Silverjet
Empty seats did them in.
by Tom Loftus
It's getting to be commonplace. This morning it was the all-business-class carrier Silverjet's turn to refresh its homepage with a letter beginning, "To our dear customers..."
Sixteen months after its inaugural flight, the airline known for its fully reclinable seat/beds joined fellow all-business-classers Eos Airlines and MAXjet Airways Inc. in the good idea/sorry breaks category.
Bloomberg does a nice summary of Silverjet's demise--rising fuel prices, an inability to secure a last-minute loan--and unloads a bomb from analysts at Numis Securities: "There are likely to be a number of spectacular casualties as brutal economic reality hits home.''
Portfolio's Market Movers calls the official statement from Silverjet "pathetic" before asking readers to note the lesson that "airline tickets should be booked with a credit card--it's the only realistic way of getting a refund if the airline goes bust."
The notice hit a number of travel bloggers hard. "I dont fly Silverjet to get free wine," wrote Jeff Jarvis of BuzzMachine, "I fly so I can lie flat, take my Ambien, sleep through the night, arrive in London in the morning full of my dreaded vim, and get a day's work in."
So what happens to the ticket holders? If you booked and paid for your flight through Silverjet you're in trouble reports Guardian.co.uk, although Virgin Atlantic, British Airways, and Emirates seem to be stepping in to help passengers with a worthless ticket.
In the meantime, while Silverjet CEO Lawrence Hunt works "with new investors who are prepared to inject new funds so we can recommence operations," we can at least pay homage at their YouTube page, which is still playing Silverjet the Movie.
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