Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Jetsgo is jetsgone
Jetsgo, Canada's 3rd largest airline, went out of business. Things like this happen all the time, so it's not that unusual. What is unusual is the way that the company went out of business. The management of Jetsgo is filled with such scum-ridden parasites it is hard to believe. Consider the following:
1) Jetsgo continued to recieve online bookings till the day before they collapsed. Anyone who bought a ticket online is pretty much screwed.
2) The pilots had to pay a "loyalty bond". This is a pretty common practice in the industry. It is intended to stop pilots from leaving a low paying employer (jetsgo) and getting a real job after Jetsgo paied for their certification. The industry standard is around 5000 dollars. Jetsgo charged their pilots 30 000 dollars each. The pilots who were hired in their expansion two months ago had to get loans to pay this bond, and now they are out of luck.
3) All jetsgo planes that were owned and not rented were flown to quebec to prevent their seizure by various airport authorities across Canada. They owed millions to Toronto, for example.
4) After the planes were flown to quebec from various locations, the remaining pilots and crew were stranded and had to pay for their own way back. That is the lowest thing you can do to your employees. How would you react if you woke up in New York or LA and found out you had no job, no way to get home, and nowhere to stay after that day?
5) Jetsgo planes were so badly managed they were literally falling apart. Engine debris was found on a runway in Calgary after takeoff. Transport Canada was close to yanking their flight licence and grounding their fleet. They had already restricted them to low altitude flights only.
6) Ending operations at the start of March Break is dirty pool. A lot of people paied money for seats, and their plans are ruined now. The airplane tickets are the least of their problems. If you paied 300$ for tickets to and from a location, you are also losing out on the hotel reservations, car rentals, etc. If you paied in advance it is pretty much game over
7) The President, Michel Leblanc, had done this before at least twice with the same results. He gave himself a hefty bonus this time around.
I knew a lot of people from Jetsgo, they were all decent people who worked hard for that airline and they deserved better.
1) Jetsgo continued to recieve online bookings till the day before they collapsed. Anyone who bought a ticket online is pretty much screwed.
2) The pilots had to pay a "loyalty bond". This is a pretty common practice in the industry. It is intended to stop pilots from leaving a low paying employer (jetsgo) and getting a real job after Jetsgo paied for their certification. The industry standard is around 5000 dollars. Jetsgo charged their pilots 30 000 dollars each. The pilots who were hired in their expansion two months ago had to get loans to pay this bond, and now they are out of luck.
3) All jetsgo planes that were owned and not rented were flown to quebec to prevent their seizure by various airport authorities across Canada. They owed millions to Toronto, for example.
4) After the planes were flown to quebec from various locations, the remaining pilots and crew were stranded and had to pay for their own way back. That is the lowest thing you can do to your employees. How would you react if you woke up in New York or LA and found out you had no job, no way to get home, and nowhere to stay after that day?
5) Jetsgo planes were so badly managed they were literally falling apart. Engine debris was found on a runway in Calgary after takeoff. Transport Canada was close to yanking their flight licence and grounding their fleet. They had already restricted them to low altitude flights only.
6) Ending operations at the start of March Break is dirty pool. A lot of people paied money for seats, and their plans are ruined now. The airplane tickets are the least of their problems. If you paied 300$ for tickets to and from a location, you are also losing out on the hotel reservations, car rentals, etc. If you paied in advance it is pretty much game over
7) The President, Michel Leblanc, had done this before at least twice with the same results. He gave himself a hefty bonus this time around.
I knew a lot of people from Jetsgo, they were all decent people who worked hard for that airline and they deserved better.
