This past Friday, all-business class carrier Maxjet suspended trading of its shares on the London-based Alternative Investment Market stock exchange. The reasons for the trading halt started vague (“pending clarification of its financial position”) but got more dire as the day went on (“…the US group struggled to put together a financial rescue package.”)
Uh oh.
It’s not easy being Maxjet. As the least-luxurious of the all-business carriers flying between New York and London, it lacks the cachet of an Eos, or even a Silverjet. And Maxflier, their frequent flyer program, stinks. (16 roundtrips necessary in order to get a free trip? C’mon!)
The airline assures its customers and suppliers that it’s still operating as usual, but it’s facing a cash crunch and is trying to line up funds to stay afloat. This doesn’t look good for them.
Maxjet is certainly a pioneer, but they’re facing stiff competition from both upstart airlines and old-school carriers on a well-traveled route. Those competitors are bound to benefit from this uncertainty that now hangs over Maxjet. The biggest thing going for Maxjet has been good value — even if they’re not the top of the line. But with expenses going up, that’s been a tough model to sustain.
Related:
- Maxjet’s fatal flaw?
- All-business class to China?
- Silverjet IPO enables third London-New York all-business-class airline
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December 11th, 2007 at 7:23 am
A real shame if they do go under. Flown with them a few times from London to DC and JFK. Always a great service and certainly fabulous value for money. Maybe we were lucky and didn’t suffer any of the problems that I know some people had with them.
My fear is that even if they do survive, I’m not sure they will be sustainable due to the lower fares and increased competition with open skies kicking in.
December 11th, 2007 at 10:50 am
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December 15th, 2007 at 6:30 am
that pictures is lulz
December 15th, 2007 at 6:32 am
that picture is lolz
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