summary
- Eos Airways aimed to offer a luxurious all-business class flight between New York and London with superior amenities.
- The company faced challenges before expanding its routes and filed for bankruptcy in 2008.
- Despite its services, Eos Air was struggling to maintain operations amidst market demands.
April will mark 16 years since Eos Air ceased operations. The New York-based all-business class airline offered flights between New York's John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) and London Stansted (STN) during just three years of service. The airline operated six Boeing 757-200 aircraft.
In 2007, the company announced that it would connect STN to Washington, DC, Boston, and Los Angeles. The airline also announced plans to launch flights from JFK to Paris. Before these plans could come to fruition, the airline announced bankruptcy. Eos Air ceased its operations in April 2008.
balance requirements
Named after the Greek goddess of dawn, Eos sought to offer business passengers the opportunity to work, rest, and sleep during their transatlantic travels. There were plenty of luxuries on board and Do & Co provided the catering. The metal cutlery was particularly well received by guests. Travelers were also given a DVD entertainment unit with movies, games and music to enjoy instead of the traditional IFE screen.
Former British Airways strategic director Dave Spurlock founded the airline in 2004, and it began operating from New York JFK to London Stansted on October 18, 2005. The Boeing 757 was the perfect aircraft for these classy missions.
across the fleet
According to Air Fleet, registration number N401JS arrived first and joined the fleet on June 5, 2005. This aircraft was joined by another of his 757-2Q8PCFs in the form of N403JS on June 7 of the same year. Deliveries for 2005 ended on September 13th with the 757-2Q8 aircraft N926JS.
One aircraft arrived in 2007. 757-2Q8PCF N405JS was delivered on October 5th. The following year, another unit of the same model arrived with registration number N406JS. Final delivery was 757-29JPCF with registration N703AM on March 4, 2008.
Eos Air has only 48 seats in its narrow body. This cabin was advertised as offering exceptional standards of seating comfort. What's notable is that each seat folds up into a flat bed. Additionally, separate seats can be made available so that you can hold meetings during the flight. With 21 square feet of space per passenger, there was plenty of space to move around.
tough market
Despite its high-quality provisions, the airline will face the same challenges that some other business-focused airlines have faced over the years.
In 2007, Stephen Shaw described the plight of all business class airlines in airline marketing and management:
“Despite their popularity with start-up entrepreneurs, airlines specializing in business travel have yet to stand the test of time. The first reason is that the concept meets the needs of business travelers. Businessmen certainly value the high standard of in-flight service and the benefits of having their own airline in terms of status and exclusivity. However, their most important needs are more mundane;
“They need to fly frequently, at convenient times, across an extensive route network. They also rely on the personal benefits of frequent flyer programs (using employer funds). Thank you very much.”
Overall, these needs are better served by larger airlines, which have more resources available. You can diversify your products while meeting premium requirements. Commercial airlines can also deploy their aircraft to different markets during holiday periods and weekends when business travel slows down.
Under 373 miles: Top 10 shortest Boeing 757 flights in the world
The shortest one is over.
There were plans to grow across the Atlantic. Sadly, on April 27, 2008, the company revealed that it did not have the funds to continue operations, so expansion goals were shelved. The airline was forced to ground six of its aircraft, with the last flight to take place on April 28, 2008. After the grounding, four of the company's aircraft went to Nordwind Airlines. N703AM headed to Lithuanian Airlines and N926JS joined Tajikistan Airways.
What do you think about the Eos Air story? What do you think about the airline's overall approach? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
