Skybus contacts revealed: emails, phone numbers for five top execs

November 12, 2007

If Skybus, the no-frills, surcharge-happy startup airline bothered responding to its customers with anything other than a boilerplate e-mail message, I wouldn’t do this. If I didn’t get the number of complaints that I do about Skybus, I wouldn’t do this. If it told the truth about its phones, I wouldn’t do this.

But here are the facts: there is considerable evidence that Skybus is not reading customer e-mails. My “in” box is filled with Skybus complaints. And there is overwhelming evidence that it does have phones, despite its insistence to the contrary.

What evidence is that?

Well, here are contacts and phone numbers for five of the top executives at Skybus. I have their cell phone numbers, too. I’m not going to publish them. Yet. (Please the end of this post for an important update.)

Bill Diffenderffer
Chief executive officer
(614) 947-3103
bill@skybus.com
billdiffenderffer@skybus.com

Ken Gile
President and chief operating officer
(614) 947-3104
ken@skybus.com
kengile@skybus.com

Charlie Clifton
Vice chairman
(614) 947-3105
charlesclifton10@hotmail.com

Judy Timberlake
VP of Marketing
(614) 947-3041
judy.timberlake@skybus.com

Denis Carvil
Vice president, ground and airports
(614) 947-3375
denis.carvil@skybus.com

Update: I’m told Skybus changed its phone numbers (which my source predicted they would) within 24 hours of this blog post. Bad Skybus! Let’s see if you can change your cell phone numbers as quickly …

Bill Diffenderffer (214) 616-8711
Ken Gile (214) 676-1530
Charlie Clifton 011353862473990
Judy Timberlake (214) 514-5839
Denis Carvil (614) 440-7505

Update: Oh, what the heck. Here’s Skybus’ physical address …

4234 E. 5th
Ave Columbus, OH 43219

Not sure why this isn’t public knowledge, but I’m told Skybus won’t give its physical address because it’s afraid disgruntled passengers will pay them a little visit. Now why would they do that?

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  • Deb from Columbus

    Even with a CREDIT card the refunds aren’t going as smoothly as they could. We were supposed to be on a Flight Mon 4/7 returning 4/14 from Columbus to Fort Lauderdale. Because I booked the tickets when this time block went on sale, way back in October my credit card company (Capital ONE if you are interested) says it will have to look into it since the purchase was made too long ago for an instant refund. Since hotels and cars were booked, plus concert tickets bought etc we are going anyway but the cheapest tickets we can find are in the $400 a piece range. We bought trip insurance but guess what, Airline bankruptcy wasn’t covered.
    So Good Luck everyone on getting your money refunded. I hope you have an easier time than I am having.

  • http://google kathy

    WHERE ARE YOU NOWWWWW WHORUPEOPLE???? WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY NOWWWWW…. ALL THESE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN SCREWED…INCLUDING YOU AND YOUR MAY FLIGHT…

  • Where_is_WhoRUPeople

    Laughing so hard right now I can hardly type LOL. Skybus employees gets bailed out by JetBlue by 10 bucks a pop and Skybus customers bailed out by 50 bucks a pop. Now there’s an airline skybus wishes they were.

    Bottom line is: These clowns were never interested in running an airline.

    And amazingly, I came to the fact that skybus sucks without even seeing a single airplane of theirs or coming even close to one of their “airports” (Dirt paths cleared away in the middle of empty fields far far away from any real city with pop-up tents for terminals).

    Skybus sucks, now I feel sorry for WhoRUPeople. The poor soul is most likely unemployed.

    Although I have never flown jetBlue, I do admire them in taking responsibility for Skys**t’s problems, but I have to stay loyal to my airline and make a remark….

    Fly Delta Jets!

    John D.

  • Bob

    I am sorry for the Skybus employees. I flew the airline from Chicopee to Greensboro for business quite often. The Chicopee airport is now going to be pretty much closed down. The pilots seemed extremely nice and the flight attendants, while “less experienced” then the seasoned airlines, were very attentive. I just dont think a business model works when you fly people around the country for less than a cab ride across Manhattan. My flights were always on time and the planes were clean. I feel bad for the employees and, quite frankly, I go from paying $105 round trip – back to $450 on USAIR.

  • AirportEmployeeColumbusOhio

    Like I stated in my comments I do feel sorry for the customers that are stranded now.. however I hope all of you will think about this.. Skybus was a SCAM from the start.. Lets do the math..
    Private investors, Columbus Dispatch, Nationwide, NBC4I and a lot of other “investors” put up 160 million dollars to start this airline. Skybus is now saying high oil prices are to blame. However on May 21st 2007 gas prices were around 3.18 a gallon. This was a few days before Skybus took their maiden flight.. In retrospect jet fuel would have been a few pennies cheaper than they are now since gas prices are about 7 cents more per gallon this year compared to last year. In the 3rd quarter skybus showed a net loss of 16 million dollars.. so we have

    160 million startup
    -16 million net loss 3rd quarter
    144 million left… ok

    they pay no landing/docking fees at port columbus and Im sure they probable do not pay any if not hardly any at other airports around the country and from what I have heard they also did not pay any interest on their leased planes.

    NOONE CAN TELL ME THAT THEY LOST 144 million dollars in the 4th quarter.. THINK ABOUT IT.. THIS AIRLINE WAS A SCAM IN THE MAKING!!

    What probably happed was Bill Diffenderffer was whole heartly wanting this airline to work.. They other exec’s just wanted to cash out and take the money to thier banks. Bill was against this and was asked to step down to “write a book” (hopefully called The Skybus Scandal)… This was the perfect week to do this.. 2 other airline Aloha air and ATA went under.. so what the hell we will too right?? Even ATA claims they went under because of lost Military contracts.. Bill Diffenderffer was probably forced out because he would not go along with this scandal and here comes Mike Hodges who I am sure had no problems “claiming bankruptcy” and taking many millions to the bank.. can we say Swiss bank Account????

    There is NO WAY and I mean NO WAY this company has lost 144 million dollars in 3 months.. I want to see the profit/loss sheet for the 4th quarter.. but I can guarantee that we will NEVER see or hear about it, until a court orders it out and then you will see the scandal unwind and many people will be in jail.. THIS IS ENRON ALL OVER AGAIN!!!!

    When a CEO is replaced, a board would definitely give 3 months or another quarter to “turn around” a business if it was in bad shape. NOT 2 WEEKS.. They figured that since 2 other airlines went under, they are going to be able to slide threw the bankruptcy courts under radar. This was the perfect time to finish their scandal.. THEY WILL GET CAUGHT… You will all see.. IT will all come out

    Any comments??

  • http://google kathy

    sounds like you know what youre talking about airport employee… wouldnt that be awsome to see a book out on this whole scam by bill diff… id be in line to buy it..(if i get my $318 back) bottom line is.. they have screwed up my plans along with many others, and i hope bill hodges cant sleep at night… what comes around…..goes around …… it would suck to be him!!!!!

    cant wait to hear the outcome of this whole fiasco….’
    thanks for the comment
    makes sense to me!!!!!

  • http://brilliantatbreakfast.blogspot.com Jill

    Here’s my Skybus story: I decided to fly from Stewart to Greensboro to visit family because my car and I are getting too old to drive to NC, and the major airlines out of Newark wanted over $300 for a 1-1/2 hour flight.

    I did fine on the way down; I wrote about it here. I was scheduled to fly back Saturday 4/5. Friday night I went to check in online and was greeted with the orange-and-blue box o’death. I guess I should have known when this airline had the colors of (pick one): the now defunct Howard Johnson’s chain, or the New York Mets, who couldn’t make sense of 40-year-old John Smoltz yesterday.

    I didn’t find out until AFTER I had purchased a one-way ticket on American Eagle for $269, because I just wanted to get HOME that anyone was doing anything for stranded Skybus passengers. I probably would have had to do this anyway, because the thought of waiting around an airport for standby for $50 didn’t thrill me either.

    So because I wanted to save a few bucks, I ended up flying into a city that was 62 miles from where I was actually going, using 17 bucks worth of gasoline during my trip, getting lost on the way out of Greensboro, paying for an additional airfare and an extra day of parking in Newburgh, AND taking half of yesterday morning having my husband drive me to Stewart to pick up my car and then driving it 52 miles home. Add to that the cost of buying him breakfast for his trouble.

    That said, the flight was fine — bumpy takeoff, but when you take off in 30mph crosswinds, that happens. The plane was lovely and roomy and the flight attendants were professional, even with one elderly woman who had obviously had a stroke, could hardly speak, was deaf as a post and wanted to use the bathroom as we were taxiing to takeoff. I have no beef with any of the staff.

    But to just shut down with no notice is reprehensible.

    In retrospect, Skybus feels like one of those hairbrained dotcoms that sprouted up and died just as ignominiously in the 1990′s.

  • shame

    ok airport employee, you may know plenty about planes and how an airport runs, but you don’t know much about financials. First, this is NOT another enron. Enron was publicly held, and its investors suffered because inflated earnings reports bogusly inflated the stock price, thus crashing the stock when the true earnings were revealed. Skybus was financed from private companies including the Columbus Dispatch (which for some reason does not disclose this in articles it writes about Skybus), Huntington Bank, and several other high profile companies in Ohio. The 144 million dollars included these investors’ cash, some of it in the form of loans.

    Secondly, regarding the cash on hand. When companies close the doors, they generally try to do so before spending the last nickel. If you are losing money, and see no signs that you will stop losing money, the responsible thing to do for your investors, and board members is to stop losing money. For Skybus, the only way to do that is to close the doors now. Every month you have to lease a jet that is losing thousands of dollars a day is bad business. Part of the remaining cash on hand will go to pay penalties on ending leases early. Part of it will go to credit card companies to pay interest penalties, and reimbursement for the refunds they are obligated to pay. Part of it will go to legal fees for filing, and defending against lawsuits that are sure to come. And yes, part of it will go to severance and unemployment for the ex-Skybus employees. Yes, this probably includes some packages for the executives, but it also includes taking care of the guy that sweeps the floors, or the woman who works in baggage claim.

    There is little doubt that Skybus did some things that were wrong and downright stupid. Making customers work through a maze to get basic customer service is not smart. Starting a leisure airline based in Columbus at a time when fuel costs are forcing other airlines to raise rates is not a sound business idea. It is not a business’ responsibility to explain to customers their business model… It IS the responsiblility of the only major daily newspaper to take a look at how local businesses are doing. The Columbus Dispatch fell down hard in not looking and reporting a little harder on Skybus in the months prior to the collapse. As a Skybus investor, the CD obviously had skin in the game, and their overly positive reporting and failure to continually disclose that investment breaches obvious journalistic ethics. Readers and subscribers should ask some hard questions about what other central ohio companies are running on Dispatch cash..

    Our family had more than 20 tickets on Skybus booked over the next couple of months. We joked about the fact that we hoped Skybus would last through the summer so we could enjoy them (we knew it was “when” not “if”)

    Skybus sucked, and I’m pointing at the Dispatch for putting their investors interests over those of their readers. Shame on skybus, and shame on the Dispatch.

  • AirportEmployeeColumbusOhio

    shame…

    severance pay.. ??? unemployment?? They had employees coming to work on Saturday morning that did not know they even had a job.. They are not going to do anything for their employees.. They are going to stand in line or from Ohio, call on the phone for unemployement in which I pay for every week out of my check.. When they release their financial statements like they did for the 3rd quarter you will see. They knew, just like everyone else that runs a business that they were EXPECTED to lose lots of money the 1st year of business just like 95% of any new businesses.. they even stated this when they released the 3rd quarter p/l sheets. Yes they will encounter many fees for legal consultation however they were expected to lose money until they opened their 2nd Hub and got things running smoothly.. Also , Columbus Dipatch made it very clear here that they invested millions of dollars as well as the city of columbus, port columbus, and just like you stated many other high profile companies.

  • Joe Farrell

    @ Kathy – have you called your bank who issued your debit card?

    Seems like a logical first step instead of asking people on a blog how to get your money back?

    And to Deb -SEE folks – they are only REQUIRED to give you back your money if you comply with the rules of the Fair Credit Act.

    As I said in another post here – the card issuers generally hold back a piece of the air traffic liability, the money you charge for future travel, depending on the relative health of the carrier. American probably gets more of the amount charged immediately than anyone – the bankrupt carriers the least.

    Years ago USAir’s exit from bankruptcy was slowed by the credit card issuers not liking the business plan and wanted to keep almost ALL of the airline revenue out past 60 days of travel since they thought they’d need to cover their rears given the history of USAir in bankruptcy.

    Now, Capital One is playing games – call them and dispute the charge IMMEDIATELY. Same thing with Kathy – though, the Fair Credit Act does NOT apply to debit cards. Thats why you NEVER use them to buy anything except that which you have in hand immediately and can afford to lose.

  • http://skybus Kathy

    Joe….. actually.. i have contacted my bank and i just faxed all my confirmed flights and dispute papers.. they said the money will be in my acct by the end of the week, so who loses out on this deal? the bank??? almost too good to be true but im keeping my fingers crossed…
    Thanks Joe for the input…
    After all this.. i still dont get to see my Tom this weekend… the tears continue to flow…………..

  • http://www.happyhotelier.com/ Happy Hotelier

    A simple question from the other side of the pond (Atlantic side):

    Is the rumor that Skybus discontinued its services correct? If so, is it despite or because of all the words spilled here over it?

    Cheers!

  • shame

    Airport Employee,

    While at first I thought maybe you were just a good hearted soul with some insight into the airline business, it turns out, you’re just not that bright when it comes to business.

    Yes, you pay unemployment insurance out of your check, but should you be laid off (and let’s face it, if you’re working for an airline, that’s only a matter of time), the company (or companies) you worked for also must continue to pay into that pool (that’s why companies dispute unemployment claims.) So, yes… some of the Skybus reserve funds will continue to be paid to the state of Ohio. Also, unlike frontline folks, many of the executives were under contract, and many of those contracts include terms for severance in the event of insolvency. So, yes…some of the Skybus $ will go to severence packages.

    As far as the Dispatch, I would encourage everyone to read the following Dispatch article from 4/6

    http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/04/06/skybus_aftermath_main.ART_ART_04-06-08_A1_4V9RIFN.html?sid=101

    The info in the piece is highly critical of some of Skybus’ business practices, and points out that the demise should come as no surprise. All of the info for the piece was available prior to the closing, and yet the Dispatch did not run the news until too late for its readers/subscribers. Prior to April 4th, the CD was an unabashed cheerleader for the airline, and Central Ohio’s major daily was nothing more than a shill. Painting a rosier picture than Skybus deserved, when you are a major investor in the airline is not just irresponsible, it’s unethical. While the Dispatch disclosed their investment in a few articles, it is the responibility of a media outlet to make this clear EVERY time you mention the company you hold interest in. It is also the responsibility of that media outlet to cover the business the same way you would cover every other business…critically, but fair. The Dispatch did not live up to this responsibility.

  • AirportEmployeeColumbusOhio

    I dont work for an airline or an airline affiliate, however pilots and flight attendants as far as I understand were not under contract; hince why they wanted to join a union, but just a tad bit too late.

  • http://amauris_y@jhotmail.com Sonia Ortega

    Sorry for your situacion, but I bought tickets for to go to miami, and now I cant, I feel very worry, because my family come from Venezuela, and need to looking for theirs It’s firsth time my code are:
    OY858N
    V886JW
    07J34G
    I was in Greensboro today I can’t see nobody
    Please help me my phone number is 336-749-5706

  • Janet Webb

    I had to spend an additional $323.00 on USAIR to get home from Greensboro, NC back to Philly . I also then had to pay $47.00 for a cab ride to Delaware to pick up my car. This was out of pocket money I was not planning on spending after finding I was stranded in NC when Skybus decided to go out of business. Skybus even though they went out of business should still have some assets. Who has these assets now???I want to be reimbursed for the added expense. Any idea who I should contact??? Janet Webb

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    http://www.vashi2panvel.com/Navi-Mumbai-News/index.php?arr=item/1085

    http://navimumbai-naiksanjeev.blogspot.com

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