From today's Wall Street Journal:

quote:

MAXjet Airways PLC said Monday it has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, blaming rising fuel costs and an increase in competition for business-class travelers for its inability to raise necessary funding

I hope they manage to survive. I only flew them once, but it was a great trip.
Sharon

I posted a couple of weeks ago when they reported financial problems and their stock was "delisted". I guess this is the next step. I was hoping to start using MaxJet. Delta kept flying aftering declaring bankruptcy - but is it likely that this smaller airline will? And what happens to people who have tickets for future flights?

Here is the link to the WSJ artice: MAXjet Airways Files For Bankruptcy Protection (Subscription required)

From their website it does not look like they will keep flying: www.maxjet.com . They are telling people how to get refunds.

I know that Beth has tickets with them this spring - I will email her.

According to business travel guru Joe Brancatelli, MaxJet is finished.

From my point of view, there must have been something wrong with the business model....but I don't pretend to understand the economics of the aircraft industry. I would love to be enlightened about the reasons for MaxJet's failure.

When they went public, they raised $99 million. They must have burned through that in the past two years (has it just been two years?).

Here is another article from USA Today:
Fliers stranded as MAXjet Airways ceases flights

I thought the idea of a well priced business-only airline was great - shows you what I know!

From the article: "MAXjet's failure was due, in part, to the airline's inability to raise cash. The company attributed that failure to a "substantial deterioration in financial market confidence" driven by concerns about rising fuel and operating costs, "competitive pressure and (a) decline in consumer spending."

Yet both Silverjet and Eos have raised additional capital in recent months to help fund operations. Eos was attractive to investors because it has a more upscale market niche and operates more fuel-efficient aircraft, Mann said.

Lawrence Hunt, CEO of Silverjet, said MAXjet's issues shouldn't be applied to the rest of the all-business class segment. Silverjet generates about three times as much revenue per plane as MAXjet, for planes of comparable size and configuration, Hunt said. Also, Silverjet has been able to keep its fuel costs nearly 40% below MAXjet's, Hunt said."

The two remaining business-only airlines are:

EOS - www.eosairlines.com - They fly only from NYC and the cost is from $1200 - 1600 each way.

SilverJet - www.flysilverjet.com - They fly only from NYC and the cost is about $1000 each way.
(I was looking for prices flying in April/May.)