Why Jet It Failed

Jet It sent a letter to employees saying everyone is terminated, and the company is shutting down.

Craig Fuller

Friday, May 26, 2023 at 06:40 PM ET

Verified

Prior to the grounding, Jet It was the largest operator of HondaJets in the U.S. [Courtesy: Jet It]

Key Takeaways:

Fractional jet operator Jet It abruptly grounded its fleet and ceased operations, initially citing HondaJet safety concerns, but the true cause was a severe financial crisis and mounting unpaid debts.
The company's collapse was driven by a fundamentally flawed business model that offered unsustainably low hourly rates, incurring significant operating losses and an over-reliance on selling new fractional shares for cash flow.
Jet It left fractional owners liable for accumulated unpaid maintenance, fuel, and storage bills, while also owing substantial amounts to numerous vendors and service providers, many of whom had struggled to get paid for months.

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Buying a fractional share of an airplane is supposed to make personal jet aviation effortless, but for Jet It clients it has become a nightmare. On Monday, May 22, Jet It fractional owners were told that their airplanes were being grounded because of safety concerns about the HondaJet.

At the time of the grounding, Jet It claimed that it was taking the action out of an abundance of caution in light of an incident with a HondaJet. The airplane ran off the end of a runway in South Carolina. Jet It CEO Glenn Gonzales told owners that he was concerned about the safety of the aircraft and wanted to understand the reason that HondaJets were more susceptible to runway excursions than similar aircraft.