TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Financing Doomed DayJet's Return

ADVERTISEMENT

By TED JACKOVICS

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 23, 2008

CLEARWATER - DayJet, which discontinued its on-demand passenger service Friday without notice, said it worked unsuccessfully through Thursday to secure financing.

The company said in a prepared statement that it's unlikely it will receive financing and resume operations.

DayJet, the Boca Raton-based carrier, began service with three-passenger Eclipse 500 very-light jets in October. It operated from airports in St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Lakeland and Sarasota among others in the Southeast United States.
DayJet provided service to passengers who requested a specific departure time for short-haul flights, focusing primarily on business customers.

The company said its operations also suffered from the failure by aircraft manufacturer Eclipse Aviation Corp. of Albuquerque, N.M., to install missing equipment or repair technical discrepancies on its 28 planes.

Eclipse did not respond to DayJet's allegation in a news release Saturday, and said it would not conduct interviews.

"While DayJet was able to fulfill the demonstrated growing demand for this new market, the company was unfortunately unable to raise the capital it required to continue its operations in the current environment," the Eclipse release said.
DayJet had not reported by Monday how many employees it dismissed Friday. From previous accounts, the privately held company had about 125 employees when it closed.

HOLDING A TICKET?

Customers with an unused DayJet ticket paid by credit card can file a claim with their credit card company. Scheduled airlines are not obligated to honor DayJet tickets, the company said. Questions can be e-mailed to finance@dayjet.com.

Reporter Ted Jackovics can be reached at (813) 259-7817 or tjackovics@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT