Ecojet? The smell of kerosene no longer?

[SWBKCB]

Do they have any aircraft to lease out? Don't remember seeing anything.

Wasn't this one of FlyBe2's problems - taking on staff before they had everything else in place?

[amyisraelchai]

Originally Posted by SWBKCB

Do they have any aircraft to lease out? Don't remember seeing anything.

Wasn't this one of FlyBe2's problems - taking on staff before they had everything else in place?

I was more referring to once aircraft are in place!

[Flightrider]

Originally Posted by SWBKCB

Wasn't this one of FlyBe2's problems - taking on staff before they had everything else in place?

I think there is a fundamental difference here. Even though it was mad from the outset, Flybe 2 had certainty of funding because of the reasons and way in which it was being set up on the whim of a private equity backer.

As I'm led to believe it, EcoJet has seed capital to fund its start-up phase but needs a much bigger fund-raise from external investors before it can get going. There is no certainty that it will be funded. I don't understand how you can be making offers of employment (assuming that's what these people posting stuff on-line have been given, which might not be the case) when the business has no certainty of being a going concern. This is just like a short-haul version of Global - lots of noise, apparent activity and there must be some money behind it somewhere - but it's got no certainty of going anywhere.

[amyisraelchai]

That would certainly explain the lack of action on the AOC front - which of course requires £10mn of capital if I'm not mistaken. It is certainly possible that there have been meetings with the CAA, but I don't think anything other than a Part-CAMO application has been officially lodged.

[geardown1]

A friend of mine has been employed as cabin crew there, and her course started this week. Looks like they're starting to get things moving in terms of starting the new recruits.

[Flightrider]

And that is indeed what should be a worry. As far as I understand it, the funding required to get this venture off the ground is neither secured nor assured.

[amyisraelchai]

He said he would invest £1m initially but plans to raise further funds next year.

From the Guardian last July. If Flightrider is correct, this hasn't yet taken place..?

[fjencl]

Originally Posted by geardown1

A friend of mine has been employed as cabin crew there, and her course started this week. Looks like they're starting to get things moving in terms of starting the new recruits.

So, after her course has been finished, are they getting to sit about on full pay until whatever next happens !!!
Just wondered.

[amyisraelchai]

Either that or they're a lot further along than we're being led to believe - but I'm sure there would have been an AOC application noted in the CAA's official record series by now if that were the case?

[Flightrider]

This week’s CAA Official Record Series 2 is just like every other week’s - no new applications. To not have applied for an Operating Licence - after a year of working on this - is surprising.

The CAA basically does no work on your business plan until you apply (and pay the accompanying fee!). There is always the risk that you believe you need £x million to start up and when the CAA review your projections, they require much more. Even if you have some funding, it might not be enough to get a licence. Until you know, you don’t know - so fund raising without knowing the definitive target you need to meet has its own risks.

The only path around this is to acquire an existing licence holder and the silence here is just so bizarre that I continue to wonder whether that is the plan.

[amyisraelchai]

This may sound like pie in the sky thinking but I wonder whether there may be some relation to the Stobart holding company I raised a few weeks ago - where the consensus seemed to be that they're making moves to take over an existing operator. Perhaps an agreement where each party acquires the most relevant "halves" of said firm to operate as two independent airlines, though one of the two would need a new AOC in order to do so. I'd heard something similar surrounding Flybe 2 and Loganair a few years ago but ended up dismissing it given the former's woes at the time.

[Flightrider]

You can split an airline in two, but cannot split its licences in two and so one half would need to be licensed from scratch. It would be subject to a fresh financial fitness assessment, and that is the issue here (issue / challlenge / problem / showstopper as you might see it, depending on your standpoint). These people - by their own admission - need external funding and there is no sign of it arriving.

I just hope people now becoming dependent on this dream will not be left high and dry. You can’t make long-term job offers to people unless you have certainty of the means to honour them. They in turn have mortgages, dependants and livelihoods, and respect for that should be foremost.

I have no doubt there will be some more substance-free fluff on social media in the next day or two to assure us the dream is still alive. In that regard, this feels to me like a turboprop equivalent of Global.

[amyisraelchai]

Just announced on LinkedIn:

We’re excited to announce a Letter of Intent withARC Aerosystemsto purchase 20 LINX P9 aircrafts, with options for an additional 30, as showcased on the opening day of the Farnborough Airshow.

This partnership is driven by our united mission towards innovative and sustainable aviation.

The LINX P9 is an emissions-free compound gyroplane that will take intercity travel to new heights, connect towns and cities across the UK without the need for an airport.

The LINX aircraft are unique; they take off and land vertically like a helicopter but fly like a conventional plane.

By leveraging modern technology, we are unleashing the green Industrial Revolution that will reshape our entire approach to travel for the better.

[SWBKCB]

So a single engined nine-seat auto-gyro. No mention of certification or entry into service dates that I can see.

https://arcaerosystems.com/p9/

[amyisraelchai]

Two engines surely - one on each wing?

[SWBKCB]

Originally Posted by amyisraelchai

Two engines surely - one on each wing?

Yep - can't read.

[MidlandsWanderer]

Originally Posted by amyisraelchai

Two engines surely - one on each wing?

Surely it's 3? One rotary and 2 x fixed?

[amyisraelchai]

Originally Posted by MidlandsWanderer

Surely it's 3? One rotary and 2 x fixed?

Apparently the rotor is unpowered other than when taking off. But if you include that then yes - 3

[amyisraelchai]

Another order from ZeroAvia for 22 ZA2000 powertrains plus 40 options. This time a purchase agreement - on top of the lease in November this comes to a potential total of 132 (92 + 40)

[Flightrider]

Clearly no lessons learned from the delusions of grandeur which ultimately killed Flybe - hubris of the huge E175 order now being replicated with hubris of a similar scale even before they've put an aircraft in the air.