While taxiing around CYVR yesterday afternoon, I happened to see a bunch of JetsGo Fokker F-100s sitting on a faraway corner of the ramp, engines and windshields covered. It seemed sad to see these planes mothballed, the way the boneyard at Davis-Montham seems kind of sad, and a little unfair that the airline biz is so harsh, but then I remembered something I read in the March 14 edition of AvWeb’s newswire:

Jetsgo said its business is no longer viable because it is deeply in debt and its airfares are well below cost. The company blamed intense competition from other carriers, especially WestJet, for its financial woes. Clive Beddoe, CEO of WestJet, told reporters he was not surprised to see Jetsgo fail, because Jetsgo owner Michel Leblanc had told him he would undercut every fare WestJet had until he filled his airplanes.

It’s probably worth noting that JetsGo was Leblanc’s seventh airline.

“Well, I hate to say that that’s not a very good business model that works,” Beddoe said.

Beddoe should be given some kind of award for tact and understatement.