Fliers lose an ally ...

0 Comments | USA TODAY, January, 2006

Perhaps Independence Air's timing was bad, taking flight in 2004 just as fuel prices were about to soar. Perhaps its use of small jets with big operating costs never made much sense. Perhaps it hurt itself with unsustainably low airfares.

Even so, Independence will be sorely missed by people on the East Coast, where most of its routes were. The airline, which made its last flights Thursday, had a devoted following and trimmed fares at the airports it served, particularly at its Dulles hub in suburban Washington, D.C.

No doubt the old-line "legacy" carriers, such as United and Delta, are celebrating the upstart's demise. Now that it's gone, they can raise their prices again.

What they can also do, however, is learn from this little airline. Independence Air...