Well, it is the holiday season, and nearly the end of 2007, and we thought we would briefly comment on the loss of airlines. The best review we’ve seen so far of the loss of airlines in 2007 is Cranky Flier’s Airlines We Lost in 2007.
Cranky includes little graphic tombstones, symbolizing this year’s loss of Hapag-Lloyd, Atlantic Express, Slovak Airlines, FlyMe, RegionsAir, SN Brussels, Virgin Express, LAB, Harmony Airways, Peace Air, O’Connor Airlines, and of course, MAXjet.
We doubt would could any better, but we have a few thoughts on two of them: RegionsAir and MAXjet.
RegionsAIR was an Essential Air Service carrier that was shut down by the FAA. They claim they will be back someday. We reported on their shutdown at the time, as an American Connection and Continental flyer, their loss left some communities scramblign for new people to run their service.
And then there is MAXjet. We were a little disappointed in fellow blogger and reader Chris Elliott for his statement on MAXjet’s demise.
And while we’re at it, let’s limit the number of bloggers and self-styled airline “experts†churning out marginally useful news. I mean, how many travel bloggers does it take to breathlessly report on the demise of MAXjet, a carrier that only .000001 percent of the traveling population ever heard of, much less could afford a ticket on? (The answer? Apparently, all of them.) Come on, people! At the very least, Technorati should offer an affirmative action program for travel bloggers with a more mainstream message. Where are all the bloggers who cover car travel, for example?
We tend to think the wonder of the internet is so many people and their varying opinions on subjects. On the other hand, to be fair, we can agree there can be an amount of coverage lacking in proportion to the newsworthiness of the item. But, being as we feel it is somewhat newsworthy for a different reason, here are our thoughts.
MAXjet, like several other carriers, was a discount all-business class airline. We were very amused when they tried to get into the China bid game a few months back. Now, they declared bankruptcy and terminated all operations on Christmas eve. It did promise to refund
What we have to wonder is if the all-business class model is one that is not cost effective. MAXjet was the least luxurious of these carriers. It offered a product superior to economy, but at the bottom end of business class accomodations. It also lacked power ports, which was a serious downside for business travelers who often work in flight. After Eos pioneered the idea of all-business class from New York-JFK to London-Stansted, it quickly jumped to compete.
The Concorde, the pinnacle of first-class opulence on the transatlantic route is gone. Businesses are economizing. With these airlines offering service on only a few routes, without complex alliances to expand their reach, will Eos and Silverjet be next?