Skybus shutdown adds turbulence to travel plans
Some marketgoers will have to pay more to fly
Larry Thomas -- Furniture Today, April 7, 2008
AT THE MARKET — Friday’s sudden shutdown of discount carrier Skybus Airlines has left dozens of marketgoers searching for alternate transportation.
Many already have found flights on other airlines — at considerably higher cost — but market organizers say they’re ready to help anyone who still needs a ride home later in the week.
Lee Allen, owner of Travel Quest, which has two offices at market, said he helped about 20 people over the weekend who found themselves without a ticket to Greensboro after the airline ceased operations at the close of business on Friday.
“We’ve had no problems getting people confirmed seats on other airlines,” Allen said. “So far, the problem seems pretty isolated.”
He said the High Point Market Authority has agreed provide additional shuttles to the Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte airports if they’re needed by former Skybus passengers.
Retailer Jeff Hosking, president of PMD Furniture in Columbus, Ohio, said he arrived in Greensboro Friday night on what turned out to be one of the last Skybus flights.
Two co-workers who had tickets to fly Skybus from Columbus to Greensboro on Saturday opted to drive to market, and a third who had a Skybus ticket from Los Angeles to Greensboro on Saturday got here via Continental airlines, he said.
Hosking, who had been scheduled to return home on Skybus on Friday, said this morning his return trip is still up in the air, so to speak.
“I paid $80 for my round trip ticket on Skybus. Now it will probably cost me $800 to get home,” he quipped.
Skybus, which is based in Columbus and had added numerous flights out of Greensboro in recent months, was expected to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today.
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