After about 18 months of service, Independence Air will be ceasing operations on Thursday. For people who fly in and out of Washington Dulles regularly, this will be a big loss. I have flown Independence Air for 4 or 5 times (round-trip) and have been very impressed with their customer service and especially the cheap fares. They just expanded way too quickly and did not budget for the significant increase in fuel costs. I received an e-mail from FlyI today saying the following:
"Today we must announce that we will be ceasing scheduled service operations this Thursday evening, January 5. The financial pressures in the industry have prevailed. We have run out of time.
It has been an amazing 18 months. We set out to challenge the status quo and to re-set your expectations about air travel. We set out to introduce you to lower fares and a new level of service delivered by employees who care. Currently ranked #2 in customer satisfaction among all US airlines, we are proud that we did indeed earn your respect and loyalty. We are proud that we built a brand so universally praised by over 8 million customers. We are proud of the mark we have made."
I'm guessing that the customer satisfaction is going to go down significantly especially from folks who have tickets for upcoming flights.
Yes, it really is a sad day for FLYi customers, like you and me. I loved independence air for their customer service and rock-bottom fares. I think it will surely be missed by everyone who has flown in one of it's flights.
ReplyDeleteI got to fly them once, to San Diego and back. I thought that they were tremendous. But it scared me that the plane was only half-full. They actually asked people to spread out to balance the weight. The writing was on the wall. My one hope is that JetBlue expands their Dulles service; they just don't have enough destinations from Dulles.
ReplyDeleteI, too, enjoyed Independence Air...I loved the service (how many airlines give all passengers a four course service, inclusing after-dinner mints and a refreshing towel?) and will miss the funny, taped emergency instructions. Ah, well, all good things seem doomed to end...
ReplyDeleteThe hot towels were great. I also liked the choice of Sun Chips or cookies for the snack. I agree with Andy in that JetBlue and AirTran need to step up their service from Dulles.
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