Avantair Part II - SevenJet Starts P180 Frax
 

I found this interesting article. I always enjoyed hearing the Piaggio from a distance with its distinctive sound - like a P51 Mustang. I wish them luck! See AIN article below:


SevenJet Revives Fractional Avanti Service

SevenJet has started a fractional program for Piaggio Avantis at its base in St. Petersburg, Fla., using both former employees and aircraft from bankrupt Avantair. Notably, this marks the return of a fractional program for the Italian twin turboprop since Avantair, which also was based in St. Petersburg, ceased operations in June 2013.

“The Avanti is a great aircraft thanks to its jet-like midsize cabin and speed combined with turboprop economics,” SevenJet president Chuck White told AIN. White, a former vice president at Avantair, said that the company specifically chose St. Peterburg as the base for its six Avantis—all former Avantair airframes—since there is still a good pilot base for the aircraft there. Paul Woodard, the head of sales at SevenJet and a former customer service director at Avantair, rounds out the company’s leadership team.

“We’re only operating east of the Mississippi for now, as we don’t want to become over-extended like Avantair did when it pushed westward,” he said. SevenJet is operating the Avantis under Part 135 rules and is offering jet cards and charter service in the aircraft. The company’s fleet includes four Beechjets based in Salt Lake City.

SevenJet is a subsidiary of C&L Aviation Group, an aviation maintenance, parts and support based in Bangor, Maine. C&L also maintains SevenJet’s fleet.

CW at the helm? Hmmmm. Avantair was interesting to work for, and most times fun, just not sure how this Avantair Pt II is going to pan out. If they start flying the new Piaggios-Evos-that would be cool.
And I am curious about their pay and sched. I wouldn't expect it to be anywhere close to what Gama pays though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCnkF04tnms

Round 2....hmmm.....

The problem (well, one of several) Avantair had was running those Piaggios into the ground. Those planes are meant to fly 300hrs a year max and be kept in a hangar inbetween. It's like any sports car really. They were just not designed to be operated how we were using them and once things started breaking, parts became harder and harder to come by, hence all the swapping that was done.

Much like NoJoy, I enjoyed my time, albeit brief, at Avantair. Really neat airplane to fly and even better people to fly it with. It'll be nice to hear and see those things buzzing around again and I hope that the management for this new company learns from its previous mistakes.

But hey, as long as SS is nowhere near this venture, it might have a chance! :p

BTW, we got this!

I also enjoyed my time at Avantair. We did fly the hell out of those things but if the part supply was better, the Piaggio would of been fine for fleet use. Now that a UAE based company with extremely deep pockets owns the vast majority of Piaggo aero, the parts supply issue may have been solved.

I will say that Avantair had some of the finest crews I've flown with to date. The management team did an excellent job with hiring for the most part. They understood the "secret sauce" formula of hiring.

Hopefully this new venture is very successful.

The couple of friends I have who flew at Avantair really enjoyed the airplane. Very sporty and responsive - fun to fly.

I presume a fair number of the Avantair pilots migrated over to Wheels Up and I doubt many would return considering WU's growth.

I had the most fun I've ever had at Avantair and always felt that I was treated very well. I agree with the others that the Piaggio is a good airplane and nice to fly, just needed better MX support. I wish 7Jet the best of luck and always hope the best for any Avantair alumni

Hey all,

I'm a First Officer with SevenJet. Prior to starting here, I was employed with their parent company, C&L Aviation Services.

SevenJet is an all new company. A couple of the planes here were previously at Avantair, with a few of our captains. None of our aircraft were involved with the issues that arose towards the end of the company. We currently have 5 Avantis, with more coming online by the end of the year, along with several Beechjet 400 aircraft. There is talk of a couple Gulfstream aircraft in the near future.

Chuck White is in the lead here, and he's taking steps carefully. He left Avantair six months before the final downfall, when he realized what was happening there. Apparently he was right about how things were going. So far, he's worked the hardest out of all of us to make things go well here.


If anyone might be interested in joining us, feel free to send me a message. I'd be happy to talk about it. It's a startup, but things are steadily improving.

Clear skis and tailwinds...


-Cody

Hey Mainah, where you from?

I'm a former Avantair guy (about 8 yrs there), I live up near Sugarloaf. Look me up if you are a Maine skier or snowmobiler.

PS. I consider Chuck a good personal friend, but pretty sure he was around to the bitter end trying to save it like the rest of us.

I just sent you a message. Great screen name by the way!

Wish these guys luck but if the management mentality is the same at Seven Jet as it was at Avantair then the place is doomed. I was personally told by CW that we would never say no to a customer, so operating east of the Mississippi only seems pretty unlikely. VNR management was irresponsible and put people at risk, there's just no other way around that fact.

Maybe CW did try to save things but from my perspective, having been quite involved, it did not seem that way. VNR had such huge potential and was run into the ground by being over extended and underfunded. Greed and corruption ruined that place and hurt a lot of people. I don't think I'd ever place my family's future in the hands of a former VNR manager again.