Pittsburgh-based OneJet, which catered to business travelers
by offering small jet air service between midsized markets, has suspended
operations.
OneJet said the move will be a temporary one as it shifts
its business model from contracting out flight operations to operating flights
itself.
"Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience
caused by this disruption; the result of this transition will be a more robust
and reliable operation for our customers from the fourth quarter forward,"
the company said. OneJet said the transition will last eight weeks and that it
expects to resume flight bookings on Oct. 1.
The suspension follows a stream of recent bad news for
OneJet. Pittsburgh's Allegheny County Airport Authority sued OneJet for
$763,000 in early August, saying that the company accepted a $1 million economic
development grant in 2016 but failed to operate the required number of routes.
Around the same time, OneJet's deal to purchase Ultimate
JetCharters fell through, said Rick Pawlak, Ultimate's managing director. UltimateJetCharters
is parent of the Cincinnati-based scheduled charter carrier Ultimate Air
Shuttle.
In another blow, the IRS filed a $622,000 tax lien against
OneJet on Aug. 14 for nonpayment of federal excise taxes, the Pittsburgh-Post
Gazette reported.
The fortunes of OneJet changed quickly. As recently as the
spring, OneJet was offering the required 10 routes from Pittsburgh and another
two from Milwaukee using seven-seat jets. In addition, in March the carrier
opened Buffalo-Albany service on a 30-seat Embraer ERJ 135 aircraft. At the
time, CEO Matt Maguire told Travel Weekly that the company planned to have
three more 30-seat jets in operation this summer.
However, by last week OneJet was offering only the
Buffalo-Albany flight, plus Pittsburgh-Hartford, Pittsburgh-Indianapolis and
Indianapolis-Hartford.
Though the company says it will resume operations soon, some
are skeptical.
"Canceling all flights for what seems like eight weeks
at best is going to be a huge blow to an airline struggling to gain traction,"
analyst and blogger Brett Snyder wrote on his website CrankyFlier.com. "And
even that would be the best-case scenario. OneJet seems to have a list of
enemies these days, and debts are mounting. If OneJet finds a way back into the
air, I'll be amazed."