Independence Air Is Off the Ground at Last

Carrier Emphasizes Low Fares, Convenience

For seven months, Independence Air existed only in TV and radio spots featuring the likes of James Carville, in newspaper ads trumpeting "lower than low" fares, and inside Washington's Dulles International Airport, where employees were taught a new way of running an airline.

Yesterday, the airline took its boldest step yet. It flew.

Independence Air Flight 1995 pushed back from Dulles's Gate 2A at 6:29 a.m. -- one minute ahead of schedule -- bound for Atlanta.

And an airline was born -- actually, reinvented -- amid skepticism from industry analysts, preemptive strikes by competitors and enthusiastic reviews from customers delighted to get a bargain.

Independence scheduled 78 flights yesterday to and from Boston, Newark, Atlanta, Raleigh-Durham, Chicago O'Hare and Dulles, which the airline predicts will become the nation's largest low-fare hub. Most of the people walking off planes seemed to be leisure travelers, many with backpacks, who chose Independence over buses and trains.

"This was almost as cheap as riding the Greyhound," said Yevgeny Grigoryev, 21, a student at Methodist College in Fayetteville, N.C. He said he was paying about $100 to travel on Independence from Raleigh-Durham to Dulles to Newark.

Grigoryev was on his way home to Russia, trying to do things on the cheap. "With fares like this, I'm going to fly Independence Air again," he said in the midst of a cake-and-champagne party the airline was throwing for itself in Dulles's Terminal A. A swing jazz band played "Sentimental Journey."

Independence officials declined to say how many seats they sold for yesterday's flights. Passengers stepping off several newly painted and refurbished 50-seat jets said their flights weren't full. One afternoon flight from Dulles to Boston was almost full, but some passengers were non-paying airline employees.

Independence Air is actually a new face on 15-year-old Atlantic Coast Airlines Holdings Inc., which operated regional feeder jets for United Airlines and Delta Air Lines. When United filed for bankruptcy and tried to reduce the amount it paid Atlantic Coast to operate the feeder flights, Atlantic Coast elected to go its own way. As a regional carrier, Atlantic Coast had flown airplanes but left the marketing, reservations and customer service to United and Delta.

By fall, Independence plans to offer 700 daily systemwide departures to at least 50 destinations.