Major Tour Operator Files for Bankruptcy

Travel agents were sorting out the damage last week after El Segundo-based Jet Vacations International Inc., a major tour operator that sold Western European vacations through agencies in all 50 states, filed for bankruptcy earlier this month.

Jet Vacations, a former subsidiary of Air France, had been in business since 1982 and sold its trips through more than 37,000 travel agents, according to a November 2000 news release by its former parent company, PSAINC in El Segundo. The release projected revenue of more than $6 million in 2000, and in May this year, the company claimed tour sales were up 89% from last year.

Officials with Jet Vacations could not be reached for comment last week. But a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition, dated Nov. 2, was on file at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Central District of California, in Los Angeles. As of the Travel section’s deadline Tuesday, the company had not filed required documentation of assets and liabilities, so it was possible the case would be dismissed, leaving creditors free to pursue collection of debts, said Imelda Gaeta, trustee administrator for the court-appointed trustee in the case.

Among those making claims against the company were Los Angeles-based Gullivers Travel Associates, the North American division of London-based GTA Tour Group. It was seeking to recover $798,805, according to a Nov. 2 fax sent to news media by GTA President Hossam Andraous. He did not return calls last week seeking comment.

In Novato in Northern California, Dimensions in Travel failed to receive nearly $14,000 owed to it by Jet Vacations for three round-trip business-class tickets to Paris ordered in August for clients, said manager Jill Brooks. Her travel agency recovered the money by filing a claim with a credit-card company, she added.

As of last week, the company’s Web address called up a blank page. Its toll-free number still had a recording with menu options for brochures, reservations and other services, but no one answered the phone.