Company To Discontinue Operations Thursday Night
It's official. Monday
morning, the parent company of Independence Air, Flyi, announced to
its customers and employees the airline will cease operations
January 5, after 7:00 pm EST. That's two days sooner than the
company originally predicted, in its December 29 announcement that
was reported by
Aero-News.
Below is the text of a letter the company posted on its
website, available at the FMI link below, to its customers. The
airline's last flight is expected to be Flight 1777 from White
Plains, NY to Washington Dulles departing at 7:26pm Thursday
1/5.
Today Is A Sad Day For Independence Air
Today we must announce that we will be ceasing scheduled service
operations this Thursday evening, January 5. The financial
pressures in the industry have prevailed. We have run out of
time.
It has been an amazing
18 months. We set out to challenge the status quo and to re-set
your expectations about air travel. We set out to introduce you to
lower fares and a new level of service delivered by employees who
care. Currently ranked #2 in customer satisfaction among all US
airlines, we are proud that we did indeed earn your respect and
loyalty. We are proud that we built a brand so universally praised
by over 8 million customers. We are proud of the mark we have
made.
Customers with reservations whose trips are completed between
now and Thursday evening should expect the same great service for
which we have become known.
Additionally, we are seeking bankruptcy court approval to
automatically provide refunds to customers holding reservations on
flights occurring after our shutdown of operations on January 5th.
No refunds will be offered for free tickets or vouchers.
Finally, we will be contacting those customers with itineraries
that start before and end after our shutdown (including those
customers who have already commenced their travel) to offer them
the opportunity to change their return reservations to a flight on
one of our remaining days of operation if possible. Customers can
immediately change travel dates on their own by visiting the
“Change Itinerary” section of our website, FLYi.com.
All change fees will be waived when travel dates are changed via
our website, but a difference in fare could be incurred
(unfortunately, this results from a website process that cannot be
disabled). Alternatively, if moving the return trip to one of our
remaining operating days is not feasible, we are also seeking
bankruptcy court approval to refund any amounts paid by these
customers for their return reservations.
Please be aware that under section 145 of the Aviation and
Transportation Security Act (November 19, 2001) Congress has
obligated U.S. airlines to offer stand-by transportation to
passengers holding un-refunded tickets for airlines that have
ceased operations due to insolvency or bankruptcy. The Act
stipulates that passengers must make their request to carriers
serving the same routes as the bankrupt carrier and must do so
within 60 days of the cessation of service. The U.S. Department of
Transportation has ruled that airlines who offer the stand-by
transportation may charge $50 one-way per person to cover related
expenses.
Today is a sad day for Independence Air. Today is a sad day for
our customers who have gotten used to tender loving service and
paying less for air travel. We will miss serving you. Thank you for
your vigorous support.