Skybus Aims High on Low-Cost Airfare

Skybus uses uncongested, secondary airports, reducing delays. On Tuesday, it scheduled three round-trip flights from Columbus to Burbank, Calif., Kansas City and Portsmouth, N.H. Richmond, Va., flights begin Wednesday. Next week, service begins to Bellingham, Wash., Fort Lauderdale and Greensboro, N.C. Eventually, Skybus will serve about two dozen cities from Columbus.

While Columbus is the airline's focus, it will not have connecting flights. So costs are low, but the customer base is limited to local passengers. That's OK, Hodge said, because about 1.6 million people live in the Columbus area, and nearly 6 million people live within 100 miles. An old adage, Hodge says, is that "people will drive 100 miles to save $100" on an airline ticket.

Response to Skybus' low fares has been strong, Hodge says.

"If I showed you the load factors, you would see the flights are full," he says. "That's the wonderful thing about demand stimulation: If we can get the prices low enough, people will show up."