The Ultimate Jetsgo - American History Information Guide and Reference

Jetsgo was a Canadian low-cost carrier based in Montreal, which served 19 destinations across Canada, 10 destinations in the United States, and 12 scheduled weekend charter destinations in the Caribbean. Jetsgo abruptly ended service due to bankruptcy on March 11, 2005, leaving thousands of passengers stranded.

The airline may appear yet again, as a charter only service using eight MD80 planes (the rest being sold off) sometime in 2005.

Contents

4.1 Canada
4.2 United States of America

5 Charter Operations

5.1 Cuba
5.2 The Dominican Republic
5.3 Mexico

6 Bankruptcy

7 Safety Concerns

8 Other information

8.1 IATA Code
8.2 ICAO Code
8.3 External Link

Fleet

Jetsgo operated a fleet of 15 McDonnell-Douglas MD83 and 15 Fokker F100; five more Fokker100s were due for delivery in 2005. All aircraft were configured in an "all-economy" setting typical of low-cost carriers. Jetsgo also had special "comfort plus" sections on most of their planes which featured more leg room on seats A and B in rows 1 - 12, as well as no middle seat.

Since Jetsgo's bankruptcy, some of the fleet has been seized by the Greater Toronto Airport Authority and the rest are grounded in Quebec.

Staff

Here is a list of employees employed at the time of the airline's insolvency:

1,200 full-time
1,350 part-time
550 pilots and flight attendants
430 maintainence and ramp crew
220 customer service representatives

Source: Toronto Star March 14 ,2005 p A7

History

Jetsgo was launched on June 12, 2002 and abruptly ceased operations on March 11, 2005. The airline was Canada's third largest airline at the time with up to 10% of the domestic market. Expert analysts widely blame the airline itself for poor management. Founder Michel Leblanc had previously founded Royal Airlines, which he later sold to Canada 3000.

Destinations

Canada

United States of America

Jetsgo was in competition with other carriers, such as Air Canada, WestJet, Canjet, American Airlines, and United Airlines.

Charter Operations

Jetsgo also operated weekend scheduled charter services from Toronto and Montreal to destinations in:

Cuba

The Dominican Republic

Mexico

Bankruptcy

On March 11, 2005, Jetsgo abruptly announced that it had ceased operations. The action stranded hundreds of passengers in airports and at their travel destinations with no way home, the defunct airline having made no arrangements with other carriers to handle their passengers. This occurred on the Friday morning before the March Break holiday season, one of the busiest air travel days in 8 of 10 provinces. 1200 employees also lost their jobs.

Jetsgo accumulated $55 million in debt in the last eight months before it closed abruptly.

Employees were finally paid for the time prior to the airline's shutdown on March 14, 2005.

Safety Concerns

A day earlier, Transport Canada said that investigators found issues with the operating methods of Jetsgo. The deficiencies were discovered during "a special inspection" into engine problems revealed after a forced landing in January 2005.

Here is a list of incidents reported about Jetsgo:

Year # of incidents
2002 - 5
2003 - 15
2004 - 32
2005 - 7
Total (2002-2005): 60

Source: Transportation Safety Board of Canada / Toronto Star March 17, 2005 p C9

Other information

IATA Code

Jetsgo used the IATA designator code SG.

ICAO Code

Jetsgo used the ICAO designator code JGO.

External Link

Categories: Airlines of Canada | Low-cost airlines | Defunct airlines

Your American History Reference Guide! - Jetsgo

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