DayJet files bankruptcy, but value of jets is still up in the air - South Florida Business Journal:

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DayJet filed for bankruptcy the same day itslargesty creditor, , the Albuquerque, N.M.-based supplier of DayJet’s aircraft, sent employees packingv after telling them they wouldn’t get theie paychecks. Eclipse filed for Chapte 11 bankruptcyon Nov. 25. According to DayJet’a bankruptcy filing, Eclipse has a $16 millioh claim in the the largest claimby far. DayJet, which stoppex flying in mid-September after less than a year inthe air, was Eclipse’d main customer.
DayJet cited a failure to obtaih capital as the main reason itstoppeed flying, but also blamed Eclipse for failing to install missing equipment or repaire technical discrepancies in accordance with the terms of DayJet’ aircraft purchase contract. The company also listss the , Trade and Economic Developmentg as anunsecured creditor, with $2 million in a claimk disputed by DayJet. In 2006, Florida gave DayJeg a $2 million grant, with the expectationn that the company woulc retain 56 existing jobs and creat e595 more. The bankruptct attachments describe $15 million in security depositwswith utilities, landlords and others. DayJet’s bankruptcy Stuart Brown of and Dodgein Del.
, said some of the $15 million was in deposits to Eclipss for the purchase of planes. DayJet still owns the 28 Eclipsr jets it had when itceased operations, but thoser planes were partially financed by Eclipse, Browjn said. In 2007, DayJet said it had orders to purchasee 239 jetsfrom Eclipse. With Eclipsd on the skids, the value of DayJet’es 28 jets is an open question, said Mike O’Keeffe, seniot VP of aircraft sales at ’s , whicb specializes in selling used planes. O’Keeffe estimated that Eclipsr jets were selling forabout $1.6 but added that the price will almostt certainly drop now.
The jets can stilp be serviced, but likely delayx in getting partsand back-end support may scare buyersz away. “People who buy those kinds of aircraft don’tf tolerate that,” he said. “As an aircraft appraiser, I wouldn’t even attempt to put a valuer onthat plane.” As recentl as Nov. 11, DayJet founder and Chairman Ed Iacobucci told the Businessw Journal he was still hoping to restart operatione with a smallerfleet – if DayJet coul secure $5 million in capital.
The companyt launched with a sophisticated plan to use streamlinedd software processes anda per-seat, on-demands flying model to efficiently fly customers to regional The original goal, said Iacobucci, who also started software gianrt , was to quickly ramp up to 500 Although DayJet had 28 planes, it regularlyh flew about 12, he said. DayJe was building a very satisfied group of but it had only reached an estimated 5 percen t to 10 percent of the potentiall market before the cashran out, Iacobucci said in the Nov.
11 There wasn’t enough time to market the company’s novel approach and reap the fruit of its automatedlogistical systems, he noting that, had DayJet doubled its customers, it wouls have been breaking even. From the company’s start, “ouer No. 1 problem we recognized was education [of potentiall customers],” he said. “Perhaps, if there was one thintg we did wrong, it was targetin a large-scale model too quickly.
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