March 24th, 2008
Sorry to be MIA last week, I was tied up in airport coverage.
But meanwhile, a crazy week at the pump (data courtesy of AAA’s fuelgaugereport.com):
Gasoline: Rockford is back up to second-highest of Illinois metro areas, even though we’ve only risen 3 cents since last Monday (when we were lowest in the state). We’re at $3.33 a gallon, down more than a cent from yesterday. For those wondering, we’re still almost 14 cents shy of the all-time record, so here’s hoping today’s slight slide continues. We’re still below the state average, which dropped a penny to $3.35 a gallon today and has dropped 4 cents in the past week. The state average is so high because Chicago remains at $3.40 a gallon, down almost a penny from yesterday. Everyone else is clustered between $3.23 a gallon and $3.33 a gallon. The national average is at $3.26 a gallon, down a fraction of a cent from yesterday and 2 cents from last week. We’re celebrating our eighth-straight day of non-record-setting prices in the country (it’s the little things that count). Illinois now has the 9th-highest gas prices in the country.
Diesel: Hopefully these have peaked for now, too? Rockford’s record pace stopped Saturday at almost $4.14 and has since dipped to $4.12 a gallon. We have the fourth-highest diesel prices in Illinois. The state as whole remains on a record pace, increasing a fraction of a cent to $4.16 a gallon today. Chicago is up to $4.25 a gallon, and every metro area in the state is averaging at least $4. The nation as a whole is at $4.03 a gallon on average, down from Saturday’s record of $4.04. Illinois has the 9th-highest prices in the country.
March 24th, 2008
Jon Hilkevitch of the Chicago Tribune takes a trip from Gary to Greensboro, N.C., on Skybus, and the Trib includes a nice online video about it.
Some thoughts:
- I know Skybus’s business model is basically “really low fares, but pay for any extras” and I knew they hawked food and trinkets on the flight. Allegiant Air does a similar model out of Rockford, but Skybus takes it to a whole new level. In the video, their marketing strategy is basically a guilt trip - “buy our beef jerky and crochet sets or else your fares are going to shoot up.” If that doesn’t work, maybe they’ll send flight attendants out in sackclothes, saying “We don’t have a uniform allowance anymore because you didn’t buy sunglasses!”
- That said, I want Skybus to work (just like I want Allegiant to work) because I think the more choices the consumer has, the better. If I’m making a quick jaunt somewhere and don’t need to check my luggage, I like having a cheaper overall fare without that amenity. I can put on my iPod and ignore the other sales pitches. The “don’t bring your own food” rule, though, is a bit harsh. Could “don’t bring your own entertainment” be next?
- Now, Hilkevitch flew on a Tuesday, but those passenger counts were pretty scary. 50 people coming in on a 150-seat plane, and 17 going out? It’ll be interesting to see what their load factors are through the week. I can see why Skybus quickly cut back to one flight a day.
- I have to keep repeating “Gary and Rockford are not competing.” They’re so far away from each other, drawing from different populations (We’re aiming for the northwestern suburbs and southern Wisconsin, they’re gunning for downtown and south-suburban Chicago and northwest Indiana) that there’s enough to go around. The competition only comes in when an airline wants to serve only one Chicagoland market (like vivaAerobus). But even if they choose Gary, there are other Mexican airlines that could look at RFD.
- Someday, I’ll get paid to fly somewhere. For now, I’ll settle for MKE-ATL-RDU on AirTran for a friend’s wedding next month.
Any Skybus flyers out there, either through Gary or Milwaukee?
