Per-seat, on-demand carrier DayJet on September 5 received its Part 135 air charter certificate to operate its fleet of 12 Eclipse 500 very light jets. The company began a gradual rollout of its service two weeks later from “DayPorts” in the Florida cities of Boca Raton, Gainesville, Lakeland, Pensacola and Tallahassee. DayJet currently has 190 employees, approximately 30 of whom are pilots, according to CFO John Staten.
“We’re going to measure the launch through the end of this month,” he said.
Over the past year, DayJet has raised $190 million to finance operations and the continued acquisition of Eclipse jets. The new funding brings starting capital to approximately $208 million. Staten said plans call for the company to have 30 to 40 aircraft on line by year-end and 200 operating by the end of next year. He said each aircraft would require a staffing level of approximately 4.5 pilots and that eventually “pilots and other flight professionals” would constitute 75 percent of the company’s workforce. Staten said the airplanes received thus far are clear to operate without restriction now that Eclipse has resolved a pitot-static system problem.
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