BY KEITH BENMAN, Times of Northwest Indiana
kbenman@nwitimes.com
GARY | Start-up airline SkyValue will end flights to Fort Lauderdale after Jan. 3 and add one extra flight per week to Mesa, Ariz., a route that eventually may continue on to Los Angeles.
"We are still finding out where the demand is," SkyValue executive vice president Gabrielle Griswold said Tuesday. "People did not want to go to Fort Lauderdale. They want to go to Mesa."
SkyValue customers with reservations for Fort Lauderdale after Jan. 3 have begun receiving messages from the airline's operations center informing them of the cancellations.
"We are scrambling now to get tickets on another airline," said Nancy Moser, of Michigan City, whose family had four round-trip tickets reserved. "It will make it more expensive and much more inconvenient."
She said it is strange SkyValue officials are saying demand is low, because she called the airline last week to purchase a fifth ticket for the Feb. 14 flight returning Feb. 19 and was told it was sold out.
Round-trip SkyValue tickets on the five remaining Fort Lauderdale flights are currently available for $228.
Griswold said flights to Fort Lauderdale would end after Jan. 3 when a Times reporter called Tuesday asking about Monday's Fort Lauderdale flight, which was also canceled.
That flight was canceled more than two weeks ago, and the two passengers who had booked flights were informed at that time, Griswold said. Both had their money refunded and were offered free tickets for another SkyValue flight, she said.
SkyValue currently flies round-trip from Gary to Fort Lauderdale on Monday and Wednesday. Round-trip flights to Mesa currently are on Monday and Friday. The extra Mesa flight would fill the Wednesday slot left by the cancellation of the Ft. Lauderdale route.
Mesa flights could continue on to Los Angeles if negotiations with airports there work out, Griswold said.
"This would not just be for leisure, this would be for business travelers, too," Griswold said.
She said she could not reveal the Southern California airports being considered.
Passengers who booked SkyValue for Fort Lauderdale after Jan. 3 will get full refunds and be offered a free ticket for another SkyValue flight, Griswold said.
But Moser said there was no mention of the free tickets in the cancellation message from SkyValue, which she e-mailed to The Times.
The airline is terming the stoppage of Fort Lauderdale flights a "suspension," holding out hope they could resume some day. In addition to Fort Lauderdale, the airline also flies to St. Petersburg/Clearwater International and Orlando International in Florida. It also has flights to Las Vegas.
The seasonal airline plans to fly through at least April 21, although officials have said the schedule could run longer if demand warrants.