Air Charter?

Sentient Jet Holdings, a leading air charter operator, will sell three of its business units, Jet Membership, Retail Charter Brokerage, and Fuel Management, to the MGOP. These three units will form a company of their own lead by former Sentient CEO Steve Hankin, and the remaining units will form another separate company with Greg Campbell and Jake Cartwright in charge of it’s two divisions. Greg explains the action as part of a plan to ensure Sentient’s survival and success for the years to come.

Cirrus, while known for their smaller piston aircraft, have developed a jet which now looks to be entering the realm of the Very Light Jet (VLJ) air taxi market. SATSair, a small air charter firm, will be the launch air taxi customer for the much anticipated Cirrus Jet.

High fuel prices are making it very expensive and difficult for the aviation industry to operate, but they’re not going down without a fight. Airlines and general aviation groups have decided to set aside all there differences and to join forces to fight against rising fuel costs. Both the NBAA and AOPA have joined, the conveniently named association, Stop Oil Speculation Now whose goal it is to reduce rising fuel costs. Let’s all hope they can perform miracles.

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While many thought of Vern Raburn as synonymous with Eclipse Aviation, those days appear to be retreating. While Eclipse has experienced a rough time with litigation and customer satisfaction issues in recent years, the news of the CEO stepping down is a big deal for sure.

We are all aware that illegally operated charter flights (you know.. the one where there is no operator) are a constant problem. But the FAA may have found a solution. They have recently brought renewed and increased interest to their hotline to identify the perpetrating companies. The hotline is open to all employees and agents with an FAA Part 135 certificate. These illegal charters have been stealing clients from legitimate charters operators and have been endangering lives for decades. This news story explains it in detail.

In an effort to really really clean the air… all air traffic (that is deemed non-essential) is being curbed in an effort to keep our fine athletes (and paying customers!) lungs and perception clean.  This story tells more of how all non-essential air charter / air taxi flights will probably be routed a ways away from Beijing in order to minimize air pollution.

While many had high hopes for this organization, it appears that funding and / or operational hurdles have led to a less ambitious approach.  Citing the credit crunch and a struggle to raise additional capital, founder Ed Iacobucci explains that the model was proven, but investors simply wouldn’t take the risk with so many unknowns.

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Adam Aircraft’s assets were sold to the only bidder and the transaction is expected to close by April 15th, 2008.  The manufacturer is known for their jet and piston designs and is one of the few VLJ programs to make such wide use of composite material.  Read the rest of this entry »

After some speculation and failed attempts to negotiate with a lender, Adam Aircraft has suspended operations. The interesting thing about Adam Aircraft, when compared with other VLJ manufacturers, is that the order book expectation was muted when compared with prevalent industry hype and there is an existing pipeline of revenue from its Adam A500 piston twin. Adam Aircraft is the second KAPA aviation manufacturing firm to cease operations in light of cash flow considerations.

Many industry experts felt that the competitive advantage of being “cheaper” was a challenge for Eclipse to maintain. Now that the company is being more public about its genuine cash problems, the key questions being raised center around just that: How can being cheaper be a competitive advantage when you can’t build them as fast as you said you would?

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