JetAmerica Stops Sales, Starts Refunds
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Andrew Compart andrew_compart@aviationweek.com
JetAmerica suspended all sales July 17, dimming prospects that the new entrant will ever take off.
The company still held out the possibility that it will some day get off the ground--albeit in different markets than originally announced. But for now, JetAmerica said it will provide refunds to everyone who booked its flights, which have been on sale since May 27, because of the airline's difficulty in obtaining slots at Newark Airport to offer its service.
JetAmerica was gearing up to be a new U.S. charter airline that would offer service without any of its own aircraft, instead contracting with Miami Air International to operate Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
Its services had been slated to begin July 13 with service to Newark six days a week from Toledo, Ohio, three days a week from Lansing, Mich., and Melbourne, Fla., and twice a week from Southbend, Ind. It envisioned turning Toledo, Ohio, into its "focus city" and becoming a full-fledged commercial carrier in 12 to 18 months.
JetAmerica, however, never lined up at any slots at Newark to offer the service: the airline claimed it did not know it needed them as a charter operator, while the FAA insisted it never told the company otherwise given its holding out of what amounted to scheduled service. Citing difficulty in lining up the slots, JetAmerica announced about a week before its service was scheduled to begin that it was suspending its startup until Aug. 14.
In the new July 17 announcement of the sales suspension, JetAmerica CEO John Weikle said airline officials "decided to suspend our operations in order to refocus on different markets. We still strongly believe that there is an unmet need for affordable air service to secondary markets and we look forward to offering this option again in the near future." Florida Today reported that the airline's chairman, Steve Schoen, told the newspaper the company could start service this fall with Melbourne, Fla., as its focus city, and perhaps replace Newark with a secondary, further-afield New York-area airport such as Islip or White Plains.
Screen grab from JetAmerica website
