Airline Flights Charged by the Minute

Airtime Airlines, a new South African airline, has interjected some creative original thought into an industry where companies have shown little innovation with regards to business strategies in recent years. Instead of buying a ticket, you would purchase flight minutes via an account—similar to a prepaid cell phone—and then redeem those minutes for tickets. The result is more affordable fares, especially for business travelers, their target market. Considering how many business travelers there are in the US, could this be a glimpse into the future for our airlines as well? We shall see.

From Wired:

Taking a cue from the cellphone industry, an upstart South African airline is selling flights by the minute and allowing customers to buy tickets and book flights via text message.

Airtime Airlines takes to the sky later this month, offering three flights a day from its base in Durban to Johannesburg, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. Passengers purchase minutes much like they would for a prepaid cell phone and redeem them for a ticket. Fees are assessed according to the length of the flight — say, 75 minutes for the run from Durban to Johannesburg — and could save as much as half of what competing airlines charge.

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