Yet another airline, the United States-based DayJet, has closed shop. DayJet Services LLC, a provider of regional air-taxi service, began service to Pensacola and four other cities in Florida, the United States, in October 2007.

At the time of shutting down, DayJet, with bases in Gainesville and Boca Raton, had served about 60 communities in the United States’ South-east by offering flights between 60 South-eastern cities that do not have direct flights from major carriers.

DayJet grounded its fleet of 28 air-taxi jets and eliminated most of its 160 jobs, the company said in a press release, explaining that it had to resort to the extreme step after it was unable to obtain financing because of the global financial crisis.

On its website, DayJet advised customers who had deposits or tickets paid for by credit card to file a claim for refund with their credit card company. Return-flight DayJet tickets or tickets paid by other means than credit card may not have any value.

The company said scheduled airlines are not obligated to honour DayJet tickets.

DayJet Services LLC was co-founded by Ed Iacobucci, the co-founder of software maker Citrix.

In the pres release explaining the closure, Ed Iacobucci said: “The company has stopped operations. This shutdown is a direct consequence of the company’s inability to arrange critical financing in the midst of the current global financial crisis.”

“All flights,” Ed Iacobucci continued, “have been cancelled and the company is unable to honour reservations or issue refunds. It is unfortunate that these developments have come at the same time our nation has fallen into the most serious capital crisis of our lifetime. Regrettably, without access to growth capital, we have no choice but to discontinue operations.”

Ed Iacobucci has resigned as president and chief executive officer of DayJet Services LLC, but retains the position of chairman. John Staten, chief financial officer and senior vice-president of operations, has been named interim CEO “during the next phase of operations,” the press release said.

DayJet was providing on-demand jet travel using Eclipse 500 very light jets (VLJs), the small, six-seat business jet aircraft manufactured by Eclipse Aviation, based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the United States. The company had placed 239 orders for the Eclipse 500 jets, and had expected to place 70 more orders by 2010. The first delivery of three Eclipse 500 aircraft took place on March 31, 2007.

DayJet, whose business model required that larger fleets of smaller aircraft operate within strict regional boundaries, was billed as a cost-effective, no-frills, per-seat service.

The airline signed on at St Petersburg Clearwater International Airport in July 2008, promising to connect with the local business community. It was operating from the facilities of fixed-based operator Sheltair Services.

DayJet’s rates varied between $1 and $4 per mile flown, depending on how much advance notice was given.

Pensacola Aviation, the local company, was supplying DayJet terminal space, maintenance, fuel and a hangar.

Local newspapers quoted Skip Giles, director of flight operations of Pensacola Aviation, as saying: “The closing down of DayJet would not have a major impact on Pensacola Aviation’s operations, but it’s a sign of the times. Directly, it’s going to affect some fuel sales and traffic. Indirectly, we’ve got another aviation business that couldn’t make it. That’s not good generally for aviation. DayJet had some really good, big ideas.”

Tim Wright, deputy director for the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition in Pensacola, too had a word of praise for DayJet. “The Institute,” he said, “used DayJet’s service for at least two years. The main advantage was the convenience. They would try as best they could to meet your schedule. They would also fly places that don’t offer a lot of airline service. Our employees used the service about a dozen times to travel to its satellite office in Ocala. Now we’ll have to fly down to Tampa or Orlando and drive.”

The Air Taxi Association, based in Atlanta, Georgia, the United States, said in a statement that the Association said its members have announced full support for customers of DayJet customers. SATair, ImagineAir and North American Jet, which serve many of DayJet’s communities, plan to increase service to meet passenger needs, the Air Taxi Association added.