OneFlight pauses all flights for 30 days amid cash crisis

Denver-based OneFlight International is pausing flights for 30 days, according to Private Jet Card Comparisons, citing several people familiar with internal conversations at the company.

The pause signals serious financial distress at a broker that reported $232 million in revenue last year and built its brand on celebrity-endorsed television advertising and deeply discounted promotional deals. Over $150 million in prepaid flights could be at stake, the reporting says. In a bankruptcy, clients with prepaid charter and jet card flights are unsecured creditors.

OneFlight asks customers for minimum deposits starting at $100,000 for future flights. The reporting does not say how many customers have prepaid or how the $150 million figure was derived.

Payment problems and operator complaints

In recent weeks, charter operators said OneFlight had fallen behind on payments. Several operators reported being owed more than six figures for flights they had already flown. At the same time, other operators said they had not experienced payment issues and reported getting paid, so the problem may not be universal.

Last week, a OneFlight vice president emailed employees to address the crisis. Ruby Dalton, VP of Human Resources, wrote that CEO Ferren Rajput was "actively addressing the financial and operations issues that developed under the previous CFO's leadership and is taking the necessary steps to strengthen OneFlight's financial position and long-term stability."

Dalton's email was in response to former employee Haylee Hilton, who resigned and wrote in her departure email: "The team deserves honesty and regarding OneFlight's financial and operational position. We continue to experience difficulties paying operators, and in doing so are damaging relationships with trusted operators and clients alike."

Recent miscues

In August, OneFlight emailed clients imposing a 35% "economic surcharge" with immediate effect, attributing the move "to extraordinary economic pressures currently affecting private aviation." The company rescinded the surcharge hours later.

OneFlight executives were not immediately available for comment, according to Private Jet Card Comparisons.

The reporting does not say whether the 30-day pause is expected to end at that point, what happens to bookings during the pause, or whether customer prepayments will be honoured when flights resume.