Goodbye Silverjet, again

Only days ago there were signs that Silverjet would survive with a new cash infusion. Those dreams are now over as funding has fallen through for the second time. This report notes that the downfall came when the CAA, the British aviation authority, required the new Silverjet to have a certain amount of cash on hand to assure services would continue.

The new Silverjet would have struggled and aside from the 400 people who thought they may be able to keep their jobs, this is, in the long run, is probably for the better.

If Silverjet has any legacy, I think it will be the millions it poured into very creative marketing. You Tube examples below:

The Silverjet Set

As each day passes it looks more and more like we'll be blessed with a reincarnation of Silverjet. A new investor is pouring money into the operation and the business expects to restart within weeks.

Of course, the question that has not been answered is: how? Even loyal customers must be angry for being put out by the airline. And those not so loyal customers will find it strange to purchase tickets on an airline they last heard stranded thousands of guests. Aside from this "Who is your customer?" issue, they still have the same costs of flying the 767s below cost as they'll have to discount heavily again to build up a base. If I were them, I'd pull out some of the seats and put in higher yielding "First Class" seats to raise the average fare and cater to the more demanding front cabin passenger.