Direct Air Abruptly Cancels All Flights

Hat tip to reader Redd Dogg for alerting me to this story.

Let's consider a hypothetical scenario for a moment. You run an airline. It's a costly business and profit margins are low. Say it is getting to be your busiest season when passengers are really depending on you. What's the first thing you should make sure you do?

If you said, "pay the fucking fuel bill," you win a cookie.

Here is The Columbus Dispatch with the story:

Discount airline Direct Air is suspending all flights for two months after it abruptly cancelled its schedule at the height of spring break.

The airline’s shutdown following its apparent failure to pay a fuel bill left stranded passengers wondering how and when they’ll get home.

You would think that not being able to afford to buy fuel for your airplanes and leaving all of your passengers stranded would be pretty much the end of your airline as a going concern. But no...this is merely a temporary setback. Direct Air will be back. They promise:

Direct Air, based in Myrtle Beach, S.C., says it will not fly until May 15. Ticket holders were told to contact their credit card companies for refunds.

Direct Air’s Ed Warneck told The Sun News newspaper that the airline missed a fuel payment and the fuel supplier cut it off. So it had to ground its fleet.

The airline serves 17 cities in the Midwest, East and South. It is unclear how many travelers were affected.

Given how oil prices have been exploding lately, the cost of jet fuel will certainly drop and be much more affordable by then. So make sure you book those Memorial Day tickets now. Because an airline would NEVER sell a ticket and then not deliver on its promise. Perish the thought.


Bonus: Bill tells a funny airplane story