The Post has a great profile of Kerry Skeen, founder of soon-to-be-defunct Independence Air and some of the issues that he considers to be the reasons for their demise:
Even as fuel prices climbed and the airline tried to grow, competitors slashed their prices, awarded bonus frequent-flier miles and added flights on routes where they competed with the beleaguered airline.
“Every outside pressure kind of manifested itself,” Skeen said.
You can’t expect the marketplace to be static when you introduce further competition. If your fares become loss-leaders to get people on board with the new brand, you have to expect other airlines to introduce countermeasures to protect their business. Skeen didn’t plan for that when Independence launched, and so the airline suffered. Of course, flying high cost dinky planes doesn’t help you either. While the destination is important in airlines, how you fly there and the customer experience is equally important.
I’m a big guy, which makes me hate tiny commuter jets. They’re not comfortable to fly on, and when you’re crammed into one for two hours, there had better be good reason to fly them. With most other airlines offering real planes for the same trips, I know which way I’ll go. Sorry, Kerry, it sucks that you blew your chances to get out of the business with your shirt. It’s just a shame that now 2800 people are out of work because of it.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
I live and work in the District of Columbia. I write at We Love DC, a blog I helped start, I work at Technolutionary, a company I helped start, and I’m happy doing both. I enjoy watching baseball, cooking, and gardening. I grow a mean pepper, keep a clean scorebook, and wash the dishes when I’m done. Read Why I Love DC.
