Panzon

According to AIN both founders, Wade and Dave Eyerly, have left.

When the founders leave a startup it usually signals differences in vision between the Board and the founders, so I would expect changes. It will be interesting to watch!

tailendcharlie

Pilot career lesson #1: If you find a good deal enjoy it - Sooner or later management will figure it out & put a stop to it.

Jetlife

Ya if the founders left, not good...

mtbthis

Was looking for facts as opposed to the classic pessimistic pilot speculation.

And so you guys know, people leave start-ups all the time for many reasons: sell it off, move on to next start-up, etc. Disagreements and such are not the only reason (not saying that it doesn't happen).

This also doesn't mean that the business takes a turn for the worse.

hockeypilot44

Has this company actually made a profit? If not, it will either cease to exist or cut costs to make a profit. The only other way is to raise prices. Money losing companies don't last long.

Panzon

Since it's privately held and therefore not subject to the disclosure requirements that public companies must abide by the only facts one can get are going to come from a) official company press releases, and b) leaks. With only 65 employees, any employee who came onto this site and leaked facts would be taking a huge professional risk. Barring the existence of an employee who was either incredibly naive or who wanted to commit professional suicide your original question was destined to be answered by best guesses.

As for reasons founders leave startups and the timing of their departure, you are right: there are many reasons. But usually when founders leave early in a company's startup trajectory, especially in the absence of an announced acquisition by a VC or corporation, it's a signal of issues between the Board and the founders. Eventually this will all play out and we will know more. In the mean time we just have to wait.

JohnnyG

Great idea for a company, but I have seen this exact idea thrown around many times by people that don't know or understand aviation. Most of the FBOs around have a turboprop or jet on charter that doesn't make them any money. It's there because they want to run a 'complete' aviation business. Fuel sales, maintenance, and so on. It's just not feasible.

Overzealous, overselling company founders are nothing new to the world, and they have managed to impress people and sell their idea for an extraordinary amount of money. I'm sure I don't understand every cent moved, but they have made public announcements of the capital they have raised, and have been BLEEDING money for years now. It costs a lot to hit it the way they have, pay people the way they have and create the wonderful corporate culture they have.

I was hoping it would work for them, but it seems when the board removes the founders it's because the founders weren't creating the profits and requisite returns they wanted. It may never happen. By and large, few 135s have arrived on scene and made a huge profit. Most don't try to make the jump to being a large company so fast, either.

cjgreen91

So far so good. Still expanding service.

StartWithZero

Are they still accepting Resume's, looking for pilots? I tried calling without luck.

I'm a 8500 hr airline pilot looking to get back home to Southern California and try and be home more nights than not.

If hiring, Is there a CP name to send note to or just to the email address listed? Would love to talk with someone and get more information than what I have found out online.

Thanks.

Hercguy

CP is Jayne Kruse last I heard. Hopefully someone from Surf can confirm.