DayJet - Misplaced Pages

DayJet was an American commercial aviation operation that provided on-demand jet travel using Eclipse 500 very light jets. Founded by Ed Iacobucci, the former leader of the IBM-Microsoft Joint OS/2 development team IBM executive and the founder of Citrix Systems, and his wife, network architect Nancy Lee Iacobucci, DayJet launched in October 2007. It was based in Delray Beach, Florida.

Described by its founders as an on-demand jet taxi service, DayJet raised $61 million in venture funding, entered into a five-year agreement with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and purchased 28 Eclipse 500 jets (4- and 6-seaters) at the cost of $1.5 million each before suspending operations on September 19, 2008, during the height of the 2008 financial crisis.

DayJet was Eclipse Aviation's largest customer with a planned eventual delivery of 1,400 aircraft representing a majority of the estimated 2,500 Eclipse 500s on order.

Its headquarters were in Delray Beach, Florida.

DayJet had 239 orders for the Eclipse 500, and was expected to place 70 more by 2010. The first delivery of three Eclipse 500 aircraft took place on March 31, 2007.

History

May 2008 financial problems

On 6 May 2008, DayJet announced a scaling back of its operations and the laying off of 100–160 employees in all segments of the company. The company also sold or leased out 16 of the 28 Eclipse 500s it owned.

DayJet founder and CEO Ed Iacobucci indicated that the company needed an investment of US$40M at that time to reach profitability, but that the economic climate did not permit the company to raise that amount. Iacobucci stated that the company had proven that the per seat time sensitive pricing air taxi operational concept is sound, but that the carrier's fleet needed to be quickly expanded to fifty aircraft to reach profitability.

Despite cutting its fleet, the air carrier announced on 21 May 2008 that they were expanding their service by making two more destinations in Florida, Jacksonville and Sarasota, into hub airports DayJet designates as "DayPorts". In July 2008, both Saint Petersburg/Clearwater and Orlando, Florida were added as hub DayPorts.

September 2008 suspension of operations

The company announced the following news on 19 September 2008:

DayJet Services, LLC, the world’s first operator of “Per-Seat, On-Demand” jet service, today announced that it has ceased jet services, pending further notice. The company today eliminated most employee positions. With the discontinuation of jet services and cancellation of all flights, DayJet is unable to honor any customer reservations.

The company indicated that given the current economic climate in the USA it is unlikely that flying operations will be resumed.

The company also announced a change in management on 19 September 2008, stating:

Iacobucci has stepped down as DayJet President and CEO but continues to serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors. John Staten has been named interim CEO with responsibility for managing the affairs of the company during the next phase of operations. Staten has served as DayJet CFO and Senior Vice President of Operations for the past six years.

In November 2008, Iacobucci indicated that he was still attempting to raise capital to restart the company and that it would be a smaller, scaled back operation. He also stated at that time that there were a number of problems that caused the company to cease operations, but that the key issue was the credit crisis.

In analyzing DayJet's situation Iacobucci said that problems with Eclipse had contributed, but that the Eclipse 500 was the best choice for DayJet when it was starting up due to its purchase price and projected maintenance costs. Using the Eclipse 500 also permitted DayJet to start with a single aircraft type for the whole fleet. Iacobucci indicated in November 2008 that he was still pursuing investors, but would not be committing more of his own money, having already invested US$20 million.

Iacobucci did not place blame for the company's problems on the choice of the Eclipse 500, saying, "It’s not the flippin’ airplane".

Sale of DayJet fleet

Eclipse Aviation announced in October 2008 that they were acting as "the exclusive broker" for the sale of the existing 28 DayJet aircraft.

Canadian light aircraft fractional aircraft company OurPlane bid on the entire DayJet fleet of aircraft, offering more than "$500,000 each but less than $1.5 million" each. OurPlane operated a fleet of Cirrus SR22 aircraft and one current Eclipse 500 until its bankruptcy in October 2010. OurPlane had planned to offer its customers one-quarter shares in the Eclipse 500s for less than US$449,000.

OurPlane did not complete the purchase of the DayJet fleet and the aircraft became the property of Eclipse Aerospace, the new company that purchased the assets of Eclipse Aviation from Chapter 7 bankruptcy in August 2009. Eclipse Aerospace indicated that they intend to upgrade and sell the aircraft.

DayJet Technologies

At the time of DayJet's bankruptcy, a group of investors took control of DayJet Technologies, the technology subsidiary, and are operating it as a private technology company.

References

"DayPorts". DayJet Corporation.
"Test Driving an Air Taxi: Quiet, Quick but Not Cheap". The New York Times. June 19, 2007. Retrieved May 19, 2017.
Tatge, Mark (August 13, 2007). "A Bus in the Clouds". Forbes. Retrieved May 19, 2017.
Nusca, Andrew (June 21, 2013). "Ed Iacobucci, co-founder of Citrix, dies of cancer". ZDnet. Retrieved May 20, 2017.
Lindsay, Greg. "Flight Plan". Fast Company. Retrieved May 19, 2017.
^ Garrett, Mark (August 13, 2014). Encyclopedia of Transportation: Social Science and Policy. SAGE Publications. ISBN 9781483389806.
"DayJet Takes Off" (PDF). Press Release. DayJet Corporation. October 3, 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 23, 2011. Retrieved April 11, 2007.
^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 10, 2008. Retrieved February 22, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
Garrett, Mark (August 13, 2014). Encyclopedia of Transportation: Social Science and Policy. SAGE Publications. ISBN 9781483389806. Retrieved May 19, 2017 – via Google Books.
"Contact Us." DayJet. March 16, 2006. Retrieved on May 3, 2012. "1801 S. Federal Highway, Suite 100 Delray Beach, Florida 33483"
"Eclipse Aviation Delivers Three Eclipse 500 VLJs to DayJet" (PDF). Press Release. DayJet Corporation. March 31, 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 30, 2007. Retrieved April 11, 2007.
^ Niles, Russ (May 6, 2008). "DayJet Cuts Jets And Staff". AVweb.com. Aviation Publishing Group. Retrieved May 8, 2008.
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Grady, Mary (May 21, 2008). "DayJet Expands Operations In Florida". AVweb.com. Aviation Publishing Group. Retrieved May 22, 2008.
"DayJet Fills Gaps in Regional Travel with 30 Percent Expansion of "Per-Seat, On-Demand" Service Network". Press Release. Business Wire. July 9, 2008. Retrieved July 26, 2008.
DayJet (September 2008). "Frequently Asked Questions for Customers" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 10, 2008. Retrieved September 19, 2008.
^ Harrington, Jennifer (November 2008). "Iacobucci: Credit Crisis To Blame for DayJet's Demise". Archived from the original on January 7, 2009. Retrieved November 13, 2008.
^ Frogameni, Bill (November 2008). "DayJet's Iacobucci speaks about company's troubles, future". Retrieved November 13, 2008.
Eclipse Aviation (n.d.). "Buy an Eclipse 500 Jet Now – Limited Availability". Archived from the original on October 24, 2008. Retrieved October 21, 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
Niles, Russ (October 2008). "Eclipse Selling Off DayJet Fleet". Retrieved October 23, 2008.
Trautvetter, Chad (October 2008). "OurPlane Makes Play for Former DayJet Eclipse 500s". Archived from the original on October 30, 2008. Retrieved October 24, 2008.
OurPlane (October 2008). "OurPLANE Bids For DayJet Fleet Service Targeted to Business". Retrieved December 10, 2008.
Niles, Russ (October 2010). "OurPLANE "Owners" Angry". AvWeb. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
Grady, Mary (August 2009). "A New Beginning for Another Eclipse?". Retrieved August 23, 2009.
"DayJet Bankruptcy: A Story of Brinksmanship". Aviation Today. December 8, 2008. Archived from the original on February 10, 2011. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
"VMware CEO Paul Maritz has secret plan for defunct airline's technology - Puget Sound Business Journal". Techflash.com. November 5, 2008. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
"The Optimal Path". Dayjettech.com. Retrieved January 5, 2014.