MAXjet Airways#History

Image:maxjet.jpg]] Image:maxjet2.jpg

The airline was publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange Alternative Investment Market as "MAXJ". It operated its first service from New York to London on 1 November 2005. Founded in 2003, the airline was conceived as a transatlantic low-cost carrier that would code share with domestic low-cost carriers at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. During its start-up phase, management expressed concern over the economics of applying the low cost carrier model to transatlantic routes and instead repositioned the airline as a premium all-business-class service. MAXjet's target market was premium economy and "savvy" business class passengers.

The success of MAXjet’s all-business-class service continued to grow as the company claimed load factors of 83.1% (June 2007) on its network from London Stansted.{{cite press release | title=June Passenger Statistics and Pre-Close Period Trading Update | url=http://www.maxjet.com/images/JunePassengerStatsAndPreClosePeriodTradingUpdate.pdf | date=2007-07-18 | accessdate=2008-04-30 | publisher=MAXjet Airways}}

As well as the scheduled routes, MAXjet’s luxury charter operations continued to grow with the acquisition of more aircraft. Some aircraft were planned to focus on the growing charter business as well as being used as support on the New York City, Los Angeles and Las Vegas scheduled routes. The airline’s luxury charter business, which experienced significant growth, transported groups to various destinations throughout Europe, the Caribbean and the USA. Charters included Stockholm to Las Vegas, and England to Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles including a charter for the 2006 U.S Ryder Cup team. The company had a strong customer base that included corporations, government entities and professional sports teams.{{cite news |url=http://www.cabinmanagers.com/maxjet-airways-failure-lessons-learned/ | title=MAXjet Airways Failure: Lessons Learned | publisher=CabinManagers | date= 21 January 2008 | accessdate= 2008-01-21 }}

On 7 December 2007, MAXjet suspended trading of its shares on AIM, pending clarification of their financial position.{{cite news | url=http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article3233369.ece | title=MAXjet forced to ask for share suspension | publisher=The Independent on Sunday | last=Kumar | first=Nikhil | date=8 December 2007 | accessdate=2007-12-09 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071209004344/http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article3233369.ece | archivedate=9 December 2007 }}

An article in the Financial Times on 23 December 2007 reported that the company was in "last-ditch talks" to arrange a financial rescue package.{{cite news |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/bfefe734-b18b-11dc-9777-0000779fd2ac.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221211231257/https://www.ft.com/content/bfefe734-b18b-11dc-9777-0000779fd2ac |archive-date=11 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |publisher=Financial Times |date=23 December 2007 |title=Maxjet in last-ditch talks |accessdate=2007-12-27 }}

However, the following morning the company announced on its website that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Passengers who had yet to travel were advised to seek a refund from the point of purchase. The company announced it had already begun to make alternative travel or accommodation arrangements for those left stranded.

On 24 December 2007, MAXjet announced that they permanently suspended all flight operations citing rising fuel costs, increased crew salaries, and other unforeseen costs. The airline purchased tickets to accommodate passengers on Eos Airlines, and Continental Airlines and Silverjet both made offers to accommodate stranded MAXjet passengers.{{cite news | url=http://business.scotsman.com/business/Maxjet-flies-into-trouble-as.3619703.jp | title=Maxjet flies into trouble as it files for bankruptcy | first=Jane | last=Bradley | publisher=The Scotsman | date=2007-12-26 | accessdate=2007-12-26}}{{cite press release | title=Silverjet extends offer to rescue MAXjet customers | url=http://www.flysilverjet.com/press-release-2007-12-24.aspx | publisher=Silverjet | accessdate=2007-12-26 | date=2007-12-24 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071228054619/http://www.flysilverjet.com/press-release-2007-12-24.aspx | archivedate=2007-12-28 }}{{cite press release | title=Continental Airlines to Accept MAXjet Airways Tickets | url=http://www.continental.com/web/en-US/apps/vendors/default.aspx?i=http%3A%2F%2Fphx%2Ecorporate%2Dir%2Enet%2Fphoenix%2Ezhtml%3Fc%3D85779%26p%3Dirol%2DnewsArticle%26ID%3D1089837 | date=2007-12-24 | accessdate=2007-12-26 | publisher=Continental Airlines}}

On March 25, 2008, MAXjet announced that operations will soon start again following an acquisition by NCA Sports Group to restart its operation as a charter service.{{cite web|url=http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2008/04/14/daily27.html|title=MaxJet gets second chance with sports|last=Clabaugh|first=Jeff|date=April 16, 2008|accessdate=2009-09-11}} However that failed in August 2008.{{cite news |last1=Kaminski-Morrow |first1=David |title=Maxjet relaunch stalls as takeover is scrapped |url=https://www.amazon.com/s?k=usbc+to+vga+adapter&i=electronics&crid=2IGY5PTGDMUHH&sprefix=usbc+to+vga+ad%2Celectronics%2C156&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_14 |accessdate=12 August 2020 |work=Flight Global |date=12 August 2008}}

The following destinations were operated by MAXjet during its existence.

• United Kingdom
• London (London Stansted Airport)

• United States
• California
• Los Angeles (Los Angeles International Airport)
• Nevada
• Las Vegas (McCarran International Airport)
• New York City
• New York City (John F. Kennedy International Airport)
• Washington, D.C.
• Sterling, Virginia (Washington Dulles International Airport) - headquarters (service ended before MAXjet ceased operations)

The MAXjet Airways fleet consisted of the following aircraft as of December 2007:{{cite web|url=http://www.airframes.org/fleet/mxj|title=Aircraft Registration Database Lookup|date=November 8, 2005|accessdate=2009-09-11}}

• 1 Boeing 767-200
• 4 Boeing 767-200ER

MAXjet's aircraft were configured with either 92, 94, 100, or 102 seats depending on the individual aircraft, with an average fleet age of 18.2 years as of March 2007.

File:MAXjet Airways Boeing 767-200 cabin interior.jpg

MAXjet aircraft were fitted with traditional leather business-class "deep-recline" cradle-seats with a 60-inch seat pitch (distance between a seat and the same point on the seat in front of it) and a 160-degree recline.

On-demand entertainment, which included 100 hours of movies, television programs and music videos as well as pure music audio content, was available via individual portable media players called "MAXplayers", which were provided on each flight. Although the seats were new, MAXjet aircraft had a relatively old style cabin fit, so the seats were not equipped with conventional built-in entertainment systems or in-flight A/C power ports.

The airline's catering used restaurant china, metal cutlery and stemmed glassware, and offered complimentary premium liquor, beer, champagne and a regularly changing wine selection.

• Travel + Leisure Magazine's Top 10 International Airlines 2007 – 2nd place

{{Portal|Virginia|Companies|Aviation}}

• PrivatAir
• Eos Airlines
• Silverjet
• L'Avion (now OpenSkies after being purchased by British Airways)
• Indigo Airlines
• La Compagnie (founded by the founder of L'Avion)
• List of defunct airlines of the United States

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{{Reflist|2}}

{{commons category|MAXjet Airways}}

• [https://www.maxjet.org MAXjet Archives]
• [http://www.maxjet.com MAXjet Airways]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060927223024/http://www.airlinemeals.net/meals/Maxjet.html MAXjet In-Flight Meal Photos]
• [http://www.airfleets.net/ageflotte/?file=calcop&opp=MAXjet%20Airways MAXjet Airways Fleet Age]
• [http://www.plane-spotters.net/Airline/MaxJet?show=all MAXjet Airways Fleet Detail]

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Category:Defunct airlines of the United States

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Category:Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2007