Airlines come and airlines go, but someone usually steps in to take over some of the operations.
Such is the case of Maxjet Airways, the first of the all-business-class airlines to go belly-up due to current economic conditions and rising fuel costs.
Maxjet stopped flying and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Dec. 24, but it has found a buyer for some key assets: NCA Sports Group, a Bentonville, Ark., company that transports collegiate sports teams.
In an agreement that already has bankruptcy court approval, Maxjet has asked the Transportation Department to transfer its airline certificate to a new unit of NCA that would operate as a charter airline.
Given the substantial ongoing expenses related to maintaining ready aircraft and crew, the parties asked the DOT for expedited approval, saying they hoped to complete the sale by May 30.
Maxjet also said it might not be able to meet its financial obligations required by the bankruptcy petition after that date.
Plans call for the new NCA subsidiary, NCA Maxjet, to operate domestic and international charters under Maxjet's certificate. It does not, as yet, plan to resume Maxjet's scheduled air service. Maxjet operated five aircraft and flew scheduled service from London's Stansted Airport to New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
NCA Maxjet said it would inject needed competition into the U.S. domestic charter carrier industry, given that two substantial charter carriers, ATA Airlines and Champion Air, shut down recently. The company also cited the Aloha and Skybus shutdowns and the merger of Northwest and Delta as likely creating capacity cuts in the industry.
Kevin Clark, chairman and CEO of NCA, said his company expected to spend $2.3 million to $3 million to get NCA Maxjet up and running. The company anticipates leasing an additional Boeing 737-800 in the fall to use for domestic charters and military lift.
About 370 Maxjet employees were laid off, but a skeleton crew was maintained to transfer aircraft to a buyer. NCA will retain key Maxjet executives and employees to ensure a smooth transition, and Maxjet CEO Bill Stockbridge will join the new company as president and a director.
NCA Maxjet will take over the lease of one of Maxjet's two Boeing 767-200 aircraft as well as spare parts, catering equipment, property leases and training and maintenance manuals, and secure a new lease for a second aircraft. The company is working with the FAA to secure operating certificates for the aircraft and approval of its training, operating and maintenance manuals.
Clark, a former American Eagle pilot, founded NCA as an aviation safety consulting business in 2001 and launched NCA Sports Group in 2005, providing consulting and logistics services to university athletic teams.
It also operates a licensed motorcoach firm, NCA Coach Lines.
NCA Maxjet's chief operating officer is Robert Kudwa, who served as American Airlines' vice president of flight and director of operations until 2003.
Meanwhile, another all-business, New York-London carrier, EOS Airlines, is up for bankruptcy auction June 9. That leaves Silverjet, based at London's Luton Airport, the only remaining operator in the business-class-only U.S.-London market, thanks largely to a $100 million cash infusion from an unnamed Middle East investor.
Paris-based L'Avion is also still flying and recently inked a codeshare deal with British Airways' new transatlantic offshoot, OpenSkies.