Randyforgt

Let's see-start an airline when there is a near crisis in the airline industry with fares,security,way too much competition,ect.Choose a regional jet,the CRJ to fly to cities like ATL,which already has 3 other airlines flying nonstop.What can they possible offer travelers that Air Tran,DL,UA can't? Maybe they really beleive UA will shut down soon,and by starting up now they are already operating when/if they fail.I hope they have plenty of money to spend,they will need it,as they most likely will lose millions.Americans need ANOTHER airline like an Eskimo needs more ice cubes.....

rkkwan

Independence Air, as it is, doesn't make much sense, but they're ordering the larger Airbus 319, and you'll probably see them move away from the RJs. They ARE a regional airline, so they can't just dump those planes in a second.

But in the long term, they obviously believe it's better to strike it out on its own rather than ride the sinking UA ship.

And you're not alone in being pessimistic. Stocks of Atantic Coast (now Inpedence Air) dropped a huge percentage when it announced to go it on its own.

kuranosuke

rkkwan: where do you get all this info? great observations, and well rounded, even comments about the nose dive of the stock. does ualaq.qb look good at $1.37? buy before the loan approval? or use the money and go to vega?

Randyforgt

Rkk gets his info probably from very credible sources,or is a keen observer of the US airline industry.True UA and US are in serious trouble,that's another story,really.Ind Air is a big gamble,who really hurts all airlines in trying to make a profit.There are way too many airlines chasing far too few passengers!

rjw_lgb_ca

All of rkkwan's info can be found easily in press releases and on news websites (like Yahoo!'s business news section). And it's all valid info. I'm also a little skeptical of Independence Air's chances in this market environment, but then again who am I?

Cassandra

Dulles is a peculiar airport to have as hub, but it might work very much in IA's favor -- esp. if they can work some ticketing agreements with other airlines (a la codeshare) for those of us who live in areas without good connections to the sort of longhaul flights that go in and out of Dulles.