The
sudden collapse in August of fractional ownership startup Jet Republic probably convinced anyone in Europe who still failed to accept that business aviation’s bubble had burst. For reasons best known to themselves, the company and its financial backers launched an audacious challenge to market leader NetJets–which itself was already struggling in tough trading conditions–in September 2008 just as the financial crisis was going truly global with the collapse of Lehman Brothers and other banks looking into the abyss. Going into the first and second quarters of this year, Europe’s executive charter operators experienced a debilitating dip in demand as companies and individuals reined in their spending.
Days before its sudden collapse into insolvency, Jet Republic’s high-profile CEO, Jonathan Breeze, was still issuing press releases proclaiming the recession to be
exactly the right time to be getting into fractional ownership. While steadfastly refusing to disclose any sales figures, the company implied that it was doing a brisk trade selling shares in the 25 Bombardier Learjet 60XRs that it had on order (plus options for up to 85 more). All sorts of new bells and whistles were heralded for Jet Republic’s prospective clients, including the world’s most expensive coffee machine, which would mysteriously serve cups of java at rates less than Starbucks when on board their jets.
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