Fly Privately
July 9, 2010Join the Scores of Frequent Travelers Who Enjoy the Timesaving, Hassle-Free World of Private Air Travel
By James D. Butler, Shaircraft Solutions, LLC
As a private aviation advisor, I frequently hear from frustrated business and leisure travelers who are fed up with the commercial airlines:
“I was in Phoenix on a golf trip with my buddies. We played a round in the morning and then headed to the airport. I’d scheduled a meeting in New York the next day with my biggest client who was flying in from Chicago. No problem. I had a flight to Denver where I’d change planes and get into New York around 10:00 p.m., stay in a hotel overnight and do the meeting the next day. Or so I thought… My flight was delayed out of Phoenix for no apparent reason. (You can never get a straight answer from the airlines.) By the time I got to Denver, I had 10 minutes to make my connection. Sprinting for what seemed like a mile from one concourse to another, I made it with five minutes to spare. Or so I thought… The door at the gate was open but the gate agent told me I was too late. He wouldn’t let me on the plane. I explained my situation, but to no avail. There were no other options to fly east from Denver that day. I ended up flying to Los Angeles, and then taking a packed red eye to Washington, D.C. that got in around 5:00 a.m. I waited for the first flight to New York and barely made my meeting.”
This may sound extreme, but I’m willing to bet that something like it, or worse, has happened to you.
Contrast this nightmare (or substitute your own) with flying on a private jet. You fly where, when and with whom you want to fly. Fully 80% of domestic commercial flights fly into only 50 airports, holding you hostage to the airlines’ arbitrary hub system. By contrast, private jets fly into 5,500 airports in the U.S. alone. That means that you can fly direct to an airport that likely is very close to your final destination, avoid connections (and the delays and lost luggage that go with them) and shave hours off your travel time.
No one can deny the quality of life benefits of private jet travel. Have a critical meeting tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. in another city? If you’re flying commercial, you better fly out tonight just to be sure you make it; or, you could go home tonight, coach your kid’s baseball game, have dinner with your family and fly out first thing tomorrow on a private jet … ending up back in your office by 3:00 p.m. the next afternoon.
