If you’ve read my previous piece about Verijet and their signs of an imminent “Final Departure”, guess what? Their “savior” has come into the scene! In walks Solaino which appears to be a venture capitalist from Delaware with an alleged Florida connection. The ‘savior’ brings back Richard Kane’s ‘second coming’. You may recall, a new CEO was named just in October. Soliano comes with moneybags allegedly full of $85 million and you can bet on it, there are people and entities already with their hands out. Verijet has been sued more than once by Vision Jet Services and Capital Air for MONTHS of unpaid lease payments of around $38,000 each or thereabouts. More important than money are the allegations Verijet FAILED to maintain the aircraft nor pay for the Maintenance Plan. Along with money, come replevins actions. A replevin action is when the owner of property files for a court order for the entity holding the property to return it. Oh, but there’s even more! One original investor has sued claiming fraud and deception and two former employees have sued due to Verijet’s failure to compensate them as per Separation agreements. So then, what happened to all the money? How much of the $85 million will actually go to aircraft operations? One thing is for certain is in “Corporate America”, and we’ve all seen examples when a company is on the ropes but the members of the “Executive Club” are still wallowing in the opulence of their obscene salaries.
Great observations, the deception continues with promises to employees for payrolls missed (30 days or more in some cases) and a “savior” as you described. Google is a great resource to research names, actions, and a bit of detective work on the ousted and returned CEO. If there was ever a more fitting line “don’t mind the man behind the curtain”
As for lawsuits, a few new ones since your post, with judgments already awarded. Yes the hands will be out if any money actually appears including past due lease payments and owners of aircraft facing financial commitments to return aircraft to the Cirrus maintenance program.
A significant percentage of the fleet sits in Kissimmee at the Cirrus facility awaiting inspections so they can be returned to owners and a simple check on the web has several VJ livery aircraft for sale. The company continues to operate 2 aircraft but significant numbers of personnel have found new employment including the required personnel under 14 CFR 119.
Having worked there, I witnessed how a poor management team can prove the old saying of “How do you make a million dollars in aviation? Start with ten million.”
If the 85 million really is infused, it will require a clean sweep of the management team and a realistic business plan that takes into account the limitations of the Vision Jet and selectively controlling the segments for the aircraft. The main failure of the company was an unbridled sales department and lack of oversight to rein in unrealistic bookings that were outside of the envelope of the Vision Jet. Otherwise, 85 million will evaporate into thin air (again)!!
Another former Verijet pilot here. I concur with the claim that James makes regarding the “Unbridled sales department”. I seemed that the sales department didn’t care how far I went on an empty leg to make a sale. Any Verijet pilot you talk to can tell you about 3 hour empty legs they made to do a 1 hour passenger leg. It will be interesting to see how long Verijet can keep their doors open.