I saw this Skybus press release announcing their aircraft advertising program today and knew I had to blog about it.

In short, they are going to sell advertising on any white space they can find. This includes the outside of the plane, overhead bins, tray tables, and restroom doors. Nationwide Insurance is the first to do the outside, but I’m going to be the first to do the inside. . . .

Looks good, huh? Hmm, maybe not. I can hear all those naysayers cringing about this “horrible” development (onboard advertising in general, not the picture of my face specifically), but I say . . . bring it. This is a great move for them.

Remember, Skybus is going to have ultra-low fares a la Ryanair. That means you could see fares for a buck or even less (just speculating here). The only way they can offer those low fares is if they can make money elsewhere. Advertising is one great way to do that. That’s how all those free websites, including mine, make money. (Side note: Remember to use those Google links at the bottom of this post if you are genuinely interested so I can start paying to advertise on Skybus.)

Generally all those people who say this is a horrible thing are the same people who complain that airfare is too expensive these days. Well, here’s your tradeoff. If you’re willing to stare at an ad for awhile, you too can fly for cheap.Most airlines aren’t going to match this, and they shouldn’t. The idea of paying for a better product in coach is something that hasn’t really happened on a large scale in some time. If you just want cheap, go ahead and shoehorn yourself into a tight seat and stare at ads all flight long. Buy a cup of water if you want, but don’t complain about it as long as you get there on time. If you want more, then you’ll have to pay more to fly on another airline that won’t put ads up.

It’s all about creating a value proposition that will appeal to different segments of travelers, and I think there is plenty of room for this type of the service at the bottom end of the pricing curve.

Skybus has said they plan to start flying around May 20 of this year. Now, that’s less than two months away and we know very little about this airline. They’ve clearly taken the opposite approach of Virgin America here. Instead of pushing everything out into the public eye, they’re keeping it all very close to the vest. So what can we figure out?

Well I believe they’ve said that the first routes will be out of their home base in Columbus (Ohio). That makes sense, of course, but we don’t know where those planes will go. This YouTube video shows some test runs landing at Burbank airport, just outside of Los Angeles, last week.

So could we see Burbank-Columbus on the route map in the beginning? Quite possibly. I like the route, but if they do go with the “cram a ton of seats on the plane” strategy, I do wonder about how reliably the plane can make the flight nonstop from those short runways.

This Airliners.net thread also points to a proving run last week into Pease Airport (New Hampshire), about 50 miles north of Boston. That’s about the same distance as Manchester from Boston and a little closer than Providence. So, it’s not a bad idea. If they really do go with Ryanair style $1 fares (or less), they have a chance to draw traffic out there.

It’s interesting to see how low cost carriers developed differently in the US versus Europe. Over here, Southwest was always considered the standard for low-frills and low fares. When compared to what Ryanair has done in Europe, Southwest looks downright pricey and opulent.

Since Ryanair has taken off, plenty of people have made an effort to bring that model over here. Allegiant has fashioned themselves in a similar way but their fares aren’t nearly as low and their route network focuses on small cities that don’t help most of the US. Skybus has announced its intention to bring the model to the US, but they are still in the process of getting started. It appears that Spirit is now going to be the first to give this model a real shot here in the US.

The basic idea is to offer very low fares just to get people on the plane and then charge them extra for every little thing they’d like above and beyond basic transportation. Spirit has definitely been heading this way for some time – you’ve seen fares as low as a nickel popping up for a few months now. Today, they’ve decided to take the next step to becoming what they call an “Ultra Low Cost Carrier.” This all begins today for travel starting June 20.

First off, they’re killing their premium cabin, Spirit Plus. Instead of taking the seats off the plane, they’re just renaming them the “Big Front Seat.” The service will be exactly the same, but you can pay more just to get a bigger seat. Looking at random dates in the middle of July, a one way from Los Angeles to Ft Lauderdale is $124 in what they now call “Deluxe Leather” (also known as “Coach” in non-marketing, normal person language). The Big Front Seat is going for $544. I can’t imagine anyone is going to pay that much more simply for a larger seat, so I imagine they’ll have to reevaluate their pricing soon.

They don’t offer too many details in their press release, but the South Florida Sun-Sentinel seems to have the scoop. They say that you will be allowed one carry on bag for free and that’s it. All checked baggage will now cost you. It’s $10 a bag for the first two and then $100 a bag beyond that. By June, you’ll be able to pay online for your checked bag and then it’ll only cost $5 per bag for the first two.

And yes, even beverages won’t be free anymore. Soft drinks will now cost $1 and snacks will remain $2 to $4. To round things out, there is also a plan to make money from hotels, car rentals, event tickets, airport parking, and all that stuff.

Personally, I don’t mind this model at all as long as I can pay for what I want up front. I hate the idea of having to carry around a bunch of cash to pay for a drink, a checked bag, etc. If they can integrate all of these things into the booking process, it may work, but it’s still a tough adjustment for people used to the Southwest model. Trying this in the Caribbean where it’s a lot of leisure travel might actually pan out for them.

I was out of town over the weekend, so I didn’t have time to write. Here are a few random bits of info:

• Looks like it only took Oasis Hong Kong one extra day to get approval to fly in Russian airspace. The airline is now operating regularly. We’ll see how long it takes for them to burn through their cash.
• Ryanair is again looking to Poland for expansion. The latest route, Shannon (Ireland) to Lodz begins December 4. Many of Europe’s low cost carriers have looked toward eastern Europe for expansion, and Poland has benefited tremendously.
• In news of the weird, Air Astana, one of Kazakhstan’s main airlines, changed it’s two letter airline code from KC to 4L. The old one apparently stood for “Kazakhstan Carrier” and the new one clearly stands for nothing. When asked why they made the change, they said it was “the latest development in Air Astana’s rapid growth road to becoming a world class airline.” Uh, ok. Updated 8/5/08 @ 11p – I’ve been informed (two years late) that they actually switched from 4L to KC. Makes much more sense, no?
• Skybus appears to be getting closer to launch. The airline ordered 65 new Airbus narrowbodies to be delivered beginning in late 2008. They plan to start operations next year with aircraft on short term lease until the new planes arrive.
• Mesa will begin flights between Las Vegas and both Visalia and Merced (California) on November 19. The flights will be operated as US Airways Express.
• On November 14, Aeromexico will begin nonstop flights between Chicago/O’Hare and Guadalajara. The lack of extensive air service between Chicago and Mexico has always surprised me. Chicago has the United States’ second largest Mexican population.
• Cyprus’ AJet will mercifully be shut down. You might remember the airline under its previous name, Helios, when it had a 737 crash after sitting on autopilot with nobody at the controls for two hours. The airline has had multiple safety issues since then.

Who’s ready to get on the Skybus?