The biggest warning of all is that someone with a track record like Halstead's should have been laughed at all the way to the asylum.
That, RTR, goes a loooooooong way to explaining the Will Gilligan malarkey. I wonder how far this would have got if people knew that WG was a figment of MH's imagination? As you accurately said,
It was blatantly clear it was a terrible example of misrepresentation
Amen to that. I too have seen some sharp practices - start ups promising the world with nothing in the bank, pilots being recruited for non-existant aircraft and journalists being given nonsense copy about crazy business plans - but in this case, the biscuit has been taken.
As more reassuring statement would be:
“I have protected the interests of our flight crew and am making sure they get their money back."
Agreed. Also the poor folks at LinksAir, the airports etc - let's hope that they haven't been too bady bruised financially.
I would propose a few ideas for the CAA:
1. To use the world 'airline', you must have an AOC and an operating licence. No more of this virtual lunacy.
2. Tighten the financial scrutiny for a type B licence, so that it is more in line with the requirements for financial fitness for a type A licence.
3. Insist that anyone who wants to start an airline gets approved under Form 4 before they start shouting their mouths off to the press.
4. Make it clear that recruiting staff is a complete no-no unless the staff in question are given a clear understanding of the state of the company - before they quit their current job, or hand over any money.
5. CAA to post in an official journal the status of all start ups at predefined points of their development, so that suppliers can make an informed decision.
We really must make it easier to start serious airlines, but airlines like this are making it harder, dragging our industry into disrepute, and costing people a lot of money - in many cases, people who just cannot afford it.
TA