Southeast Airlines out of business

nj.com ^ | December 02, 2004 | JONATHAN HENRY

[Malsua]

Southeast Airlines out of business

LVIA scrambles to restore service between Valley, Fla.
Thursday, December 02, 2004?
By JONATHAN HENRY
The Express-Times

Southeast Airlines is gone, and so may be the vacation money of many area residents.

The low-cost carrier to Florida, which just two weeks ago announced it was adding flights to and from Lehigh Valley International Airport, abruptly ended operations Tuesday. The move may leave hundreds of area residents with no chance to obtain a refund.

Southeast Airlines, which flew from LVIA to Orlando, St. Petersburg and Fort Lauderdale, locked its office and left its Web site's now-Spartan home page with only a message:

"Southeast Airlines has made its final landing and has ceased airline operations. We apologize for the inconvenience this will cause to our customers. This action is due in part to the unplanned and uncontrollably high cost of fuel combined with a low yield environment that makes it impossible for Southeast to continue offering low-cost air transportation."

[Malsua]

I don't know how many people have flown on SouthEast, but to those of us who had, this is a bummer. The airports were easy to get to, and fares were as low as $49/one way. It was a great way to get to central Florida for the NYC/Northern Jersey/Conneticut area.

High fuel costs were sighted as one reason. I guess we can thank oil speculators for this one.

[Jaysun]

I don't know how many people have flown on SouthEast, but to those of us who had, this is a bummer. The airports were easy to get to, and fares were as low as $49/one way. It was a great way to get to central Florida for the NYC/Northern Jersey/Conneticut area.
High fuel costs were sighted as one reason. I guess we can thank oil speculators for this one.

Fortunately, I use Delta. High fuel cost have hit everyone of the carriers. What about the unions that hold them at knife point? I'm sure they played a role.

[lilylangtree]

The oil companies have laughing all the way to the bank with high oil prices.

[n.y.muggs]

Yeah SouthEast screwed us In Newburgh, NY, too. I don't believe their reasons... High oil prices and competition.

If they had any decency they would have given their customers a clue on their immenent shutdown.

They pulled an economic Pearl Harbor

[Kirkwood]

Never heard of 'em.

[Malsua]

Yeah SouthEast screwed us In Newburgh, NY, too. I don't believe their reasons..

I could see that. I loved flying out of Stewart. 30 second walk from parking to check in. Two minutes in security, and you're done. I'm going to miss it too.

[PAR35]

The move may leave hundreds of area residents with no chance to obtain a refund.

Since most folks probably paid with credit cards, they can follow the rules, and the credit card companies will eat the loss. Debit cards are another matter....

[PAR35]

I went to their web site, and the story seems to be lacking in the accuracy department.

http://www.flyseal.com/

"Customers seeking refunds of unused tickets purchased with a credit card should contact their credit card companies and request that the charge for the cancelled flight(s) be “charged back”.

Southeast has a bond with United Bank, who signed the charter prospectus with Southeast and agreed to act as securer. Customers who purchased their tickets with cash, check or debit cards should contact United Bank at 727.898.2265 for a refund of their unused tickets.

Airtran has offered to accommodate Southeast’s passengers for a $50.00 fare (contact Airtran for details). Southeast will arrange for reimbursement of your Airtran airfare from Southeast’s DOT-approved escrow account if you fax a copy of your Airtran receipt along with a copy of the invoice for your cancelled Southeast flight (please include your email address) to 757.220.5818.

Southeast is making arrangements to have mishandled luggage returned directly to its owners."

[stands2reason]

Price goes up because demand rises while supplies are limited, not because Big Oil is greedy.

[uncitizen]

The airlines are doing poorly right now and most of them cite "rising oil prices". But that is just the convenient excuse these days. They don't want to tell it like it is: it's the union wages. They might offend the wrong people.

[Jaysun]

The airlines are doing poorly right now and most of them cite "rising oil prices". But that is just the convenient excuse these days. They don't want to tell it like it is: it's the union wages. They might offend the wrong people.

Agreed. The airlines are over regulated by the Feds, and they're constantly being blackmailed by the unions. The combination of the two makes it very difficult to profit.