Starting a thread for all things related to the Avantair stand down/ furlough.
I hope that the pilot group is brought back online soon - or find other employment as soon as possible.
I hope my friends and former coworkers are ok!
Avantair stood down voluntarily in response to an incident in July where a P180 flew 2 legs with one elevator missing. They say voluntarily but there is no doubt the FAA is involved.
Speculation, and take it as such: July to October is quite a while to wait for a voluntary safety stand down. They said in an Oct. 25 press release they are conducting inspections on all their aircraft. You have to think they found more problems that brought about the stand down. But as I said this is pure speculation on my part.
The “good” news is the stock is up from .18 to .20 cents since the 25th.
Along with jman I hope they get things squared away and call everybody back ASAP.
Back in the air with about half of the employees recalled.
ainonline.com/aviation-news/ … -grounding
The fact that they had to bring in Nick Sabatini as an outside consultant during their crisis, and their announcement that they are upgrading to “Part 121-style” operations and maintenance safety programs do not give me a fuzzy feeling.
This has all the indications of a company that has been trying to run a wanna-be big time fractional operation with poor resources, organization, and control. And I doubt they have made a dime of profit. Way to go.
The long term question now isn’t if they can get back in the air at all, but what the current owners decide to do when it comes time to renew. I have also heard that some aircraft are flying - but that there is no explanation as to who gets a call back and who doesn’t. It could be in seniority order - many have no idea what is going on till today.
But even if everything is ok - what do you think will happen when its time to renew - do you keep investing into an airline that left you stranded? Do you as a client worth a considerable amount of money care more about the money or your feeling of safety?
There are a lot more questions than answers at this time - I still worry about my friends and coworkers (ex workers actually) - I know they are not all well off and living the good life. Times like these can be very tough on people financially speaking.
Also - If Avantair knew it was only going to be standing down for a couple of weeks and it would recall everybody, why furlough everyone, if it was gonna be a fast 2 weeks - wouldn’t the management want to keep employees paid as a sign of good faith? If avantair couldn’t afford to pay- what does that say about the companies money situation?
I’m not sure if it’s still pertinent at this point but…
Hope all is well with you cfijames!
Thanks, he’s flying.
I am a fractional owner . I have conformation that my airplane has been parked for < long term maintenance > for almost a year .
The fact is that of the 56-- p180s only 33 are flying and the ones on the ground have been cannibalized for spare parts .
The factory has a very small supply of service parts and they
are very pricey . This is a very good example of how the standardization of a fleet has backfired. 
I don’t know much about Avantair so this is more of a generalization.
Standardization does reduce costs, to a degree. But it can’t make up for a lack of ongoing capital or negative cash flow. I would guess that the folks at Avantair are finding out how hard it is to recapture your reputation and goodwill.
cool
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Oh??? There are a few certain people here to keep in mind… 