JetAmerica, a new airline servicing the Midwest, begins service this summer.
It seemed like a godsend: last week JetAmerica, a new low-cost Midwestern airline, caught widespread attention for its plan to offer travelers flights to several American cities for as little as $9 per seat. On paper, the deal seemed too good to be true. In many ways, it was. A closer look at JetAmerica’s business model reveals that the company’s service is somewhat less spectacular than it initially appears.
Many critics have pointed out that JetAmerica’s $9 airfare only applies to the first wave of tickets sold for each flight, typically the first dozen. Most fares will cost somewhere between $49 and $79 and all will carry the ubiquitous fees that airlines have grown increasingly fond of initiating for services that were once considered standard on American flights. In this sense, while still affordable, JetAmerica’s rates are not a radical departure from the fares set by other industry players such as Northwest Airlines and Delta.
But more than in the cost of airfare, the rub comes when one acknowledges that JetAmerica will lack the quality of service found on other carriers. Initially, the airline’s only hubs will be located in Melbourne, FL; South Bend, IN; Lansing, MI; Minneapolis, MN; Newark, NJ; and Toledo, OH and service between those hubs will be severely limited. JetAmerica flights out of Minneapolis, for example, will only offer service to Toledo and, even then, just three times each week. Similarly, Lansing’s weekly connection to Melbourne will be limited to a single flight.
Despite such obvious drawbacks, JetAmerica does have a fighting chance at success. The company’s decision to place hubs in the economically depressed Midwest makes good economic sense. Because JetAmerica has funneled investment into states such as Ohio and Michigan, where the unemployment rate stands much higher than the rest of the United States, the company has been able to reap the benefits of government subsidization in the form of fee waivers for airport costs and public assistance for advertising—two enormous costs that threaten to cripple most young air carriers. One imagines that JetAmerica can expect this kind of assistance will continue should the company expand service to other proposed cities such as Cincinnati, Columbus, and Pittsburgh.
But in the end, consumers will continue to lose. A few lucky travelers will enjoy the benefit of JetAmerica’s promotions this summer. Most travelers, however, will find themselves victim to the growing tendency on the part of American airlines to obscure the actual costs of flight through sliding price scales and additional fees. They deserve better.
For more info: JetAmerica
Comments
The writer does not appear to know much about the airline industry. First, every city a carrier flies to is not be considered a hub. A hub would be a city that has multiple flights converging at a given time. As of yet, JetAmerica has no "hub" Also, does he really think that when American advertises $99 fares, every seat on the plane sells for that price. Same concept at JetAmerica. $9 is just to attract attention. Anyone lucky enough to get one of those fares is just that. As far as the economics of the airline industry, we would write about book about the ups and downs of fares and accessorial charges that seem to increase on a daily basis.
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!