Skybus Airlines Goes Bust

Anybody who wondered how Skybus could make money with its famous $10 airfares can stop: they didn't. The Ohio-based airline has become the latest US carrier to go bankrupt in the face of soaring fuel costs and a sluggish economy, the Columbus Dispatch reports. It made its last flight yesterday and passengers boarding planes were warned their return tickets had suddenly become one-way.

The low-cost airline had been troubled since its launch last year and some analysts said the failure to factor in rising fuel costs had doomed it from the start. “They had a dumb model," one said. "The original plan never had a chance, at $50 a barrel oil or $100 a barrel oil.”  The airline's CEO quit two weeks ago to resume his book-writing career. (More Skybus stories.)