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caused me to find
https://www.forbes.com/sites/douggollan ... its-fleet/
...seeJet It, the 12th largest U.S. private jet operator measured by fractional and charter flight hours,
is shutting down after grounding its fleet a week earlier.
According to Flying magazine, the HondaJet operator told employees their jobs were permanently terminated late yesterday.
The report also said the company was closing, although no bankruptcy was mentioned.
The possible end came one week after the relatively new player – it launched in 2018 –
had grounded its fleet of HondaJets,
citing safety concerns following a series of runway excursions,
including three by aircraft that were part of its program.
In a call with its fractional owners during the week that included the owner of Flying,
who is a customer of the program, Gonzales continued to cite safety concerns.
However, as the days passed, questions about Jet It’s financial health before what he termed a safety stand down started to emerge.
Yesterday, Flying wrote,
“The problem is that the safety issue doesn’t appear to be the cause of Jet It’s sudden service disruption—but cash does.”
Last October, Private Jet Card Comparisons reported an investor presentation
outlining a move to Embraer’s Phenom 300 platform,
projected the company would lose $23.2 million in 2022 following a $2.6 million loss in 2021.
Posts on the job website Glassdoor told of company credit cards being declined and calls from vendors looking to be paid.
The news of Jet It’s potentially final landing by Flying CEO Craig Fuller
told a tale of airplanes being held by repair shops due to unpaid bills,
that the company had been locked out of its primary hangar after falling behind on rent,
and that the operator owes Honda Aircraft more than $1.6 million.
Gonzales’ explanation of Jet It’s decision to ground its HondaJet fleet
for safety concerns following an accident the day before in South Carolina by a private owner immediately raised eyebrows.
The attempt to blame safety as the reason for Jet It was grounding its HondaJet fleet
was rebuffed by two other fractional programs,
Jet Token and Volato, which both said they disagreed with the move.
Honda responded with a statement, stating,
“Jet It’s decision to ground their HondaJet fleet was made independently by Jet It.
Importantly, neither Honda Aircraft Company nor any aviation authority has recommended this grounding.
Therefore, we have no comment about the decision by Jet It to ground its fleet.”
Gonzales also raised the ire of the HondaJet Operators & Pilots Association.
In a Monday email to owners, he claimed HJOPA had also called for a safety stand down via a video.
However, HJOPA Executive Director Julie Hughes said she was blindsided,
telling Private Jet Card Comparisons,
“We have not communicated with Jet It on this issue
and were surprised to see them inaccurately characterize our position.
We do not want to ground the airplane.
We believe the airplane is safe.
We want to use data from the incidents as a basis for enhancing pilot training and decision-making.
In no way do we think the HondaJet should be grounded.”
Whether Jet It can take flight again remains in serious doubt.
Jet It owners were flying for as little as $1,600 per hour, a price some say was unsustainable.
Some contracts also prevented the operator from adding a mandatory fuel surcharge.
In fact, while owners were complaining about cancelations and lack of availability,
and Jet It was complaining about the reliability and availability of its HondaJet fleet,
charter brokers say they were chartering flights from Jet It for their clients
at net rates of more than $5,000 per hour
as the industry struggled last year with availability against record demand.
Jet It’s website currently has no mention that it is not flying.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/douggollan ... its-fleet/
for more....