Will JetsGo rise from the ashes....
 

...like the proverbial phoenix?

"Mr. Leblanc confirmed yesterday that he and his management team are preparing plans to resume operations beginning in the busy summer season with a slimmed-down airline, but he declined to comment on specific target dates.
He said the silver lining from the bad publicity for Jetsgo is that Canadian consumers know the brand instantly, so the challenge will be to market a comeback theme.
"I admit that the Jetsgo brand has blemishes, but its awareness has picked up.
"So, there's a downside and a good side," Mr. Leblanc said. G&M

Two challenges face Mr Leblanc: convincing investors that he has a viable business plan and that he can be trusted.

Hence the question: will the JetsGo comeback fly? (pardon the bad pun :) )

At the expense of possibly alienating my AC friends..why should Jetsgo not come back?

I think their price point pressure works more against WS than AC and helps keep competition healthy. WS got very arrogant when AC was down and had no real competition. Besides Leblanc will be a little smarter because this time his bankers will make him put up more of his own money at the outset.

Globe and Mail .com has a poll on their front page asking "Would you fly Jetsgo if the airline were resurrected?" Right now the majority vote is "NO".

Yeah, and those are same folks that will flock to the $1++ fares!

While I agree completely with Parnels comments, with what they have done to their customers would people really pay in advance for a flight with Jetsgo again?

Very good point you make parnel.

And with potentially more supply than before, this is going to be quite interesting too.

Well, most people didn't really lose money as they got (or are getting) the money back off their credit card...

But maybe SG should create a trust fund -- all prepaid tickets go in there untilt he revenue has been recognised (ie. flight taken). Then money is pulled out. and put into cash. The only difference now is that there is a "protection" for the travelling public's money...

What do you guys think?

I doubt you'd get Mr. LeBlanc or his bankers to go for that. It would significantly increase the amount of working capital needed to operate the business, and I sure wouldn't be lining up to lend a three-time failure more money.

Of misplaced Canadian anger and indignation
 

I couldn't agree more. I have NEVER understood the dance of joy and jubilation that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has done on the grave of Jetsgo, except, perhaps, to illustrate its hostility towards entrepreneurial people that challenge the views of the CBC and what it thinks is the natural order of things (i.e., heavy regulation of industries, subsidized -- if not paid for entirely -- by the taxpayers of Canada, to the exclusion of enterprises that are not favoured by the government). The demise of Jetsgo -- whatever one thinks of its founder, Michel Leblanc -- is to be mourned, as it marks the sad failure of a competitor that could be expected to assert some kind of price pressure on other Canadian carriers.

I HOPE and PRAY that the Canadian government moves quickly to permit both cabotage and majority foreign ownership of carriers operating in Canada. I drive a Japanese car, I used an American-built computer, my telephones are made in China, I eat fruit grown in tropical countries...as long as carriers from WHATEVER country fly in accordance with the standards, rules, regulations and laws of Canada, why should I care where the aircraft comes from, the nationality of the owners of either the aircraft or the company, etc.?

Once an entrepreneur always an entrepreneur!

The press is fond of saying that Leblanc has a track record of 4 failed airlines, (personally I think Royal should not be included in the list) but what they fail to mention is that he keeps coming back. Any business is tough run and even harder to start. Most of the opinions about Leblanc are from people who have never run or started a business, so given his track record, I definitely wouldn't rule him out!

Intair tried a very regional strategy that made a splash but was not sustainable because the majors (AC and CP) weren't about to let an upstart get them on the YOW-YUL-YYZ triangle. Royal worked because he had as much business on the charter side as he did in the scheduled side, selling the business to C3 was IMO brilliant.

I think if he tries to go into scheduled service again, he needs his head read, but a domestic charter arrangement that utilizes TA's as a distribution channel might work. His pockets aren't deep enough to out market the big guys, but if he recruits TA's by incenting them to move budget travellers his way, he has a fighting chance.

Parnel and others have talked about the role a new SG might serve to keep WS and AC honest, but at the end of the day I think that is wishful thinking. A reappearance on major scheduled routes like the YYZ-YUL-YOW triangle will have the same predictable results as the last effort. I think a better role for SG is to go where AC and WS are not, and to provide service to communities that would either not have air service, or to provide service to destinations that would require several transfers. i.e. YQB-MIA, YQM-YHZ-MIA, YYZ-FLL (off season).

I never flew SG and I would likely never fly SG because there just wasn't enough of a value proposition for me to try their service. Yet I knew many who did and they found little to complain about other than the usual types of gripes that I hear about anything that flies.....some people seem to associate travel with glamour... ;) at the end of the day entrepreneurship, creativity and the guts to try are what keep the wheels of any economy turning. If he can raise the capital to get started again, I wish him the very best!

DF

I'm not sure I fully understand how bankruptcy protection works. Isn't the idea that the bankrupt company comes up with a new business plan that will give its creditors a chance to recoup their losses? JetsGo owes something like $100-million. Leblanc's reputation is somewhat tarnished after bankrupting three different airlines. Why would anyone give him a chance to lose more money? If JetsGo is liquidated, the creditors will at least get some money back. (Anyone know what 15 used Fokkers are worth?)

Also, the idea of pushing all this through the court system, getting an agreement, rehiring staff, dealing with Transport Canada's issues, selling enough tickets to fill up summer flights, negotiating with airports, and everything else by the end of June sounds a bit optimistic.

Or perhaps I'm missing something.

Hey, another sensible poster from the right side of things...welcome aboard :)

Yes you are missing something; CCAA is just another method of financing, except you don't pay for some of your mistakes. ;)and all he needs is a business plan and some cash to start off and be able to convince the judge,who will say good luck and release the company.

With $100/barrel oil that is being forecast. Nothing, absolutely nothing.

If they do comeback, it will some partial form of entertainment for me :p
I'll bring some popcorn, sit back, and watch the masochists come back for more $1 fares and then have their flight delayed by 19 hours while other carriers are still pushing back from the gates (some higher being forbid), lose their luggage (some higher being forbid), yell at the police escorted agent (some higher being forbid), miss all of Xmas because of a system wide cancellation of flights (some higher being forbid)... and then pretend like it's never happened before...