On Monday morning, the future for Jet America 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.
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 Jet America, 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 palMatt 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?
Though it's still a long way off, more details are leaking out about the planned ultra-low cost carrier Jet America. 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.
We're obsessed with the idea of Jet America, 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.
The nascent low cost carrier from Skybus founder John Weikle is one step closer to reality. Investors, including business alliances in Charleston, West Virginia, have cobbled together $3 million in seed money to start Project New Horizons.
There's understandably some skepticism about the project, in light of Independence Air's short-lived service to Charleston's Yeager Airport. Weikle told The Charleston Gazette the new project will be different:
Independence Air made use of the hub-and-spoke system, with its main hub at Washington's Dulles International, and competed with major carriers on nearly all its routes, Weikle said. The low-cost operation envisioned for Charleston, he said, "will offer point-to-point service" with no connecting routes, on routes not served by major carriers.
With the initial money in hand, Weikle is now looking for $40 million from institutional investors. If he can get that cash quickly, we could see a new airline by the end of 2008. As for potential destinations, we probably won't hear anything until next month.
Back in early 2003, an airline industry veteran named John Weikle left US Airways to start Skybus. And though the ultra-LCC has moved on, he apparently still has the start-up itch. Weikle's rumored to be backing a new airline that'll be based at Yeager Airport in Charleston, West Virginia.
At this early stage, there aren't many details about Project New Horizons, other than the Bond movie name. A local business alliance is planning to chip in some money for the start-up. But the numbers being tossed out at this stage are frighteningly low; one official says $3 million is the goal for this round of fundraising. (Skybus started operations with $160 million in the bank.)
As for Yeager Airport, it seems like a decent candidate for a new ultra-low cost carrier. It currently has regional service on five of the six legacy carriers. Aside from some seasonal service from a charter airline, an LCC would be the first point-to-point carrier to touch down at CRW.
It's worth mentioning, too, that Skybus' home base of Columbus is just three hours from Yeager. Could we be gearing up for a Stateside version of the eternal Ryanair/Easyjet battle? We hope so!
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