Before new fractional company Jet Republic declared insolvency late last month, lawyers for the firm were seeking to lift a legal injunction secured by established provider NetJets Europe that prevented it from hiring NetJets employees. A court in Portugal granted the injunction in July 2008, before Jet Republic was officially launched. It specifically banned Jet Republic CEO Jonathan Breeze and COO Luis Vianna from making any attempt, directly or through intermediaries, to contact employees of operating company NetJets Transportes Aéreos.
“NetJets Europe welcomes new entrants to the business aviation market and wishes them the best of luck,” said NetJets in a statement on August 10. “We have a highly skilled workforce that is in high demand. We cannot comment in detail on the case but, as ruled by the Portuguese courts, there is an injunction regarding recruitment activity that was deemed unfair competition.”