Grounded: MAXjet
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ค. 2024
- MAXjet were a US based airline offering an all business class service on routes between London Stansted and various destinations within the United States. Interestingly, when the airline was founded in late 2003 it wasn't even known as MaxJet but instead was called SkyLink Airways with the intention of offering a two class low fare transatlantic service. Along with a new name came a change in direction leading to the airline that is still remembered today, this is the MAXjet story...
Chapter Contents
00:00 Intro
00:29 Origins of MAXjet
06:16 MAXjet takes-off
09:50 Initial Growth
14:03 New Routes
17:52 Tough Competition
20:30 MAXjet Grounded
22:18 Failed Rescue Attempt
23:32 What Went Wrong?
29:21 Outro
This episode took a lot longer than hoped to complete, I had started working on the script the very same day that the Silverjet episode debuted however a very busy flying schedule and wedding plans slowed things down. It was the putting the video together which really became a grind, at one point it took nearly 10 hours to splice 3 minutes worth of video together but fortunately things eventually sped up. I noticed two errors in this video which were too late to do anything about, both were slips of the tongue and both were within seconds of each other - I say "airline" instead of aircraft and also say "767" instead of "757", other than that I think it all works out well :)
I mention a number of airlines in this video which have previously been covered in the Grounded Series, these include;
Silverjet
Silverjet were a UK based all business-class airline operating a small fleet of 767s from London Luton, the airline tried to bring affordable business class travel to the masses and offered services that would put regular airlines to shame including a private executive terminal at Luton, chauffeur transport and even helicopter transfers. Pioneering the "Ladies only loo" Silverjet made a lasting impression despite their painfully short existence.
• Grounded: Silverjet
Thanks for watching! I really appreciate any comments and feedback on this or other episodes as well as suggestions for future episodes. Believe me, if I say that your airline is "on the list", it really is :) Check back to see future episodes or better yet, subscribe to catch them as they land and as always, thanks for watching!
I have a website!
www.expo-aviation.com/
Or join me on Facebook!
/ expoaviation
I'm also on Twitter! (or whatever he is calling it this week)
/ expoaviation
I am also on Flickr too where I share images I've managed to snap from the rear steps when I've been out serving drinks across the friendly skies ;) Includes some shots from Egypt too :)
flic.kr/ps/3WHZVn
I've also set up a Grounded community on Reddit where you can join the discussion about existing episodes and make suggestions for future episodes :)
/ groundedairlines
#GroundedSeries #MaxJet #Silverjet
Thank you for explaining some more obscure British-isms that we across the pond don't always get exposure to.
A pleasure :) I got the idea from @EmmaCruises who includes at least one British-ism in her videos, it's helped me sound less wooden by putting in some more local dialect :)
Excited to watch this. I have family who worked at Gemini Air Cargo HQ at IAD and remember attending Gemini Xmas parties at Bill Stockbridge's house.
wow that's cook! I hope you enjoyed the video :)
Great video as always. Let’s take a moment to appreciate your sense of humour!
Thanks, I'm glad to hear that my jokes are landing as intended :)
Another awesome video Phil! Still looking forward to your AE one!
Thank you, I hope it will be worth the wait but rest assured I still have it near the top of the to-do list :)
I’ve really appreciated the last few videos (I appreciate them all to be honest!)
The ‘uk business class’ series had me entertained on my flight to Crete! Silverjet and Flyjet being a personal favourite of mine. Do you have plans to cover FlyGlobespan at all? Many Thanks for all your hard work putting these videos together!
I remember both MaxJet and EOS Airlines and always being excited at seeing New York JFK on the departure boards at Stansted, when I was a teen. Transatlantic hasn’t been very lucky at Stansted. Especially when Primera Air went under, but at least they now have Emirates to Dubai and Play Airlines if you don’t mind connecting at Keflavik. I also never knew that EOS did four flights a day from STN to JFK!
Excellent video!👍. I was a regular commuter taking advantage of MAXJet’s low cost with high service and catering. However, very familiar with the industry I knew the hand writing was on the wall…. Switching from Grey Goose to Smirnoff :-(
Thank you :) That is indeed quite a downgrade and an early sign that costs are starting to get cut, no doubt as a regular flyer you would have been in a great position had the MaxFlyer programme rolled out properly? Did you ever try Eos or Silverjet and if so, how did they hold up against MAXjet in your opinion?
I remember Max.
1:12 Oh wow a Ryanair A380, horrifying thought.
Indeed, I should have saved it for Halloween ;)
Do a video on Bonza Airlines.
Patiently waiting for EuroDirect🙏🏻
I have got some notes on them at the ready :)
Thanks. As we can see now, premium economy is a great option for many now. If one of those carriers was still operating, they could have done a half business half premium mix, It would have possibly cleaned up by now.
Indeed, there is a very good chance that had they still been around they'd have been doing exceptionally well today :/
Another great episode! 👌
Thank you, much appreciated :)
American pulled out of Stansted as soon as all these airlines went bust.
Yeah, they'd also had a previous attempt when the new terminal first opened but axed the route a year later (which is what I was referencing with the "bad luck" of Stansted Airport).
Another great video. It's crazy to see all these carries out there at once. With regard to Zoom, Canada is the graveyard to airlines. Like you, I stopped flying coach, I often find the difference between domestic 1st and coach when the costs are added up, It's just not that much of a difference.
Thank you :) I agree regarding Canada, WestJet has done very well for itself but aside from them everyone else has fallen by the wayside one way or another and usually with Air Canada's or the Government's involvement somehow (Wardair, Canadi>n) - though there are of course other reasons such as bonehead management ala Jet's Go / Royal / Canada 3000 (had to say bonehead rather than a less diplomatic word for legal reasons).
I still sadly end up flying economy/coach quite often but if the price for an upgrade is not too far off the basic price I'll pay more and go for premium economy. We're off to Arizona (again) for our honeymoon this summer and it was around an extra £150 each to upgrade to premium economy on the LHR-PHX & ORD-DUB sectors, stuck in steerage for the other legs though :/
Excellent documentary, very thorough. Premium economy is the new fad. I wonder if we'll see new start-ups taking advantage of this.
Thank you :) It will be interesting to see what happens in the near future, any new airline which wants to operate a similar model will face the same problems as these three did back in 2007-08 but hopefully could learn from their mistakes to have a better go at it :) From a passenger perspective I fully encourage it as I love premium economy and try to use it whenever I can afford to :)
Out of all the Grounded episodes you’ve made over the years, I have to ask, which one or ones would you like to revive? I normally decide on such based on liveries from airlines like BIA, Air UK, Orion, and Brymon, but they’re all for the sake of bringing in more color to the modern aviation scene.
Well that's a question :) The airline that I'd most like to revive hasn't actually been covered by the series yet and that would be my beloved Monarch. To go with one from the series, avoiding the obvious choice of one of my former employers - XL, I would say Midwest Express. Their level of service was exceptional and the prices were easily comparable to a regular economy fare with a major carrier, yes things fell off towards the end when the cost cutting came in but to bring them back before that happened would be great. Out of all of the airlines that I've covered they are honestly the one that I regret never getting to experience first hand, though I would also have loved to have had a ride with Chalk's.
I honestly do think that Air UK never got a proper chance, once KLM increased their stake they just turned it into a feeder service. I do think that the name may come back in the next few years though depending on how KLM and Delta deal with Virgin Atlantic...
Maxjet is like sliverjet American twin brother but they went under before sliverjet
Yeah sort of, similar business models but different levels of service, similar aircraft types but different engine variants, so close that maybe a partnership could have been on the cards :)
@@ExpoAviation shame it didn't last long for em If they did partnership they could of lasted bit more 🙁
Shame they didn’t just merge into one carrier
Indeed, the main problem would be that Max & Silverjet were officially headquartered in different countries (the US for Max and UK for Silver) but there could have been ways to resolve that one, the question is by the time that they would have realised the need to merge they may not have had time to do it! I do think Maxjet & Silverjet would have worked well, probably with Silverjet being the lead brand to survive more than a merger of Maxjet and Eos.
Phil are you employed by an aviation related employer presently? It seems you were born to work w/airlines.
Yes I've been cabin crew / flight attendant with one of Europe's largest low-fare airlines for the past few years now. Started flying 19 years ago with an airline called Islandsflug who I covered back in episode 50 :)