Capt Blue Sky, PLEASE read this re: I air

[riu girl]

Have booked travel with independance air in Dec. BUF-MCO. Will be returning to BUF end of Dec I am Canadian and not familiar with this airline and booked before I had a chance to read about its financial situation. In your honest opinion, do you think they will be flying this route at this time or will they have gone bankrupt? I am so worried, I have two young chidren (one special needs) and I am so worried that we will get to the BUF airport for our flight and be told we are out of luck.

Please Capt Blue Sky (or anyone else) let me know what you think.

I tried to read the Wahington Post article but was unable to since I needed a US zip code to register.

Suzy V.

 

[CarnotaurDad]

Hi Suzy,

Here is a link to an article from the Detroit News that you shouldn't need to register for to read:

http://www.detnews.com/2004/business/0410/24/c01-313172.htm

My take on it, which is certainly not an expert take, would be:

* Independence Air is not filling their seats at the percentage they expected.

* They are having cash flow issues that will impact the ability to pay back their creditors.

* The big month seems to be January, 2005.

* If you are flying in December, it looks like you should be ok.

I am sure that Independence Air will do everything they can to restructure some things first before going bankrupt. And, even if they do go bankrupt, they can still fly during that period (see United and USAirways as current examples).

Hope that helps a little.

 

[riu girl]

You have no idea how much I appreciate the info. you offered. Can you tell me a little about how things progressed for United and US Airways. Being Canadian I am unfamiliar with these airlines.
Thank-you

Suzy V.

 

[CarolA]

United is in bankruptcy and has been for some months. They are just flying along and as a passenger you would not really notice anything. At some point they will come out of bankruptcy and one hopes go on to finanical health.

USAir is in their second bankruptcy in two years. Therefore there is significant concern that lenders are not going to want to work with them which brings up concerns about thier long term survival. However, right now they are flying as normal. I would say what I said about United, but I am reading and hearing lots of complaints about customer service. (Someone posted yesterday that an announcement was made on the PA that "due to pay cuts your luggage will take longer to process" or something like that) So it appears passengers at least notice the issues.

The American airline industry is in trouble. The old traditional airlines (Delta, USAir, United, American) have high labor costs which when combined with high fuel costs and competetion from the start ups with lower costs lead to issues. I was in Atlanta a few weeks ago and they did an article on what the pilots make. (I have to admit it was hard to feel sorry for the Delta pilot who was paniced about losing his job when it came out that he made over $200,000 last year... maybe he should have saved some of it for a rainy day!)

 

[riu girl]

So am I understanding this correctly, even if Independance Air files for bankrupty, they will still fly as normal until they work out their finanaical situation. As I mentioned I booked with them yesterday to fly BUF-MCO return in December.

I just keep thinking about Canada 3000 ( a few years ago). It is my understanding (if I remember correctly, please advise if I'm wrong) they closed their doors one day (no more flights) and left people stranded all over the world. People lost a lot of money on this. Their employees didn't even have any idea of what was happening until the end.

Please advise.

Thank you

Suzy V.

ALSO, IF ANYONE COMES ACROSS ANY WEB AMERICAN NEWSPAPER ARTICLES ABOUT I AIR, COULD YOU PLEASE SEND ME THE LINK SO I CAN READ THEM. I THINK THERE MIGHT BE SOMETHING LATER THIS WEEK AFTER THEIR THIRD QUARTER FINANCES COMES OUT.

 

[DebbieB]

It depends on the situation. If they file for Chapter 11 reorganization they can still fly. But if the situation is really bad, they may have to file for Chapter 7 (I think) which is liquidation, in which case they will probably stop flying. The larger airlines can usually get some financial backing somewhere to keep flying, but a smaller one may not.

 

[safetymom]

A great site for information about the different airlines is
www.flyertalk.com

You can stay up to date on all things relating to travel.

 

[ducklite]

riu girl,

If you are flying out of BUF, look into Jet Blue.

Also, jetsgo out of Missisauga has had some decent fares lately.

Anne

 

[riu girl]

I wish I could LOOK INTO other airlines but have already booked with Independence Air. I tried to put a stop payment on my visa and was unable to.
I hope everything works out for the best.

Independence air will have their 3rd quarter financial report out tomorrow afternoon and I hope it looks ok.

If anyone sees any web newspaper articles on Independence air, could you please pm or e-mail them to me.

Any more comments/suggestions?????

Suzy V.

 

[CarolA]

Riu Girl,
First quit panicing. You have very little risk that they will quit flying between now and December as most of us have pointed out.

I am sure bankruptcy rules in Canada are different then here so things could easily be different. Also, right now there is a law that says if a US carrier goes under and quits flying other airlines have to honor thier tickets. Now the law expires on 11/15, but hopefully our congerss will get its act in gear and pass an extension. For all you US citizens who are concerned about your airline CALL or WRITE your Senator and Representative and DEMAND they pass this.

While you can't stop the credit card payment (you have no real basis to stop it since its not like they have failed to deliver) you should get a refund in the unlikely event they quit flying.

Look at it this way at least you aren't on ATA. They filed for bankruptcy today. (Capt. Blue Sky if that is your airline hope everything is OK for you!)

 

[riu girl]

Thanks CarolA, I needed your remarks (you remind me of something my mom would say). I just tend to worry incessently about EVERYTHING! Its just this is "a trip of a lifetime " for me and my family and I am so afraid that things will mess up and it will all be my fault (since I booked the airline portion).

Sorry for my rambling Carol A. You sound much more level headed then me.

Suzy V.

Again PLEASE, if anyone reads any US web newspaper articles on this airline in the next while, please pm or e-mail them to me.

 

[Captain Blue Sky]

Hi Suz,
Yes, I think you'll be fine!! Bankruptcy in the US USUALLY means (but not all the time) financial reorganization/restructuring. I think you'll be absolutely fine, and I agree with what everyone has posted; it all make sense.

I tried returning your PM when I landed but your Inbox is full, so it was rejected... Sorry...

 

[ValerieK]

We are flying Independence in December also. I am not worried. The company is based here in Northern Virginia and we haven't heard too much about Bankruptcy.

On a side note. I sent a person in my company to SC on Independence, he loved it. He said the service was terrific. I am planning on booking flights on Independence to Orlando for a conference in Dec. that my company attends.

 

[disneyfanatic60]

Riu Girl,

Just follow everyone else's advise. Don't worry. I'm sure you will be fine. I live approximately 5 minutes from the Buffalo Airport. We are also headed to WDW in early December. We have flown on many different airlines but more recently, all our trips have been with Southwest. They have direct flights (not all) to MCO which I find work well for us and the price has been great most of the time. We did use Jet Blue in May and liked them as well. However, we've been spoiled by the direct flights on SW and that's who we using for this trip. What's nice is they added a later afternoon flight to Buffalo just recently. I checked into IA when I booked and I believe they were not booking to MCO at the time.


Michele

 

[riu girl]

Thank you to everyone who responded to my original post on this topic. I really appreciate all of the info. provided.

 

[kutchyone]

Now I’m in a panic. I booked last night with US Air for our June 7th trip. I feel pretty stupid now after reading all of the postings on this site. I don’t even know if I got a very good deal or not. Should I be in a panic and if so can I do anything about it now? It has been less then 24 hours since I made the reservations.

 

[Lewisc]

Originally posted by riu girl
I wish I could LOOK INTO other airlines but have already booked with Independence Air. I tried to put a stop payment on my visa and was unable to.
I hope everything works out for the best.

Independence air will have their 3rd quarter financial report out tomorrow afternoon and I hope it looks ok.

If anyone sees any web newspaper articles on Independence air, could you please pm or e-mail them to me.

Any more comments/suggestions?????

Suzy V.

Just check google news if you want updated information
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=independence+air&ie=UTF-8

Just make up a US address and zip if you need to register.

Add me to the list of people who think you're worrying much too much. January is when it's likely they'll start cutting flights.