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Private Jet Business Sticks With Its Flight Plan

There is something to be said for an on-demand charter flight, said Kimberly Herrell of Carlsbad-based Schubach Aviation.

It’s nothing fancy. It’s the vanilla ice cream in the freezer case among sprinkles and swirls.

The aviation business has experimented with new marketing packages, novel business models and the latest in information technology, all in an attempt to make flights on small private jets more convenient, attractive, even economical — though economical is a relative term.

Just how good are the new products? Results have been mixed, said Herrell. Customers might try something new, but the vice president at Schubach sees them return to what she considers the standard: the basic on-demand charter flight.

The past several years saw a company called BlackJet that advertised an experience similar to Uber. In fact, two investors from Uber helped set up the company. In addition, BlackJet received investment from Roc Nation, an entertainment company affiliated with rapper Jay Z. But in the end, the enterprise went out of business.

Herrell said the company overpromised and underdelivered. “They didn’t deliver the aircraft,” she said.

BlackJet’s stated goal of making private jet travel affordable to the masses is a tough problem to solve, said Casey Miller, co-owner of Carlsbad-based Latitude 33 Aviation LLC.

Round-trip Costs

The art of optimizing a private jet flight is making productive use of both legs of a trip. That initial leg might be Carlsbad to Las Vegas. The other leg is the return to home base, Las Vegas to Carlsbad. That part of the trip could easily be an empty aircraft.

Miller estimated that a light jet can operate at about $3,000 per hour. A round trip to Las Vegas takes one and a half hours for a $4,500 flight.

Economics demands that operators build the cost of a round-trip flight into their pricing structures, Herrell said. The simplest strategy is to double the price of a one-way ticket so it covers the expense of getting the jet back to home base.

People who book private jet flights have gotten creative with their offerings. “There are a lot of different ways to package it,” Herrell said.

Some companies sell blocks of time on a jet, such as 25 hours, packaging the offer in what’s known as a jet card.

In certain circumstances, that might bring the cost down a little, said Miller. He offered a simple analogy. Imagine the cost of commercial airline travel is 1 unit of money. Private jet travel might be considered a 10. In some cases, a block buy on a jet card could yield a price of 7 or 8 — relatively cheaper, but still a luxury purchase.

Some of the more analytical customers examine their flying offerings in-depth to see what their best deal might be. Herrell spoke of a customer who shares elaborate spreadsheets with her.

Filling the empty leg of a flight drives up efficiency.


Low-tech Tool

Surprisingly, Herrell said, one of the most effective tools that companies use to fill empty legs is just a step above an ancient internet message board. It’s called Air Mail, and it’s run by the National Business Aviation Association, or NBAA.

Charter operations keep track of Air Mail announcements, which frequently begin with the words HAVE or NEED. For example, a charter operator might announce it has an empty flight from Las Vegas to Carlsbad leaving at 6 p.m. on Oct. 23.

The board carries a lot of traffic. On a recent Monday morning, AirMail showed 20 new messages in the space of a half hour. Specialized software can read the messages real-time, said Herrell.


The Perks

Of course, paying extra for a private jet flight has other perks.

Some people don’t mind paying more for privacy. On a Gulfstream jet, a group of three executives can discuss issues discreetly, or have a board meeting during a flight, Miller said. Filling extra seats with strangers might drive down the cost per person on board a flight, but it would be a false economy.

A private jet can also accommodate a crowded itinerary, such as having to make five stops in two days, Miller said.

Then there is the matter of not having long pre-flight waits and having to remove shoes and pocket change for the Transportation Security Agency.

Finally, a private jet can accommodate unforeseen changes in schedule. Getting stuck in traffic on the way to the airport does not mean a passenger misses a flight.

Schubach manages 17 aircraft for private owners and makes 12 available for charter flights.

Latitude 33 has 30 aircraft under management.

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