ImagineAir was an

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. In 2001 air taxi operations were promoted in the United States by a NASA and aerospace industry study on the potential Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) ...

service headquartered in metro

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. With a service area that covered a majority of the southeastern US, the company operated an average of 5000 flights annually. ImagineAir was often noted for its young management; as founders Aaron Sohacki and Benjamin Hamilton were 19 and 21 respectively when the company was founded, as well as its innovative online aircraft booking system, providing the familiarity of buying an airline seat on a charter. ImagineAir's business model was based on an industry study of the Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS), developed by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

. Implementing a uniform fleet of aircraft and utilizing technology enabled strategies. ImagineAir was a founding member of the

Air Taxi Association {, class="infobox" style="width:16em;" , + style=font-size:large;, Air Taxi Association , colspan=2 style="text-align:left; font-size:smaller;" , , - , Type , Industry association , - , Started , June 2007 , - , Headquarters , , - , ...

(ATXA). In 2008, the company reported revenues of US$800,000. In 2015, it had grown to $2.8 million, securing a spot on that year's Inc. 500.

History

ImagineAir was founded in November 2005 as ImagineAir Jet Services LLC by Paul Fischer, Aaron Sohacki and Benjamin Hamilton and headquartered at the Gwinnett County Airport near

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

. From the beginning it was the intention of the company's founders to fly a network of the Eclipse 500 VLJs, however delivery delays led ImagineAir to begin operating with Cirrus SR22s. From 2007 through 2012 the company has reported steady quarter over quarter growth, tripling its number of Cirrus aircraft and establishing bases in Charleston, South Carolina and

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southe ...

. In March 2014, ImagineAir announced a merger with the Danbury, Connecticut-based operator Kavoo in an effort to become the first nationwide air taxi carrier. The merger widened ImagineAir's service area to include the entire east coast of the United States and created the largest part 135 air carrier by flight volume. In May 2018, ImagineAir suspended operations as the company’s leadership and advisors were unable to secure the necessary short-term funding to continue operations, nor the long-term funding to scale the company to profitable scale.

Fleet

ImagineAir operated a uniform fleet of

Cirrus SR22 The Cirrus SR22 is a single-engine four- or five-seat composite aircraft built from 2001 by Cirrus Aircraft of Duluth, Minnesota. It is a development of the Cirrus SR20, with a larger wing, higher fuel capacity, and a more powerful, 310-horsepo ...

aircraft. The Cirrus SR22 is a single-engine, originally four and later five-seat, composite aircraft, built by Cirrus Aircraft. The aircraft is perhaps best known for being equipped with the

Cirrus Airframe Parachute System The Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) is a whole-plane ballistic parachute recovery system designed specifically for Cirrus Aircraft's line of general aviation light aircraft including the SR20, SR22 and SF50. The design became the firs ...

(CAPS), an emergency parachute capable of lowering the entire aircraft (and occupants) to the ground in an emergency. * Cirrus SR-22-GTS

References

External links

*
ImagineAir on CNN
{{Airlines of the United States Defunct airlines of the United States Defunct companies based in Georgia (U.S. state) Companies based in Atlanta Airlines established in 2005 Airlines disestablished in 2018 2005 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) 2018 disestablishments in Georgia (U.S. state)