Skybus CEO Rejecting Skeptics

Travel analyst Henry Harteveldt of Forrester Research says a zealous and entrepreneurial CEO, a willingness to challenge convention and a pile of money are all useful assets. "This country was built on people, like [JetBlue founder David Neeleman], who took a look at product offerings and said, 'I think I can do it better,'" he says.

But Harteveldt suggests that JetBlue and Skybus have a critical difference. "While JetBlue says it is restoring humanity to air travel, it seems as if Skybus is taking away humanity in favor of a cheap seat," he says. "There is a difference between being true to your niche and being blind to your customers' needs."

For instance, JetBlue A320s have a minimum of 34 inches of pitch between seats, while Skybus offers 28 to 29 inches. Skybus says removing magazine pouches adds two more inches of legroom.

Additionally, the airline eschews telephone contact with passengers. "One day, they will encounter a bad weather day, flights will get canceled, people will have questions, and they will not be able to call the airline to get somebody to help them," says Harteveldt. Soon thereafter, he predicts, a member of Congress will decry this method of doing business.

Diffenderffer says nothing trumps low fares. Fares below $100 "mean that instead of going out to dinner, you can fly to California," he says. So far, Skybus loads exceed 80%. Ancillary services such as checking bags will add about $10 to $20 per passenger to the average $50 fare.

And sure, it's nice to have a phone number. At least, it was a nice touch in a 20th-century business model. At some point, you must move on. "We're the first ones to think of an airline as an e-commerce company," Diffenderffer says. "We are going to be 100% Internet in terms of our relationship with passengers."