Officials at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International--one of America's most expensive airports--have confirmed that Skybus founder John Weikle toured CVG's Terminal 1 and is considering rebuilding his ultra-LCC JetAmerica in Southwest Ohio. The Cincinnati Enquirer had the news this morning, along with a money quote from an airport spokesman:

It was a feeling-out process to see how interested we were in him and how interested he would be with us. We think that what he's looking for is venture capital--and that wouldn't come from us at the airport, but rather from the community at large.

We all remember how well that worked out last time! Maybe they could get a little seed money from California?

Related Stories:
· New Airline for CVG? [Enquirer]
· JetAmerica coverage [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2008-09-09T15:20:25-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/8/25/93329/8542

Remember JetAmerica? It was to be the second coming of Skybus--until oil got super-expensive and everyone realized starting an airline is no way to make money. Last we heard, the project was scrapped in April.

But a tipster reports that there's still a little bit of cash floating around:

You are the only place I could find that might be able to let Jet America know they have funds sitting in the California State Controller's Office. It's only $1800+, but something is better than nothing.

Too true! Somebody call Weikle!

Related Stories:
· Jet America All But Finished [Jaunted]
· What the Skybus Shutdown Means for Jet America [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2008-08-25T09:45:16-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/4/8/141345/2900

On Monday morning, the future for JetAmerica looked pretty grim, but we were holding out hope that John Weikle could get his airline aloft. But after Skybus went down in flames, he decided to pull the plug on the new project.

Charleston Area Alliance President Matt Ballard says fundraising for the project has stopped, and the Daily Mail quotes Weikle as saying checks are going back to investors. That's the end of Jet America for now.

Meanwhile Ballard says a lack of leadership on national energy policy is what's killing airlines these days, not a bogus business model:

I think all of the investors here in the local area still believe in John Weikle's ultra-low cost carrier model. In fact, there were many who despite the Skybus announcement wanted to move forward...I believe John will make this model work in the US; it works for Air Asia and Ryanair.

Related Stories:
· Skybus Founder Says Refunds of Public Money Coming [Daily Mail]
· What the Skybus Shutdown Means for Jet America [Jaunted]
· Jet America coverage [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2008-04-08T14:14:16-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/4/7/112459/8007

Skybus plans to file for bankruptcy in Delaware today, and that has a lot of people in West Virginia nervous. How's that? The founder of the 'bus, John Weikle, is now at work on JetAmerica, an ultra-LCC set to take off from Charleston in 2009.

Among those sweating is Yeager Airport Director Rick Atkinson:

[The Skybus shutdown] is like throwing a wet blanket on plans for Jet America...I don't see how we could go forward with this model.

Also worried is at least one local business leader--who's now frozen some of that seed money his group pledged to Jet America:

There's no way we would have done this if I didn't think Skybus was successful.

For his part, Jaunted pen pal Matt Ballard hasn't given up on the idea of Jet America. But we have to wonder: Does it count as an airline shuttering if the carrier never took a flight?

Related Stories:
· Weikle's Skybus Ceases Operations [Charleston Gazette]
· Top Secret Airline Watch: More Details on Jet America [Jaunted]
· Jet America coverage [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2008-04-07T11:37:50-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/4/3/113751/6790

Though it's still a long way off, more details are leaking out about the planned ultra-low cost carrier JetAmerica. At present, we'll be waiting until at least 2009 to see some actual planes.

Until then, The Charleston Gazette has the details on what to expect:

The paint scheme--called the aircraft livery--features a tail with a blue background and white stars. The rest of the back-end of the plane will be red, with a white outline. The airline's name...and website will also be on the side of the plane.

While the model of plane is still under wraps, the aircraft will hold at least 120 passengers, one investor said.

As far as we can tell, president John Weikle, pictured, is still shopping around for a $40 million investment to help things along. And Matt Ballard--who we spoke with recently--says destinations and more information should be released soon.

Related Stories:
· Jet America Details Still Under Wraps [Charleston Gazette]
· Jaunted Interviews: Matt Ballard Fills Us in on Project New Horizons [Jaunted]
· Top Secret Airline Watch: Yeager LCC Will Be Called Jet America [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2008-04-03T11:39:09-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/3/18/92248/5642

A Jaunted Exclusive

We're obsessed with the idea of JetAmerica, the new ultra low cost carrier that could start flying in Charleston, West Virginia. But we don't really know that much about it. So instead of just speculating, we decided to actually ask someone who knows what he's talking about.

We got in touch with Matt Ballard, the President and CEO of the Charleston Area Alliance, a non-profit development group that chipped in some seed money to get Project New Horizons off the ground. Matt was bound by a confidentiality agreement and SEC regulations, but he did manage to illuminate some things for us.

One biggie: You won't see this airline till 2009 at the earliest.]]> pbb 2008-03-18T10:01:36-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/3/13/143944/541

According to a Jaunted tipster, and now confirmed by the Charleston Daily Mail, Skybus founder John Weikle's Project New Horizons has an official name: JetAmerica, World Police. Ok, we made up the world police part. Besides, you would think an airline based at Yeager would go after a name like The Right Stuff -- nope.

JetAmerica Inc. was registered on Nov. 26 with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission.

JetAmerica is a name from the aviation bone yard. Seven California businessmen established an airline with that name in 1981 in Long Beach. The original JetAmerica started with flights between Long Beach and Chicago.

]]> markj 2008-03-13T14:43:22-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/