by the Transportation Security Administration and board the 154-seat Airbus A319 aircraft that Skybus operates on all its routes.

"I like the Gary airport because it is so quiet and peaceful," said Desiree Juby, 29, of Charlotte, who flew from Greensboro. "It's refreshing."

Shortly after takeoff, flight attendant Inna Djaniants was working the cabin's captive audience over the intercom system, asking for a show of hands on how many people paid less than $200, less than $100 or just $10 for their tickets.

She explained that Skybus keeps fares low by hawking food, beverages and other items on each flight. Passengers are prohibited from bringing their own drinks or food onboard.

Passenger Kimberly Nelson, 31, a supervisor for a financial company in Charlotte, said: "I always wanted to go to Chicago over St. Patrick's Day. Thirty-two bucks round-trip, including taxes, you can't beat it. Skybus reminds me of Southwest Airlines when I flew it 15 years ago. It has the same kind of energy."

It also didn't hurt that both my outbound and inbound flights landed 20 minutes early—and the two United flights to O'Hare were listed as delayed.

Contact Getting Around at jhilkevitch@tribune.com or c/o the Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611. Read recent columns at http://www.chicago tribune.com/gettingaround

if you've never seen what the airplanes actually look like




I guess the FA wear is Tshirts... I didn't know that.