Rude Awakening for Skybus

Skybus service between Greensboro, N.C., and Columbus, Ohio, didn't begin auspiciously.

Instead, on the start-up carrier's eighth day of operation Tuesday, the inaugural departure from Greensboro left 3½ hours late.

Delays aren't atypical in the airline industry. Nevertheless, a long delay on a closely watched flight raises questions when an airline's operating philosophy involves reducing costs by avoiding popular airports because they have long delays.

"I hate that this happened, but it happened," said CEO Bill Diffenderffer, a passenger on the flight. It left Columbus about three hours late because a valve in the cargo hold temperature-monitoring system wasn't working, he said. The airline replaced the valve, but the monitor still registered, so another aircraft was substituted.

"We had one of those worst of all cases, a creeping delay, until we said, 'Let's switch the airplane,'" Diffenderffer said. "We followed procedures exactly the way they are supposed to be followed, even when the CEO is going to be embarrassed for being late on an inaugural."

Not only was the Greensboro arrival delayed, but the departure was further delayed because a scheduled 25-minute turn took longer. (Although the airline's figures show a 24-minute turn, the plane spent about 50 minutes on the ground with its wheels blocked.) A plan to board passengers at two doors failed because portable stairs didn't accommodate wheelchair users, who needed a special lift.

Then, at the last minute, a frantic passenger thought she had left a child's medicine on the plane. Agents searched the plane, until the passenger was reminded that the medicine had already been returned to her. This exercise consumed several minutes.