Northwest and Independence Air
Jul 19th, 2004 | By Jared BlankJust wanted to share a quick recap (thanks to the USA Today blog) of how Northwest has reacted to Independence Air’s launch into the Lansing, Michigan, market with flights from Washington, DC. Independence announced $118 fares on that route. Northwest then stuck 4 nonstops on that route, though it has no other connecting service from either Lansing or DC (of course they matched the $118 fare). In some industries that is called capacity dumping, and is typically frowned upon. Of course, this isn’t a different industry, so bring on the unfair competition! Independence Air, to their credit, have now lowered prices to $58 r/t (or $118 r/t from other cities on the east coast to Lansing). Lansing’s just about an hour from Ann Arbor and a bit more to Detroit, so it’s a viable option for flights to that area. But please, use Independence Air and support their attempt to bring fares to more reasonable levels. Unless, of course, you’re a sucker for Onepass miles, like me, and sometimes need Northwest’s help. Then I take back everything mean I’ve said. Well, most things.