JetAmerica -- one plane, $1.4 million in grants makes an airline

Take a dollop of recession, a healthy spoonful of declining air passenger numbers, add the scent of prior failure and what do you get? A new airline.

Some of the people behind the recently folded Skybus are back with JetAmerica, a new regional airline that will serve a few towns in the Great Lakes area and cherry-pick a couple of longer routes.

The new air carrier will operate out of the Toledo (Ohio) Express Airport, thanks to a $600,000 grant from the city and additional money chipped in by other destinations to a total of $1.4 million.

Borrowing a PR stunt from Skybus, JetAmerica will offer nine seats per flight for $9 per. Fares will top out at $199 for a one-way ticket, although it will tack on extra charges such as a $10 booking fee.

Cities on the original flight plan are Lansing, Mich., Newark, N.J., South Bend, Ind., and Melbourne, Fla. Three flights a week will serve Minneapolis.