Jetsgo Corporation was a short-lived Canadianlow-cost airline based in theSaint-Laurentborough ofMontreal.^[1] Jetsgo served 19 destinations across Canada, 10 destinations in the United States, and 12 scheduled weekend-charter destinations in theCaribbean. At the time the third-largest carrier in the country, Jetsgo abruptly ended service and entered bankruptcy protection on March 11, 2005, leaving thousands of passengers stranded at the beginning of the busy March-break travel season. According to news outlets, the airline was processing orders and taking payments for flights the night before they claimed insolvency and ceased operations.^[2]

Jetsgo

IATA ICAO Call sign SG JGO JETSGO
Founded	June 12, 2002 (2002-06-12)
Ceased operations	March 11, 2005 (2005-03-11)
Operating bases	Montréal–Trudeau Toronto–Pearson
Frequent-flyer program	JetSmiles
Fleet size	29
Destinations	41
Headquarters	7800 chemin Côte de Liesse,Saint-Laurent,Quebec
Key people	Michel Leblanc (CEO)
Website	Jetsgo.net

Soon after its demise, the company pledged to make a comeback as a charter-only airline. However, on May 13, 2005, the airline filed for bankruptcy protection, cancelled plans to relaunch service and began the process ofliquidation.

Jetsgo was launched on June 12, 2002, and ceased operations on March 11, 2005. The airline was Canada's third-largest airline at the time, controlling up to 10% of the domestic market. Expert analysts widely blame the airline for poor management. FounderMichel Leblanc had previously foundedRoyal Aviation, which he later sold toCanada 3000.

On March 11, 2005, Jetsgo abruptly announced that it had ceased operations. The action stranded thousands of passengers in airports and at their travel destinations with no way home, the defunct airline having made no arrangements with other carriers to handle their passengers. This occurred on the Friday morning before the March Break holiday season, one of the busiest air travel days in 8 of 10 provinces.

1200 employees lost their jobs. Jetsgo had accumulated $55 million in debt in the last eight months before it closed. Employees were finally paid for the time prior to the airline's shutdown on March 14, 2005. Passengers who had purchased Jetsgo tickets were forced to apply for refunds through their credit card companies or travel agencies.Air Canada andWestJet ran additional flights to bring the stranded passengers home.

Because of its abrupt shutdown, the Jetsgo name was frequently corrupted to "Jetsgone" in some media reports. Passenger Satoshi Takano also used this term for a website^[3] which he created for former employees. It operated under that name for some time after the company's demise.

In February 2007 the media reported that theUnited States military was using the formercall sign assigned to Jetsgo during flights overEuropean Union (EU) territory.The Sunday Times said that the call sign had been used by military flights involving so-called "extraordinary rendition" of political detainees toblack site destinations.^[4]

The airline employed 1,350 people at the time that it filed for bankruptcy.^[5]

In March 2005Transport Canada said that investigators found issues with the operating methods of Jetsgo. The deficiencies were discovered during "a special inspection" into engine problems revealed after a forced landing in Toronto in January 2005.

Number of incidents reported on a yearly basis concerning Jetsgo:^[6]

• 2002: 5
• 2003: 15
• 2004: 32
• 2005: 7
• Total (2002–2005): 60

On 20 January 2005 a JetsgoMcDonnell Douglas MD-83 landing in poor weather and low visibility atCalgary International Airport, inCalgary, Alberta, veered left off runway 34 and hit a runway hold-short sign, damaging landing gear and flaps. The plane then declared amissed approach, took off and landed again. There were no casualties.^[7][6]

Jetsgo also operated weekend scheduled charter services fromToronto andMontreal to destinations in Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Mexico.

Jetsgo operated a fleet of 14McDonnell Douglas MD-83 and 11Fokker 100 (plus six Fokker 100 in storage);^[8] three more Fokker 100s were due for delivery in 2005. Seating in all aircraft was configured in an "all-economy" setting typical of low-cost carriers. Jetsgo also had special "comfort plus" sections on most of their planes, which featured more leg room on seats A and B in rows 1 - 12, as well as no middle seat.

• "Jetsgo. Pay a little. Fly a lot." /"Jetsgo. Moins cher, plus souvent."

• List of defunct airlines of Canada

• Jetsgo (archive)
• CTV.ca Timeline of events in Jetsgo's history
• Public Documentation on Jetsgo insolvency made available by accounting firm RSM RichterArchived 2006-10-23 at theWayback Machine