The airline also sold advertising space on the interior and exterior of its aircraft, as well as selling merchandise on board.

[5] It had been granted a waiver to begin ticket sales on April 24, 2007;[6] Skybus' first passenger flights out of Columbus began on May 22, 2007.

Service between Port Columbus and the other eight destinations began on May 22, and the airline also announced its intention to expand rapidly.

On July 24, 2007, the U.S. Department of Transportation granted Skybus the right to fly international flights to Cancún, Mexico and Nassau, Bahamas.

[9] Two months later, the airline announced that it would begin daily service from Portsmouth to St. Augustine and Fort Myers, Florida, served by the Charlotte County Airport in Punta Gorda in December 2007.

[10] The airline made news during the Christmas 2007 travel season, when it encountered problems with two of its seven planes, resulting in the cancellation of about 25% of its scheduled service over a two-day period.

[11] On March 24, 2008, Skybus announced that chief executive Bill Diffenderffer had resigned to return to his previous occupation as an author.

[13] On October 16, 2007, Skybus announced it was eliminating service to San Diego and Bellingham, and cutting one flight a day to Burbank.

[14] On October 22, 2007, Skybus announced the opening of a new hub at Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, North Carolina.

To achieve this, Skybus planned to utilize multiple measures designed to increase revenue and decrease costs, many of which are now used by Spirit Airlines.

Advertised fares to all of the former target cities began at US$10 one-way; the price increased as more tickets were sold for that flight.

In order to maximize revenue from these fees, Skybus attempted to strictly enforce its no outside food and drink policy.

Another major method of cost reduction was to utilize secondary airports, which are generally less congested and charge less to lease space though they may be farther from the advertised destination.

The pilots were seeking to join Local 747 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, based in Houston, Texas.

(Note that there is precedent for unionized pilots with most other employee groups remaining non-union, as is the case at Delta Air Lines.)

Skybus aircraft were outfitted as flying gift shops, selling soda, food, perfumes, handbags, jewelry, watches, clothing, and toiletries.

[26] Soon after the departures of several top managers, on April 4, 2008, Skybus announced they were shutting down all flight operations.

[7][27] A statement on its website regarding the shutdown said that "Skybus struggled to overcome the combination of rising jet fuel costs and a slowing economic environment.

[29] On February 14, 2007, Skybus announced they had chosen the CFM56-5B engine built by CFM International to power the 65 A319 aircraft on order from Airbus.

[30] As of April 2008, the Skybus Airlines fleet consisted of 13 Airbus A319 aircraft (out of a total order of 63), 12 received in December 2007 and one in March 2008, two of which were leased from Virgin America.

A branded airplane featured a full-body advertisement along the fuselage, with the tail and engines of the plane remaining in the Skybus paint scheme.

The company's standard font was Frutiger, itself created for the travel industry in 1974 for Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, France.

The first leased aircraft for Skybus that came from Virgin America, had 144 seats on board, and flew with three flight attendants.

Flight attendants purchased their own uniforms and were allowed to choose and wear the T-shirt style of their choice.

Captain and First Officer uniforms did not have advertising and were of traditional airline style (olive green shirts with epaulettes and black ties).

These incentives included a twelve-year tax credit, promised airport improvements, business loans, and marketing support.

When Skybus began operations, they took advantage of $11 million of improvements to their gates in Concourse B at Port Columbus.

These included Fidelity Investments (12.6% ownership), Morgan Stanley (6.4%), Nationwide Mutual Capital (5%), and Tiger Management (4.1%).

Smaller investors included: Huntington Capital Investment Co., Wolfe Enterprises (former owner of The Columbus Dispatch, WBNS-TV, and WTHR-TV), and Battelle Services Co. Inc.[38] Skybus reported a loss of $16 million during its first three months of operation.