Jaunted

Airline News / Armavia / Airlines / Airline Industry / Armenia / Armenia Travel / Airline Bankruptcy / Batavia Air / → All Tags

It's Only April and Already Two Airlines Have Gone Bankrupt in 2013

Rewind back to a couple of years ago and it seemed like an airline was cancelling flights, stranding passengers, and going out of business, like, once a month. Thankfully the global economy has kind of stabilized, and any bad bankruptcy news hasn't come down the pipeline for a while. Of course the good times must come to an end. The flag carrier over in Armenia is shutting things down.

Yesterday was the day in which Armavia officially ended its run and, just a few days earlier—March 29 to be specific—was when the carrier filed for bankruptcy and stopped flying. As this wasn't a well-planned exit from aviation, quite a few passengers were less than pleased with the news and some even decided to head to the airline’s office at Zvartnots International Airport to picket and demand answers.

more ›

SkyBus / LCCs / Low Cost Carriers / Trip Reports / Airlines / Airline Bankruptcy / → All Tags

It's Been Four Years and We Just Can't Forget SkyBus

Like all major historical events, we’ll always remember where we were and what we were doing the day that SkyBus died. We were actually just turning on the Today show—still in bed—to the news that the crazy cheap carrier was boarding up shop and getting out of the airline business. Like so many others, we were left with cancelled reservations (from North Carolina to Southern California), a bummer considering we'd just tested out SkyBus only a few weeks before the bankruptcy.

This month marks the four-year anniversary (April 4, 2008) of the bankruptcy and, unfortunately, that trip now only lives on in our memories. Hey, at least we got to try SkyBus before it went belly up. Rising fuel costs and a cash flow that was more of a trickle made for the downfall of the airline.

more ›

Airline Bankruptcy / Air Australia / Strategic Airlines / Airplane Seats / LCCs / → All Tags

Want 10,000 Sick Bags or 100 Airline Seats? We've Got the Auction for You

Poor, poor Air Australia. First, we were very excited for a new airline down under called Strategic Airlines, and then back in November, they not only changed their name, but changed their service model. From a full-service airline meant to compete with the big dogs of the Aussie airline industry, to a budget airline primarily targeting leisure destinations around the region.

Then came February, when the airline took planeloads of people to their destinations and then called it quits, stranding passengers in foreign cities.

Since Air Australia went into the Australian equivalent of bankruptcy, the administrators were left with the trappings of an entire airline on their hands. Since the bosses of the airline ran up bills totaling around $85 million dollars, the new owners had to recoup that cash. The obvious thing to do is to pull apart planes and sell off all assets of the former carrier. And we mean everything!

more ›

Airline Bankruptcy / Air Australia / LCCs / Airline News / Qantas / Virgin Australia / Hawaiian Airlines / Air Asia X / → All Tags

(Yet Another) Bankrupt Airline Alert: Air Australia Flies No More

The past few weeks have been quite a tumultuous time in the airline industry. Some big players ceased operations, like Spanair and Malev. Well, add another casualty to the list; Air Australia.

It seems like just yesterday we were talking about the re-branding of Air Australia from Strategic Airlines. They shifted from a full service airline to a low-cost carrier, filling the void left by Virgin Australia's switch to full service. The carrier's brightly painted planes zipped around on routes like Oz to Phuket, Bali, and even Honolulu, not to mention a handful of domestic services.

more ›

Retro Travel / Airline Bankruptcy / Pan Am / Eastern Air Lines / Braniff / Midway Airlines / Olympic Air / Sabena / Ansett / Airline Industry / → All Tags

Seven of Our Favorite Defunct Airlines of Yesteryear

It sure seems like a number of world airlines have been closing up shop recently. Last week, we saw two European carriers cease operations and call it quits. Barcelona-based, Spanair, and the Hungarian flag carrier, Malev, both abruptly stopped flying, stranding passengers all over the continent. Of course, these latest casualties are not the only airlines to make their final approaches.

Let's take a trip down memory lane and reminisce of those airlines we never forget and, secretly, wish we could still fly. These brands never had an iPhone app, some barely had a website, but they will always play a role in the golden age of air travel.

Some of favorite defunct airlines, in no particular order:

more ›

Skybus / Airlines / Airline News / LCCs / Airline Bankruptcy / → All Tags

Three Years After Skybus Bit the Big One, It's Still Making News

This is a hard topic for us to discuss, because we’re still bitter about the $9 flights that we had to Southern California that were canceled thanks to a pesky little bankruptcy. Even as we hold back our tears, we feel it’s important to recognize the three-year anniversary of Skybus' going belly up.

Several years after its demise, the defunct airline is still making news, as it continues to payback all those investors and companies that believed in cheap airfare as the next big thing. Despite not making too much cash during its short run, the airline was actually able to pay back most of its creditors. We’re hardly bankruptcy law experts, but apparently paying back unsecured debts is kind of a big deal.

more ›

Airline News / Mexicana / Airlines / Airline Bankruptcy / AeroMexico / Airline Industry / Mexico Travel / → All Tags

Bankrupt Mexicana Stops All Flights, but They Could Still Come Back

Apparently that last minute infusion of cash was not enough, as Mexicana and its planes might be going to that big terminal in the sky. Over the weekend, the troubled airline shut down all flights until further notice, as they continued to blame all of their money issues.

Things were struggling on Friday like the past few weeks, but by Saturday afternoon, the planes stayed parked at their gates. Mexicana wants passengers stuck with tickets to visit their website to request a refund. There’s a pretty straightforward refund form that can be filled out online, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be saving your cash anytime soon. For those stuck away from home, Aeromexico is promising to help out, but you’ll still have to spend a little money, as they’re only offering discounts on standby flights.

more ›

Airline Bankruptcy / LCCs / Airlines / Airline Industry / Airline News / → All Tags

Saudi LCC Sama Parks Its Planes after Only a Few Years in the Air

We haven’t had a low cost carrier shut down in a few months, but we knew we wouldn’t make it to the end of the year before finding out about another one. Sama—an LCC from Saudi Arabia—shut things down at the beginning of the week after losing around $266 million.

The airline thought that the government would kind of help them out with things like fuel subsidies, but apparently the help never came through. Sama officials even went looking for some rich people to assist them with one last infusion of cash, kind of like Mexicana, but that also didn’t work out.

more ›

Airline News / Mexicana / Airlines / Airline Bankruptcy / AeroMexico / Airline Industry / Mexico Travel / → All Tags

Mexicana May Be Saved, but Only Time Will Tell

Mexicana has not been having a good August, but it looks like a group of fairly wealthy folks want to help the airline end 2010 with a smile.

A group of Mexican investors under the name of "Tenedora K" have put together enough money to buy 95 percent of the troubled airline. They left just enough for the pilots’ union to keep control of the remaining five percent. At this point, Mexicana has not released any information about their sale, but we’d expect to get some news any day now.

more ›

Airline News / Mexicana / Airlines / Airline Bankruptcy / AeroMexico / Airline Industry / Mexico Travel / → All Tags

Canceled Flights and Unpaid Pilots Aren't Good Signs for Mexicana

Things are not going well for Mexicana. You already knew that they just became the latest airline to file for bankruptcy, and there’s that whole FAA downgrade thing that has to be a blow to their airline ego. It seems that the bad news is compounding quickly, and we might not be hearing much from them in a few months if their bad luck continues.

Last week the airline suspended ticket sales just days after filing for bankruptcy protection, but the airline promised that they would continue flying for those passengers that already held tickets. The airline hoped that this would give them some time to continue labor talks with some employees, but we just think that this reveals how bad things really are.

more ›

Airline News / Mexicana / Airlines / Airline Industry / Mexico / Mexico Travel / Airline Bankruptcy / → All Tags

Another One Bites the Dust: Mexicana Files for Bankruptcy

The string of great news for the oneworld airline alliance had to stop some time, and apparently that time was yesterday. That's when ailing Mexican national airline Mexicana officially filed for bankruptcy in the US and Mexico. The move will allow them to keep operating, though it obviously casts doubt on the company's long-term viability. It's also not a particularly positive sign for the airline industry as a whole, which really just can't catch a break.

Still, it's hard to say that this filing was totally unexpected. Between getting their air safety rating downgraded by the FAA and having their planes randomly confiscated by Canadian lessors, the airline wasn't exactly convening an overwhelming ethos of stability.

more ›

Airline Bankruptcy / Japan Airlines / JAL / Airlines / Airline News / Airline Industry / Japan Travel / Delta / Oneworld / → All Tags

Breaking: Japan Press Rumors Say JAL Deal Done with Delta, Dumping American

Having finally filed for bankruptcy Tuesday after what seemed like forever, Japan Airlines is free to look toward long-term restructuring rather than short-term "please god let us operate another week" revenue generation. The next big question was how the Japanese flagship airline would decide in the high-stakes poker game between American and Delta, both of whom have been heavily courting JAL—American to keep them in oneworld and Delta to get them to switch to SkyTeam. Now there are reports precolating out of Japanese media, and we haven't seen them on any of the wires yet, so you're warned, that JAL has just closed the deal with Delta.

more ›