Independence airlines
 

Has anyone flown Independence Air? They seems to have excellent fares from Portland Maine to Greenville/Spartanburg. What did you think?
Thanks,
sj

great airline/ cash flow problems- you missed the $44 anywhere they go sale that ended last night

try posting on the airlines forum, they like to talk about airlines there.

I thought they were great, especially for the money. Flights are usually not full so you can move to a better seat and get your luggage super quickly. Excellent service from flight attendants and airport staff.

I'm flying with them soon, so i will let you know how they are! Seems like people have mostly good things to say about them so i'm expecting my experience to be very good. And yes, they do have great fares!

Load factor for January is <50%. The rest of the industry in in the high 70's. So, their planes are definitely empty.

Most of their flights are on regional jets, if that matter to you.

We love Independence Air and use them whenever possible. Hope they make it, great service, very effecient. I highly recommend them.

Yes, I use them to go from DC to Manchester, NH twice a year. They are OK, but they have issues with being on time, at least on this route.

I usually get delayed one way of the trip for at least a little while, and over Christmas they ended up having to drive me to Boston to fly me home - that was a LONG day and I was not amused. They canceled my flight for mechanical problems and were booked the rest of the day in Manchester.

But, I will continue to fly them, as they are cheap and generally pretty good. They also let you get on earlier flights free if you are at the airport early. Twice the flight BEFORE mine was delayed, and since I was at the airport, I was able to get on the earlier flight and get to Manchester earlier than planned. It saved me from having to sit in the airport for an hour.

Karen

My husband used them this past weekend. Flight to Boston arrived on time this past Thurs. evening and he is currently airborne back to Dulles a few minutes ahead of schedule. This is the third time he has flown Independence and hasn't had any delays or issues so far...

rkkwan- Why is their load factor at 50%. They have such cheap flights that i'm just wondering why people wouldn't fly with them more?

Independence Air previously was Atlantic Coast Airlines and operated a variety of routes as United Express (and perhaps regional routes for other carriers??) before they decided to fly under their own new brand. We flew with them plenty of times as UX. As others have said, it's mostly regional jet service and they do have some financial issues. But as far as service goes, (and I can't believe I'm saying this) I think I actually preferred them to our current UX carrier, Air Wisconsin.

For one thing, they fly mostly 50-seat regional jets. Even though it's a jet, it's still not as comfortable as the 737/320 or larger planes offered by other airlines.

And despite all the positive comments you may see here, Atlantic Coast does not have a good service reputation, at least for their United Express operation at Dulles. Maybe they've improve, maybe not.

Also, when they first started out as Independence, they tried to follow Southwest's ticketing model, and only post their fares and sell their tickets through their own website. So, you won't find them when you search Travelocity, Orbitz, etc. They've changed course, and the load factor has improved a little, but still pretty poor.

Also, unlike Southwest, which started many years ago with just a few routes, and slowly build their network, name and reputation, Independence is trying to sell a product overnight in dozens of markets - where nobody has ever heard of such an airline.

Anyways, they are now hoping to hit a load factor of 60% by March. We'll see.

I just went to West Palm Beach with this great price I found on Independence Air. I really enjoyed flying with them, they offer all these great amenities that you don’t get with many airlines, like big leather seats, a choice of snack (pretzels get so boring, it’s nice to have a choice!) and their staff is so friendly. Best part was getting a coupon for $20 off my next trip with them...I'll definitely be using it!

I flew on them this past weekend. Good experience. The flights were full - but they only seat about 50 people on the CRJs anyway. They may well have too many slots/planes currently chasing too few passengers, but they are giving up some planes soon I hear (not sure about slots).

My current flight instructor is a Captain with them, and my first one left to go fly with Air Whisky - they are supposed to be one of the most stable regionals, from what I hear.

I'd say support them if you can - prices are good, and right now they are giving double FF miles through June 30 - and you only need 1500 points (i.e. 750, now) to get a free one way ticket.

My son and his girlfriend use it frequently flying between Dulles and Pittsburgh. Cheaper than driving!

Anyone heard any more rumblings of bankruptcy or reorganization -- esp. since they bought those Airbuses?

Have flown them numerous times and love them! They even broke out snacks (drinks, cookies, chips) at the gate when we were notified of a weather delay. Great service.

I believe that ordering the new airbuses and paying for them are two separate things.

HKP - apparently they solved their problems for the time being. They are giving back some of the planes and will likely reduce headcount. In return, they get a free pass for some time. Not sure how long, but it sounded like a few years? I only skimmed the article this morning.

Alright well i'm leaving for my trip tomm with independence, so thought i would let you guys know. I'll let you know how the flight goes:)

I'd highly recommend them...Great crews and really know how to get you where you are going...Really into safety procedures!!!Hope they expand!
Enjoy!

I just enjoyed two flights on Independence and am delighted to have found them. Both flights were full, and everything was perfect. Cheerful Helpful Crew, Great Flights, absolutely no complaints. I was so pleased, I will now try them coast to coast. Let's support their effort to make travel pleasant again, safety first & old fashion service with a smile.

My husband just flew Boston-Savannah in horrible weather. Here is how they handled a bad situation. Flight from Boston to Dulles delay over an hour - as was every other flight out of Logan. Passengers were kept informed about length and reason for delay and waited in gate area rather than being trapped on plane.

Connection in Dulles was also delayed by weather - and then crew flight time interfered so they needed to get a new crew. Finally arrived in Savannah about 2 hours late, thru no fault of the airline. Same situation - passengers kept informed and held in gate area rather than on plane.

We were also delayed in Dulles yesterday. Told because of bad weather Texas/New Mexico. Pilot said 20 years of flying, never experenced such flight ping-pong. Ready to go, then the door opened, staff in and out, added extra fuel for reroute, and two hours late in Oakland, another wait for a jetway. I felt bad for the crew, starting in san diego, that was a long exhausting day, but we were all safe, that's most important.

I had another good experience a while ago. I showed up early for a flight and they got me on the flight going out before mine. They initiated the whole thing and didn't charge me anything or make me fill out any paper work. It was so easy. Again the plane was nice and the service was good.

My mother-in-law and several others from her church booked flights from Nashville to New York on Independence Air. The flight was supposed to leave at 830 a.m. on Saturday morning. They got to the airport about 90 minutes early where they were told the flight was delayed. About three hours after the flight was supposed to depart they were informed that it had been cancelled. They then told passengers they wouldn't be able to get them to their destination until Monday. My mother-in-law asked for a refund and they told her that they would only issue a credit. She (as well as the rest of the group) ended up booking flights later that day on Southwest Airlines (with no help from Independence) and renting a car to get them the remainder of the distance. Absolutely unacceptable.

luvtravl:

Could you please tell us what reason your mother-in-law was given for the cancellation.

Thanks

I just had the same thing happen to me. Was in Westchester and all flights in and out were cancelled due to the weather. No problem so far. Independence could not book a flight out the next day. Had to book with another airline. No refund available only a credit. They informed me that they were waiving the cancellation fee.

Interesting update...just went to www.flyi.com (always looking for a sale) and found the following message on the very first page:

"Advisory: (Updated: 7.1.05) Severe weather may cause delays and/or cancellations. Independence Air will waive all change fees for flights affected by weather on 7.1.05."

Nice to see an airline providing this type of status in advance!

Wow, that is very good to hear. Not suprising though, Independence Air is great about customer service.

On Independence as well as Southwest and other "discount" airlines, you can get stuck if there is a delay. While Delta, Continental, US Airways etc have agreements with each other and will put you on other airlines when necessary, several of the discount airlines have no such mutual agreements.

Only had one experience with Independence--great flight. My last flight through Dulles was on United. After waiting hours, the flight was cencelled at nearly 11pm. They would not offer any hotel romms, as they said all their contraced rooms were full, and no rental car. We were given a mere $100 voucher for another flight, and sent off. I ended up waiting for my luggage, rented a car and arrived at home at 6 am the next morning. So don't think for a minute that any airline will take care of you anymore.

Sorry for the typos. I hit post instead of preview.

Flew them once last summer out of Dulles. They certainly were showing growing pains. They boarded us before the plane was refueled, so we had to wait a half hour for the fuel truck. Then we taxied to the runway, were told we were number 20, then number 2, then when we got in position to take off, the pilot pulled us off the runway. Said air traffic control had no record of the flight. THEN it started to rain and no flights were allowed out of Dulles for another hour. Long story short, we were late for our connecting flight at JFK. They are on my do not fly list. But it sounds like they have gotten a little better.

I would not recommend anybody to book with Independence right now, unless one's travelling real soon. News reports - but no press releases - indicate it'll stop flying to 9 airports late Oct or early November, including all West Coast cities.

If you book far in advance, it may not fly there anymore, or it may not even exist at that time.