Skybus Airlines [SEP] airline hub
) airline in US history. Its founder, John Weikle, resigned one day after Skybus began its first passenger flights.
On April 24, 2007, Skybus Airlines announced their initial set of eight destinations, all of which originated from their hub at Port Columbus International Airport in Columbus. At first, Skybus operated a strict point-to-point service, not booking flights between destination cities that were not Columbus, but the company later announced it would begin flying direct flights from its Portsmouth, NH, destination to two
5, citing the lagging economy and rising fuel costs as causes.
History.
Taking advantage of America West Airlines pulling down its Columbus, Ohio, hub, its founder, John Weikle, started raising capital to start the airline in that city. Two years later, the Skybus board hired Bill Diffenderffer as its CEO. Diffenderffer's prior airline experience was as in-house counsel for Eastern Airlines and CEO of Continental Airlines System One Reservations. At the time Skybus began operations it was the most heavily capitalized (funded