New airline to link Firelands to drive-time cities

Thursday, 25 August 2005

By SUSANNE CERVENKA
susannecervenka@sanduskyregister.com

FINDLAY - Come fly the Firelands skies.

A new airline service has hit the Firelands, linking the area with other parts of the northeastern United States.

SkyTaxi NE Inc., based in Findlay, is "the next generation in air travel," said Frank Gaetano, vice-president of marketing for the company.

Sky Taxi, which was issued its operating license last week, is a blend of charter flight services and a commercial carrier, Gaetano said.

The airline has no fixed schedule but allows passengers to purchase individual seats rather than charter the entire flight, he said.

The plane drops off passengers and heads on to its next destination, he said.

"It's like sharing a cab in New York City," he said.

The shuttle service uses smaller aircraft and flies to smaller, rural airports such as Erie-Ottawa Regional Airport and Griffing Sandusky Airport rather than the larger hubs such as Cleveland's Hopkins International Airport, Gaetano said.

"In most cases, passengers are at their destination before they would have boarded a plane in a hub airport," he said.

The service is geared toward business and high-end recreational travelers and specializes in shorter-distance trips that would have a three- to five-hour drive time in a car, Gaetano said.

"The longer routes are best left to the (commercial) airlines," he said.

Ticket prices vary on destination, but generally cost about $1 per mile, Gaetano said.

A 58-minute flight from Sandusky to Cincinnati would cost about $150 plus tax while the flight to Pittsburgh would be $139 plus tax, he said.

The cost of the plane ride is cheaper than driving when time-efficiency is factored into the equation, Gaetano said.

Customers can give SkyTaxi their destination address and the airline's computer system will list the closest airports, Gaetano said.

SkyTaxi has not yet flown out of Sandusky, Port Clinton or Norwalk, but is able to immediately, Gaetano said.

Passengers fly to their destinations in a six-passenger, twin-engine plane, Gaetano said. Seating is executive business class with passengers facing each other rather than sitting behind each other in rows.

SkyTaxi flies to 560 cities within northeastern United States and is expected to begin similar services in other regions of the country.