Bye Bye Zoom

[Oholio]

On their website:

CUSTOMER ANNOUCEMENT


Zoom Airlines sincerely regrets to advise its customers that it has ceased operations with effect from 18:00 UTC on Thursday 28 August.

All flights scheduled to depart from have been cancelled and Zoom's aircraft have been grounded.

Both Zoom Airlines Inc and Zoom Airlines Ltd, the Canadian and UK airlines, will be filing for insolvency proceedings in their home countries today.

For customers who have future travel plans involving a Zoom flight for which reservations and payment have been made, you should refer to your credit or debit card company to apply for a refund. We have set out details of other airlines who operate the same or similar routes to those flown with Zoom in the hope that this may assist you in making alternative travel plans to replace the flights that you had booked with Zoom.

If your travel arrangements have been made as part of a holiday package originating in the UK and booked through a holiday company, you may be able to make a claim under the CAA's Air Travel Organiser's Licence scheme. For information on this, please consult the CAA ATOL website at www.atol.org.uk.

Hugh and John Boyle, the founders of Zoom, said today: "We deeply regret the fact that we have been forced to cease all Zoom operations. It is a tragic day for our passengers and more than 600 staff.

"We are desperately sorry for the inconvenience that this will cause passengers and those who have booked flights.

"We have done everything we can to support the airline and left no stone unturned to secure a re-financing package that would have kept our aircraft flying. Even as late as yesterday we had secured a new investment package but the actions of creditors meant we could not continue flying.

"The collapse of Zoom is a result of matter beyond our control. Only last year Zoom Airlines made profit, but that turned into a loss in the last year due to the unprecedented increase in the price of aviation fuel and the economic climate. The price of oil resulted in our fuel bill jumping by nearly $50 million in one year and we could not recover that from passengers who had already booked their flights.

"We would like to thank the many thousands of passengers who chose to travel with Zoom during the last seven years and efforts of the airline's staff."

We have been advised that British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are graciously offering special fares to assist Zoom customers that have been displaced by the suspension of our services.

[Cat Driver]

Once again there are peoples lives being altered by yet another airline failure, and it never gets easier to accept.

I remember when Canada 3000 went under I had gone to the car to try and get warm working on the ramp fixing an airplane in freezing rain at Duxford and turned on the car radio to hear of the collapse of Canada 3000 and suddenly my being cold and miserable didn't seem to be so bad thinking about all the people at Canada 3000.

Aviation is a real iffy venture at best and I fear this turn down will be worse than most of the other ones...especially if Obama gets in and the USA does not drill for their own oil supply.

Anyhow all you Zoom people have my hopes that this will not last long and you all will be back to work soon.

. E.

[Navajo-dude]

Remember the classy way Harmony shut down? They gave a months advance notice of a hard date, allowing people tp plan accordingly and not get screwed. That's the proper way to conduct business.

Too bad Zoom, Jetsgo etc. try to milk it out until the creditors shut 'em down, leaving pax screwed.

[Cobra64]

guess I'm not going to apply for the job they posted on this site.

[C-FABH]

Remember the classy way Harmony shut down? They gave a months advance notice of a hard date, allowing people tp plan accordingly and not get screwed. That's the proper way to conduct business.

Too bad Zoom, Jetsgo etc. try to milk it out until the creditors shut 'em down, leaving pax screwed.

Very true, Harmony was quite classy when they decided to throw in the towel. I'm guessing most top level people don't care about being too sincere, especially if the company is toast either way.

[Brantford Beech Boy]

Curious as to how this will affect the sister company, Go Travel Direct?

and who is going to p/u that volume going south as the winter vacation season starts to roll.

BBB

[chief]

Well who is going to host the WARR race now in YOW!

[niss]

Best of luck to all those who are affected. Hopefully this isn't the beginning of the end?

[flyinhigh]

Very sorry to hear of this, I know a couple guys that work/ed there and they loved it.
I hope yall get back on your feet soon..

Too bad Zoom, Jetsgo etc. try to milk it out until the creditors shut 'em down, leaving pax screwed.

Sorry man, but to compare Zoom to Jetsgo is over the line, The Zoom folks didn't have to mortgage a house to have a job.

Also, did harmony not just close the doors because yeah he knew he was loosing money and wanted to save face. I guess yeah it was very nice of them for the notice, however not all companies can due that.

Heck back to C3, they did this and stranded what thousands.


Old fella, if your old than your sure immature, yeah ok you don't like charter airlines. But to have no remorse for the folks that just lost there jobs. Come on

[goldeneagle]

Remember the classy way Harmony shut down? They gave a months advance notice of a hard date, allowing people tp plan accordingly and not get screwed. That's the proper way to conduct business.

Too bad Zoom, Jetsgo etc. try to milk it out until the creditors shut 'em down, leaving pax screwed.

Harmony had the option, deep pockets to begin with, no shortage of operating funds. HMY was closed up when it became clear, the operation was not profitable in 'good times', and never could be with 'bad economic times' looming on the horizon. The doors were not forced closed by creditors, it was an operating decision by ownership to stop pouring good money after bad. Smart folks see the writing on the wall long before it's to late, and, take measures to fix the problem. Sometimes those measures mean an orderly shutdown, other times it means a change in the way things operate.

HMY was one example of the 'smart money' leaving aviation.

Another good example of the 'smart money' leaving, take a look around, try find out what westjet founders are up to these days. Pay particular attention to just how much of that precious westjet stock they have dumped onto the market over the last couple of years. Not many founders left in the driver seat over at that operation, and it's turned into 'just another airline' trying to still be a 'small town boy', when in reality, it's grown up to be street bully. There's a few folks that have cashed in a lot of stock, and are sitting on a tidy sum of 'smart money', completely divested of airline exposure as the economy heads down the shitter. Smart move.

The Zoom sudden and abrupt shutdown appears to be the aircraft owners reaching out and grabbing thier airplanes back, before the courts throw up the protection net that would prevent that. That's probably a smart move financially, boeing airplanes are horribly expensive assets to have operating for a client that doesn't pay the bills. Get them parked so at least they aren't being run to component / inspection times with no revenue coming in, good damage control by the owners, kinda sucks if you are one of the casualties along the way.

I think the music just stoped, or at least the volume was cut in half!

Hey clunk, that volume isn't turned down on the music, you've been listening to the echoes and ringing in your ears because it was so loud, for so long. The music actually shut off when HMY shut down, but, way to many folks weren't paying attention. Didn't I read earlier, you have recently liquidated a bunch of aviation assets too? Are you part of the 'smart money' crowd, sold off aviation interests while there was still something to sell ?

It's not all bad news though. If you have a big swack of empty real estate sitting in the desert, good times ahead. There's going to be huge demand for desert storage space in another month or so. Summer loads disappear after Sept 2, and those airplanes aren't going to be flying around with empty seats. Going to be a lot of RJ's and the like make the one way trip out to the desert, probably a good swack of boeing/airbus stuff doing the same. I'd estimate that over the next 3 months, at least 25% of the north american capacity will head to desert storage.

[jetmech]

Not sure if its already posted but:

http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/abc/ho ... ine_080828

I blame our Government for this mess. There should be a lawsuit against these fools.

[flyer]

you only had to look down 2 lines to see that this has been posted and well discussed. And what the F@#$ do you mean you blame the government for this? What did you want, a bail-out for bad business planning? Our government hasn't gone far enough yet to cut back on all the stupid/wasteful/criminal spending of the last couple decades!!!

[invertedattitude]

Really sad to hear this for all Zoom employees. Always a very classy bunch to work with in any position.

Best of luck to all of you, and I hope you find youself on your feet somehow

[jetmech]

My apologies for this duplicate post. I even looked to see if it was already posted, yet somehow I missed it

At any rate, how do we all go from a good economic state, to hard times in the beat of a drum? Fuel prices doubled overnight? Why? How come the price of oil...yet again...has risen? Because of the threat of a Hurricane down South?.....the threat of one? Does this mean if it passes with no damage, we are all going to get our money back? To top it off we have Governments that are creating false Environmental concerns in order tax us out of our lives? Well way to go Canada, instead of fixing this mess, keep on bitching at ech others Poilitical parties, and trying to sue each other. Glad my Taxes are going to a good cause

[Old fella]

"Old fella, if your old than your sure immature, yeah ok you don't like charter airlines. But to have no remorse for the folks that just lost there jobs. Come on ."

How about some remorse to those poor folks who are stuck somewhere(maybe with kids) or even OLDER THAN ME who are now in a bind, no place to go. Probably nobody gives a fiddlers @#$! about their status. Now they have to shell MORE MONEY so they can get themselves home or whatever. Vacation plans in tatters/ruined............

Who will speak for them!!!!! Nobody here!!!

[tsgas]

The pilots from Zoom should be able to find work overseas without too much difficulity.
There is also the option of New Air.
As for the 40 year old dreamers that always wanted to fly for a living they would be better off sticking with their profession for the time being.

[mattedfred]

"Sorry man, but to compare Zoom to Jetsgo is over the line, The Zoom folks didn't have to mortgage a house to have a job."

off the topic of this thread but jetsgo employees didn't have to mortgage their house to have a job they CHOSE to.

i understand the reasons why many of us CHOSE to fly for an operator that had training bonds etc when we were starting out but do AGREE to do so at the jetsgo level is SAD.

IMHO

[boeingboy]

HMY was one example of the 'smart money' leaving aviation.

That couldn't be farther from the truth.

There was nothing smart about HMY's money.......................just lots of it!

[imarai]

Remember WorldWays, Canada 3000, Roots Air, Greyhound (operated by Kelowna Flightcraft), Harmony, and JetsGo? Sorry to see them go. Perhaps Zoom Air can reorganize. If the past is prologue, low-cost air fares will always be in demand, but considering high fuel costs, the massess will be flown by mass marketed airlines, and there is room for only a few of those companies. The spectre of monopollies loom large during recessionary economies, even though Canada is thought not to be in one..,but there are signs of a slow down in economic growth. The next few months may prove unsettling to some of the legacy carriers in the U.S. as well. Hang on. We may be in for a bumpy ride.



"Inflatable vest? Sorry, we sold out of those on our Winnipeg to Edmonton flight."

[cjet]

THAT IS WHY, I would never,ever book anything with the ZOOMs, CanJets, Skylinks and Transats for a holiday out of the country. It is Air Canada - bar none and depending on the destination WestJet. I keep telling my many acquaintances that if you are gonna spend big bucks on a MED. cruise or something similar down south, STAY THE @#$! AWAY from the above outfits. IT's your hard earned money that is going down the toilet!!!!!!!!!!

Old Fella,

What you may not realize is when you travel with Charter Airlines like Skyservice or Canjet is that they have contracts with huge international tour companies that have huge buying power at resorts around the world. Who is going to get a better rate for hotels in the Caribbean Air Canada who buys a 1000 rooms a winter or Thomas Cook at 10000? These tour companies also buy every seat on the airplanes they charter. So for Canadian charter airlines that means less risk because the flight is paid for even if it is empty. So for your money and your friends the best bang for your vacation buck is at a charter airline.

CJET

[Kelowna Pilot]

Perhaps Zoom Air can reorganize.

They're gone.

No one their right mind would buy a Zoom ticket now. Way too risky.

If I had to put everything that's happening now in historical context, I'd say the industry is right were it was a couple months before 9-11.

The fall slowdown will be the 9-11 event, and by next summer you're going to be looking at a very different industry in Canada and the US.

Much, much smaller I'm afraid.

[randallg]

Long term oil prices have nothing to do with a hurricane or the Canadian government, and everything to do with Iran and Russia.

[EastCoaster]

Wow... I mean.. I guess we all know how this industry can have it's ups and downs (have been there for the last C6 experience) but it's really tough to have people on here bashing the charter carriers. It's guys like Old Fella, spreading absolute crap, that influence the travelling public.

Wishing all the best to all of the folks at Zoom and hoping to hear some kind of positive news in the coming days.

To the people musing over how not to shut down an airline (HMY, C6, etc) ... The safest way (if it's a planned shutdown rather than aircraft being reclaimed by leasing companies) is exactly the way that it is always done in Canada and the rest of the world. The simple facts are that if everyone knows that the company is going to fold in two months time, and anything happens, then it will be blamed on shoddy work or skimping on materials or burned out staff... the truth of the matter is that there's unfortunately only one way to shut down an airline and it's no fun for anyone and leaves us all out in the dark but it's the safest way.

[. .]

Old Fella,

What you may not realize is when you travel with Charter Airlines like Skyservice or Canjet is that they have contracts with huge international tour companies that have huge buying power at resorts around the world. Who is going to get a better rate for hotels in the Caribbean Air Canada who buys a 1000 rooms a winter or Thomas Cook at 10000? These tour companies also buy every seat on the airplanes they charter. So for Canadian charter airlines that means less risk because the flight is paid for even if it is empty. So for your money and your friends the best bang for your vacation buck is at a charter airline.

CJET

His point was that charter airlines have a nasty habit of going tits up while you're still on vacation. You can always find a cheaper fare, but it's not necessarily the best option for everyone. Once bitten twice shy right?

[Old fella]

"It's guys like Old Fella, spreading absolute crap, that influence the travelling public."

Well.......... tell that to the individual(CBC Interview in CYHZ) with his 4 kids who just got dumped of in Halifax enroute to Calgary or whereever & the other 213 sitting it out on their own as well. Talk about influencing the travelling public with "absolute crap". My arse!!

The industry needs a shakedown............