Charter Report Charter Report

CHARTER REPORT CHARTER REPORT

SPECIAL REPORT

Business picks up as operations become more complex by Matt Thurber

The improving U.S. economy, in contrast to challenging economic buyers and operators use technology is having an effect on quot- circumstances affecting the rest of the world, seems to be reflected in ing and selling trips, managing operations and meeting compli- the charter business, and activity has never been better, according to ance requirements. companies AIN interviewed for this special report. Charter/manage- On the buyer side, the ubiquitous nature of mobile devices has ment firms report steady growth in fleets and business, from both man- spawned a race for the first company to become the so-called agement customers and buyers of charter lift. “Uber of aviation,” and while plenty of apps make this claim, Statistics from market analyst Argus support these claims. The Argus no one has truly replicated Uber’s business model: connecting non- July TraqPak Business Aircraft Activity report (U.S. and Canada) showed regulated drivers with passengers. This model is not possible in charter operations up 9.6 percent compared with July 2014 and 6.1 per- aviation, unless the provider is willing to facilitate illegal charters. cent month-over-month. During the past year, charter activity rose 3.4 per- This special report examines the current state of the charter indus- cent, and Argus projects an increase of 4 percent during the coming year. try and some of the developments that are affecting operators and the The charter industry doesn’t change much, but the way charter brokers that account for the majority of charter bookings.

FOCUS ON Aviation, Panorama Flight Services, GROWTH Midlantic Jet Aviation, Galvin Avi- ation, TWC Aviation and Sterling Landmark Aviation, headquar- Aviation. Five of the companies are tered in Houston, has acquired a sig- being consolidated under one char- nificant number of operations and ter certificate (Sterling Aviation’s), now has 120 airplanes under man- while TWC Aviation will retain www.ainonline.com agement, 70 of which are on charter its own charter certificate, but all certificates. Landmark’s acquisi- charter and management will be tions include Piedmont Hawthorne branded under Landmark Aviation. “We worked closely with the FAA to design that plan,” said Ben Murray, president of Landmark’s Aircraft Management & Charter Jet Aviation is seeing more demand for division. The consolidation includes large-cabin aircraft such as the Global 5000. merging information technology, human resources, financial and legal Owners get great value by being services and providing shared ser- chief attractions for customers, part of that family,” he said. vices for charter and management he said, is that the company can One factor that is driving Land- sales and dispatch functions. support customers across the U.S. mark’s management business, Mur- Landmark’s charter/manage- “Customers want to leverage Land- ray said, “is a real demand dynamic As companies move to ownership, ment division is adding an average mark’s network of FBOs and main- where there is more demand than customers seek management opportunities, says Landmark’s of seven new aircraft per quarter, tenance bases, and they benefit from can be fulfilled with the availabil-

Top U.S. Part 135 Operators in 2015 Fleet 2015 2015 2014 2014 Rank Operator Size Hours Flights Hours Flights Change

1 Travel Management Co. 69 40,025 27,255 40,193 26,792 1

2 Executive Jet Management 139 39,627 24,252 38,906 23,872 1

3 XOJet 42 39,386 18,524 40,642 18,717 -2

4 Delta Private Jets 60 26,437 17,868 19,568 13,495 0

5 Gama Charters 70 23,412 18,235 6,418 4,330 10

6 Landmark Aviation 80 18,458 12,855 15,845 11,263 0 Avjet expanded its fleet by 14 aircraft last year, with heavy jets, such as the BBJ, accounting for more than half of that number. 7 JetSuite Air 19 16,789 14,323 18,681 15,576 -2

8 Jet Linx Aviation 49 14,183 10,333 11,678 8,436 0

9 Clay Lacy Aviation 46 11,939 6,349 10,683 5,604 0

Guarantee Programs 10 Solairus Aviation 39 11,303 6,297 9,218 5,236 0

According to Delta Private Jets, much of its growth is attributable to its 11 Jet Edge 35 10,379 5,216 7,353 3,697 3 Ownership Assist Program, which guarantees charter hours to aircraft own- 12 Jet Select 25 9,904 6,214 8,166 5,112 -1 ers and covers most operating costs, including maintenance expenses such as engine and parts programs, airworthiness directive and service bulletin com- 13 Kalitta Charters 21 9,402 6,053 7,494 4,969 0 pliance, paint and interior refurbishment and scheduled/unscheduled mainte- 14 Jet Aviation Business Jets 29 8,075 4,176 7,596 4,041 -2 nance. “The owner benefits by a guaranteed revenue stream, and we benefit 15 Red Wing Aeroplane Co. 10 7,252 4,420 6,224 3,719 1 by having the aircraft available for our charter and jet card customers,” the company noted. 16 LJ Associates 23 6,600 5,834 6,087 5,286 1 There are three different guaranteed programs at Delta. Ownership Assist 17 Meridian Air Charter 22 6,495 4,186 6,023 3,875 2

is for owners with limited needs to fly on their aircraft. These aircraft are more 18 Talon Air 20 6,452 5,122 6,015 5,218 2 readily available for charter and thus are used in the operator’s floating fleet. There is a waiting list for this program, according to Delta. For owners that fly 19 Starbase Aviation 20 5,871 3,670 6,050 4,147 -2 fewer than 100 hours per year, aircraft are placed on the high-utilization Air- 20 Mountain Aviation 15 5,788 4,343 5,443 4,179 4

craft Deployment program. These aircraft also serve on the floating fleet. The 21 Pak West Airlines 11 5,702 2,059 4,350 1,752 8 Charter Management program helps owners defray some of the costs of own- 22 Priester Aviation 23 5,608 3,793 6,014 4,051 -1 ership, but these owners fly more than 100 hours a year. Unlike many charter/management companies, Priester Aviation also offers 23 Corporate Flight Management 21 5,490 5,399 4,016 3,790 10 guaranteed flight hours, thanks to strong demand in key markets such as New York, 24 Ultimate Jet Charters 8 5,481 5,599 5,437 5,176 1 Dallas, Houston and Chicago. n 25 Northern Jet Management 11 5,388 4,441 4,047 3,330 7 causing customers who are typically to Bombardier Global 6000s and also owned by Berkshire Hathaway, with Jet Aviation. “We haven’t seen charter and fractional-share buyers Gulfstream G650s, with super-mid- further expanding the purchasing any huge growth or decline on the to move into ownership, where they size and large-cabin types account- power opportunities. charter side.” have guaranteed access to their air- ing for approximately half the fleet. Like all management compa- While Jet Aviation’s charter/man- craft. Customers like having Land- Molsbergen attributes some of nies, EJM is acutely aware of the agement fleet includes some smaller mark hire flight crew, take care of EJM’s growth to the complexities of need to preserve the value of its jets such as Citations, the focus is large- www.ainonline.com maintenance and provide hangar aircraft ownership, including more customers’ assets. “If nothing else, cabin airplanes, typically Dassault Fal- space and fuel, he explained. sophisticated avionics systems and I see EJM more as an asset manage- con 2000 size and up. About 40 percent “Flying has been robust,” said complex flight operations, tax rules ment company than anything else,” of the charter flown by Jet Aviation’s Robert Molsbergen, president and and financial reporting. “You have Molsbergen explained. “You can- U.S. fleet is international, he said, COO of global aircraft management either flight departments or indi- not underestimate the difficulty of including the occasional trip to Asia. for Berkshire Hathaway-owned vidual owners and operators who making sure that customers or pro- The firm’s European division serves Executive Jet Management (EJM). would rather see that handled by spective customers understand that customers primarily in Europe, the The EJM charter/management fleet a management company to make the value you have to bring is mea- Middle East and Asia. has grown more than 8 percent from sure they do that part right,” he sured only at the time of disposal. The company’s U.S. fleet num- last year and now stands at 210 air- explained. The better you do that, the better bers 97 aircraft and should reach craft and is expected to reach 225 As probably the largest charter/ you take care of the asset, the bet- more than 100 by year-end, Halo- by year-end. Approximately half management company in the world ter [the results] at disposal.” burdo said. These are located at the fleet is on EJM’s charter certifi- by fleet size, EJM enjoys substan- “From an activity perspective, about 40 airports, and most of the cate, “and a big portion of our fly- tial purchasing power. It doesn’t we’re about on par with last year,” aircraft are pure management clients, ing is done internationally,” he said. hurt, either, that fractional share said Don Haloburdo, U.S. Aircraft with 32 on the charter certificate. The EJM fleet includes about 45 air- provider NetJets and training pro- Management and Charter division Like its competitor Landmark

craft types, ranging from helicopters vider FlightSafety International are vice president and general manager Aviation, Jet Aviation owns FBOs © 2015 AIN Publications. All Rights Reserved. For Reprints go to China Operations CHARTER REPORT Executive Jet Management (EJM) so far is the only U.S. challenging,” according to Molsbergen. “We are of the opin- company that has gone through the complicated process to ion that there will be continued use [of general aviation] and secure its own air operator certificate (AOC) in mainland Chi- with the ebbs and flows of the economy, the [number of peo- na and is now gaining valuable experience flying charters in ple] able to afford private aviation will grow,” he commented. and maintenance facilities world- that region. A problem in China is the lack of hangar space, “It’s good to be in business. The challenge lies in consolida- wide, and this infrastructure and and valuable aircraft are bearing the brunt of exposure to the tion, which we’ve seen particularly in Europe, and will happen purchasing power is attractive for elements. “In China, aircraft look so bad after a couple of in the U.S. as well, and I would not be surprised to see it in customers. “From a comfort per- years,” said Robert Molsbergen, EJM president and COO of China. There are too many operators there. The ones that have spective, when flying around the Global Aircraft Management. “People are not taking care of some scale will probably see their market share increase, not world, if you’re going to Jet Avi- them. G450s and G550s come back to be sold and they look necessarily because they want to, but [because] operating a ation there’s going to be support,” horrible, and this has an effect on overall market. Our phi- flight department becomes increasingly complex.” he said. “That’s a significant ben- losophy is always first take care of the asset for the owner. Some people suggest that EJM’s timing for moving into efit to using our services.” The Jet The trade-in value is the biggest part of the financial impact, the China market might be bad, because of how the slow- Aviation infrastructure also helps not the couple of thousand per month of management fees.” down in China’s economy and the crackdown on corruption customers access information about In China, EJM operates two of its own Hawkers and one are affecting use of general aviation products. “Both factors their accounts through an online managed Global, all of which are available for charter. EJM are [important] for anyone having general aviation activi- portal. Customers can filter their also holds an AOC in Europe. “Most of our customers have ties in China,” Molsbergen said. “I look at it differently. We information and see any receipts associated with their aircraft. that international demand, and we can accommodate that do not have the overhead as [some companies had] com- This fits with Jet Aviation’s [with] the three AOCs,” he said. ing into that market. Knowing that it is coming [to fruition] adoption of Avianis software, which “China will play a big part in the global economy,” he over time, we have to have the appetite to stay there for the helps with the effort to eliminate asserted. “Comparatively, it’s lopsided from what happened long haul, and we have to look much further out. If we have paper. Many customers are younger in the U.S. and Europe. There is almost the same number the appetite, we will reap the rewards.” and more technology savvy, Halo- of high-net-worth individuals in China who want to fly, but European charter operator VistaJet earned its own Chi- burdo explained, and they expect to there’s no product.” The infrastructure is not ready to sup- na AOC earlier this year, after three years of effort, and this be able to go online to check their port private flying, he explained. However, “it will come and is part of its expansion in the Asia-Pacific market as Vista- aircraft’s schedule and request a people will reap the benefits,” he continued. Jet China. The company is operating a Challenger 850 under trip, instead of asking their assistant For EJM, China remains a good bet, although “increasingly Chinese B-registration, in partnership with Apex Air.n to call Jet Aviation to make arrange- ments. “It reduces the amount of back and forth,” he said, “stream- history,” said Andy Priester, pres- lines the process and removes the ident and CEO of Priester Avia- Customer Demographics opportunity for errors. We don’t tion in Chicago. “We’ve noted an The customer base in the charter/management business is changing have to retype times into the sched- increase in new clients who have somewhat. When Landmark Aviation’s Ben Murray first became involved in ule. We want [it] to be easy for cus- decided not to renew fractional tomers to do business with us.” ownership and simplify their private business aviation more than 20 years ago, it was all about demonstrating the At the European division, Jet travel with our on-demand service.” productivity of business aviation versus the airlines. Now with so many ways Aviation’s fleet continues to grow, Net fleet growth for Priester to access business aviation–charter, fractional shares, jet cards, ownership– and the company attributes this Aviation during the past year has the industry has transitioned into showing customers the best way that they expansion to the increasing com- been 11 aircraft, with newer and can use business aviation to fit their needs. “That’s how we’ve matured,” he plexity of aircraft operation. “In a more efficient jets most desirable. said. “The industry should be proud of where we’ve come.” more regulatory environment where “The direct operating costs of Delta Private Jets’ charter customer base is “generally an even split be- rules are strictly enforced, aircraft newer jets allow owners to retain tween business and pleasure travel,” the company said. “As far as demo- owners depend more on profes- more of the hourly charter rate graphics, we do see an interest from younger customers entering the market.” sional operators to ensure all rules because they’re not spending it on Attitudes of charter customers have changed, according to Key Air. “We are observed and paperwork metic- fuel and maintenance,” he said. have found the charter clientele to be more experienced and seasoned, less ulously filed,” the company noted. The most requested charter jets are picky,” the company stated. “They are moving away from exclusivity to neces- www.ainonline.com Solairus Aviation, which is head- the super-midsize Cessna Citation sity. The private jet is being considered more as a mode of transportation to get quartered in the San Francisco area, Sovereign, Bombardier Challenger them to where they want or need to go, rather than being part of the destina- has seen its greatest growth in the 300/350 and Textron Aviation tion.” The company further explained that it believes customers are much more management business on the U.S. Hawker 4000. focused on the utility of the aircraft than the luxury that is possible, a viewpoint East Coast. “The charter business Burbank, Calif.-based Avjet con- that extends to increased interest in one-ways and empty legs. has been growing along with that,” tinues expanding its fleet, and last One change that Priester Aviation president and CEO Andy Priester has said Paul Class, senior vice presi- year added 14 aircraft, including one noticed in younger charter customers, he said, is “they sometimes feel more dent of charter sales. The company midsize, four super-midsize and nine comfortable arranging their ground transportation through their Uber app has 42 aircraft on its charter certif- heavy jets. The fleet is transitioning than using traditional sedan and driver services.” And, he added, “In-flight icate and 95 in the charter/manage- to newer types, and owners are Wi-Fi is a must. Touchscreen cabin controls and centralized media servers ment fleet, primarily large-cabins upgrading GIVs to G450s and GVs are amenities that more travelers are expecting.” such as Gulfstreams, Globals and to G550s and G650s. The entire fleet Falcons. The majority of Solairus is Wi-Fi-equipped. “Our customer base is changing as a new generation of business jet own- customers are corporate travelers The company attributes growth ers is entering the market,” according to Jet Aviation Europe. “While the pur- who use aircraft for personal trips to a positive economy and its willing- pose of their travel remains a mixture of business and leisure, they definitely only occasionally. ness to grow its capacity to meet rising have different service expectations, requiring more transparency, a wider “Our charter demand is the demand. “Once you have the proper range of service coverage and generally higher service standards.”

strongest it’s been in our 70-year foundation in place, you can effectively © 2015 AIN Publications. All Rights Reserved. For Reprints go to Challengers andLearjets. Falcons jetssuchas andmidsize greatest for larger Gulfstreams and and G650ER.Demandhasbeen con 2000LXand7XaGIV-SP new additions fleet includingaFal- percent during the past year, with 28 tributed growth toanetfleet of ating expenses. ter theiraircraft tooffset theiroper under aPart 135certificate orchar nies wishingtoplacetheiraircraft is even more prevalent withcompa- themselves.” InKey Air’s view, this than operating andmaintainingit field tomanage theiraircraft rather utives are turningtoexperts inthe more companiesand/ortheirexec- ency andapersonaltouch.” tent dialogue, facetime, fulltranspar that shouldincludeintegrity, consis simply ‘managed.’ It’s arelationship our owners versus feelinglike theyare build apartnered relationship with Avjet’s approach hasalways beento tant role inthisindustry. as [brokers] continue toplay animpor ship between thebroker andoperator increased focus on valuing the relation will bestrong, we have alsoplacedan user clientbasehasbeenandalways to bequitesuccessful.While ourend- new one-way program that hasproven have focus on a placedahigher level of son toldAIN.“Onthecharterside, we industry’s needs,” anAvjet spokesper management business to answer the and efficiently grow your charter and 1.8 percent duringthe sameperiod.Fractional ﬂightactivityincreased 0.3percent duringthelast12months. Part 135ﬂightactivityrose 3.4percent overthelast12months.Part91,largestsegment intermsofvolume,rose For Key Airthistrend hascon- Key Air alsoprovides FBO According toKey Air , “more and “On theaircraft management side,

No. of Flights (in millions) CHARTER 0.1 0.3 0.5 0.7 0.9 1.1 1.3 1.5 1.7 2013-2014 TOTAL FLIGHTACTIVITYBYOPERATIONAL CATEGORY Part 91 JULY 2013-JUNE2014VSJULY 2014-JUNE2015 REPORT 2014-2015 2013-2014 ------Part 135 economy,” said ExcelAire president the stronger charter today because of that there is an improved comfort in aircraft in the past year. “We are seeing large andmidsized of jets toitsfleet charter operator andhasadded three York City-andLongIsland-area is celebrating its 30th year as a New 30 percent over theprevious year. hasgrownthe fleet to66aircraft, up about 33 percent year-over-year and Air Lines, charteractivity isup the business Delta aviation of arm their operations.” provide a true turnkey solution for set ownership costs with charter–we program–for thoseelectingtooff force andcomprehensive marketing to afully developed chartersales accounting andfueldeskservices; following systems;individualized advanced coordination andflight- and oversight; operational control, ties, in-housemaintenanceservices “With hangarsandFBOfacili sota. According tothecompany, and the Twin Cities in Minne two locations in Oxford, Conn., and maintenanceservicesat its operated by subsidiary Delta Private Jets. DeltaPrivateJets. operated bysubsidiary Delta AirLinesisofferingelitepassengersupgradestobusinessjets According to Hawthorne Global’s ExcelAire 2014-2015 2013-2014 Delta Private Jets, Fractional 2014-2015 - - - -

this duringthepastfew years.” and there hasn’t beenany changein ers traveling for business and holidays, said. “We custom- see a 50/50 mix of tours andcorporate road shows,” he charterfor music tinue todoalotof ourbusiness.a strong We partof con ownership, andthatof continues to be ues tobeagoodway tooffset thecost Greg Brinkman. “And charter contin leave for lower-paying airline gigs, six After seeing more pilots than expected light othertrends inthecharterworld. recent changesat thecompany high- nue, saidCEOJason Middleton. But earning all its money on charter reve- its management servicesand,instead, craft owners essentially nothingfor ter/management world, charging air ananomaly in the char something of traditional model.” iterodes the marketsharefor airplanes under the point-to-point [service], U.S. andEurope. “As airplanesgetdedicatedtothis fixed-pricingmodelof operations butincludessomenow flying thesetypesofroutesbetweenthe ing pricingpressureon,”he said. Thisisn’tjusttheCaliforniatoEastCoast types, suchastheGIV, dedicatedtopopularroutes,andtheseare“keep- compete withfloating-fleetairplanes,” hesaid. “The traditional model of managing and chartering [makes it] difficult to airplanes are part of floating fleets and not based anywhere in particular. owned charterfleets,allowingmuchmorecompetitivepricingbecause the plane hastohaveWi-Fi.” airplanes,” hesaid.“Peopleareattractedtoneweraircraft, air andevery plemental charter. “Asairplanes comeintothemarket,theytendtobenewer dent of charter sales at Solairus Aviation, and owners are also buying sup- ing the same, looking in their fleets, or calling uslooking for a newer airplane.” using oneofoursthat’s neweroraqualifiedvendor. Othercompaniesaredo- years old?Thisdefinitelyputsastrainontheoverallmarketplace;we’reeither ple whocallforcharterwanttoknow, doesithaveWi-Fi?Andislessthan10 manager forJetAviation U.S.aircraft charter andmanagementdivision.“Peo- are lessthan10yearsold,”saidDonHaloburdo,vicepresidentandgeneral of Fresno,Silver Calif., Airof is The othertrendisthatsomecharter operatorshavecertainaircraft Class hasnoticedtwokeytrendsinthecharterbusiness:growth of “People arebuyingairplanesagain,”saidPaulClass,seniorvicepresi - “One of our biggest challenges is finding aircraft available forcharter that Charter Trends n - - - - sonality testsfor itspilotapplicants. months ago Silver Airinstitutedper a fullinterview process andmove in ourpersonalitycategory, we do theyfit with therequisite traits. “If are meanttoidentifyapplicants and the personality assessments responsibility andindependence, both gives itspilotsahighdegree of charged for broadband usage. inclusive, sochartercustomersaren’t owners. Theserviceplansare all- try,” Middleton saidheexplained to the[charter]indus at leadingedgeof pretty much have tohave tocompete by the owners. “This is a tool you withWi-Fi, itsfleet paidfor page of toward hiring,” hesaid. Middleton said. The company Silver Airhasalsooverseen equi - “We’re tryingtohire smarter,” - o - -

© 2015 AIN Publications. All Rights Reserved. For Reprints go to www.ainonline.com it” early provisions jetcards, of in DPJ’s availability. fleet qualified routes, tied tosion of gram. Planscallfor aslow expan- a private jet,inaugurating the pro- swapped their first-class seats for eling from Cincinnati to Atlanta passengerstravlate July- apairof Murray, operations. DPJ’s v-pof In card program, according toJames to a spike in inquiries about the DPJ for, which the flight hasled upgrading to routes theoptionof Medallion passengersoncertain side, DPJrecently beganoffering Air Linefrequent-flier program. status, thehighestlevel ontheDelta customers Diamond Medallion ownership. DPJalready gives card opportunities created by its airline enue growth, asitseekstoleverage 22 percent year-over-year card rev- Delta Private Jets (DPJ) reports tiate themselves from competitors. potential customersanddifferen tune programs tobetterappeal to ucts over thepastyear astheyfine- rising salesfor theirjetcard prod by Wynbrandt James providers offer new enticements As card sales continue to grow, JET CARDS FOCUS ON In place of the“useitorlose In placeof Now working from theairline Operators andbrokers report CHARTER REPORT - -

cost that Horizonfounder and thereafter, eliminating the up-front cent down and $7,500permonth supplemental corporate lift. and its FlyCorp cash-back card for its FlyNext “equitybuilding” card, jetcards: new typesof has introduced two ter, founded last fall, age Horizon Air Char White Plains, N.Y. and Nantucket, Mass.- including Chicago-Aspen car depositorsonroutes cut pricesfor top-tier and Citation CJ3s, has Embraer Phenom100s JetSuite, which operates transcontinental travel. more than20percent for delivers discounts of quis’ X-CountryCard Coast states. Mar many EastandWest jetsflying betweensize 10-percent savings on super-mid ings onselectround trips, and5-to economy. DPJoffers 10-percent sav providers appeal tobuyers’ sense of guaranteed hourly rate expiring, as remain onaccount,withonly the today’s offerings depositstypically style card requiring only 10per FlyNext is a $100,000 debit- Dallas-based broker ------people. Theycancall [otherbrokers ent, we can’t afford tojustupcharge ter market has become so transpar its own. Hisresponse: “Thechar from themerchant’s pocket, not American Express takes thecash card. But, gest barrier” tocard sales. CEO Luis Barros sees as “the big- them for to pay for a charter, “we invoice enough moneyintheiraccounts If customers haven’tIf accrued customers lookingforlift. Charter operationscentersserve we notedtoBarros, taken as a credit on the the remainder,” Bar flights, or 3 percent if flights, or 3 percent if deposits receive free change fees. Larger ros said.Deposits mid-, super-mid back on the cost of back onthecostof catering andground jets without inter are kept inasegre 1.5 or2percent cash andlarge-cabinsize transportation. gated account and program, returns Amex cash-back are fully refund able. Theprogram card, which Bar ros likens toan offers light-, The FlyCorp ------first half of theyear. of first half ferred Accesscardholders inthe catering orground transportation. waived interchange fee;andfree imums; fuelsurcharge discount; (versus two-) timemin- hourflight two free category upgrades; 1.5- including waived peak surcharges; perks andadd-ons ers achoiceof class),andgivingsize card buy Challenger 300inthesuper-mid business jet(Citation Xand of specific access to four categories own” jetcard providing model- lan Jets introduced a“designyour sible options, charterbroker Magel trying tobuild itin.” we’refor tripquotes]andtellif just close details. Collins said, declining todis- not adeparture from ajetcard,” new offering, thoughit’sform of with card innovations. Meanwhile, Sentient isn’t through “exclusive luxury-brand perks.” a 50-page glossywithtwo dozen guide, introduced in2013,isnow said president Andrew Collins. hours in an average nine months, of active cardholders who use their interchange fees. andheavysize jetcategories, sans and soldinlight,mid-,super-mid “preferred” or “select” access, fleet the SJ2525-hourcard, available for ings down toonebasiccard type, growth asitstreamlined itsoffer Bradley Stewart. XOJet president and CEO gram withtiered pricing,” said teed accesscard program. itsEliteAccessguaran - version of Enterprise, corporate acustomized, such asTMC). aircraft from partnerproviders 300s andCitation Xs(versus using Challenger and operated of fleet aboardon flights XOJet’s owned companies todesignapro Underscoring the range of pos- Underscoring therange of The company now claims 5,000 The $200,000card offers rebates XOJet reports adding 100Pre “We are going to introduce some Sentient’s cardholder benefits Sentient Jet has continued its “We work really closely with Also gainingtraction isXOJet o ------

© 2015 AIN Publications. All Rights Reserved. For Reprints go to www.ainonline.com do that; it’s toomuch tomanage the peoplewant to to fill.Notalotof assistant, headded, “isahard role agement andcharterdivision. for Jet Aviation’s U.S. aircraft man vice president andgeneral manager wards,” according to Don Haloburdo, ing assistantontheairplaneandafter attendant orcabin service rep–a fly an assistant thana standard flight of who travels with them who’s more [customers] want tohave somebody requests for attendants: flight “Some attendants,”including flight he said. any crewmember,important role of on-board client experience is an safety isparamount, elevating the available for smalleraircraft. “While CEO Andy Priester, andtheyare aircraft, according topresident and dants are standard onall large-cabin attendant,flight but “Isay no.” few timesayear customersrequest no plane, andfor theservice.” Classsaida the passengersand the air safety of company policy. They’re there for the chartersales. “It’svice president of a Paul Class, SolairusAviation senior larger requires attendant,” aflight said become repeat customers. in a way that makes them want to important role inservingpassengers the safety equation but also play an regulations, they are a key part of to beonboard undermostcharter attendants(or flight) aren’t required more important.Althoughcabin are includedinthecrew isbecoming flight safety and service Cabin crew enhance age this. to doitall.We’ve triedtodiscour schedule, andtheydon’t have time whether ornotcabin attendants larger aircraft, thequestionof because they’re dealing with the somebody is not able toberested OPS FOCUS ON Being a traveling administrative Jet Aviation has seen a new twist in At Priester Aviation, atten flight “Anything Falcon or 2000-size As more charter operators fly From a safety perspective, if Customer Role Service CHARTER REPORT ------principal [allday andintotheeve dant, shesaid.European customers jets typically atten includeaflight - theircompany.”crew isthefaceof “They are recognizing that thecabin placement provider SkyAngels. training and fany Kisling,CEOof oncontract,”instead of saidStef are chartercompaniesthat getit.” guarantee return business. There trained personinback,itwould [operators] put a savvy,aspect, if she said.“Inaddition tothesafety tor isgoingtolosetheirbusiness,” expected, “andthecharter opera that theydidn’t gettheservicethey on board, passengerswillremember attendant aflight isn’tthe cabin. If pointed out,istheirexperience in kers are tryingtosave money. because someoperators andbro attendant aflight but also tance of ers aren’t educated about theimpor attendants, mainly becausecustom operatingter flights withoutflight sulting Services, seesmany char Attendant Training &GlobalCon fully rested andfocused.” our customers, plane taking care of would rather have folks ontheair ning], it’s notthebestsituation. We deal with theirown issues.” the pilots,” she said. “They have to the terrifiedpassengers. “It’s saferfor worse, with pilots having to deal with dant, theoutcome could have been were socalm.’” Without atten aflight made itsomuch betterbecauseyou though Iwas freaking out. she recalled. “Ikept smilingeven “The guestswere freaking out,” loose itemsrolled around thecabin. that galleydoorspoppedopenand aircraft.” typeof of yards. Theywant serviceregardless want catering and the whole nine expect a third crewmember. “They hiring cabin attendants full-time charter companiesgoingbackto Corporate Flight and CEOof where turbulence was sostrong What passengersremember, she Charters operators withlarge “We’ve been noticing a lot of Susan Friedenberg, president On theground, theysaid,‘You Kisling was working a flight –M.T. ------exclusive events and concierge services. exclusive eventsandconcierge services. receive discounted ratesoncharters.JetSmarteralso offersmembersaccessto and $9,000 membership price, can travel for free on some empty-seat trips and empty seatsorfull aircraft charters.Members,whopaya$3,000 initiationfee tyLegMarket iOSapptobidonand travelonreasonablypricedempty-legtrips. oneered name-your-price bidding for empty legs, and buyersare using the Emp- earnnorevenueforthatportionofthetrip.EmptyLegMarketpi- would otherwise forbuyersandsellersofcharteraircraftterface thathavetobesomewhere and also havetobecompetitivelypriced.” focus oneaseofbooking,”Richmansaid.“Webut havetogreatservice, ber ispushedintotheMyTrips sectionoftheapp.“Thepurposeappisto ing theitinerary, specialrequestsandthepassengermanifest)tailnum- the tailnumber. Afterthecustomeragreestoquote,tripdetails(includ- the quotearepushedbackviaapp,includingmakeandmodelbutnot market nowislotsavvierthanmanyyearsago.” “Often theconsumerwantstogetanideaofprice,thentalkexpert.The been doingonlinequotingforquitesometime,”saidSkyjetCEOGregRichman. can askforaquoteandSkyjetsalespersonwillrespondwithinonehour. “We’ve shown fromlowtomediumhigh. passenger andbaggagecapacity, rangeandspeed.Themarketpricespreadis midsize andlarge).Foreachcategory, theappshowstypicaljettypes,average sengers. Theappoutputsoptionsforfourjetcategories(light,midsize,super- the flightisaround-trip,one-wayormulti-cityjourneyplusnumberofpas- buyer hastodoispluginthedesiredairports,datesandtimeswhether classes ofairplane. tomers canalsousethenormalcreditcardandwiretransfermethods. (U.S. only). The initiallimit for ApplePaypurchases is $50,000,although cus- Unlike otherapps,SkyjetallowscustomerstopayfortripsusingApplePay pany toSentientJet)releaseditsSkyjetappforiOSdevicesinearlyAugust. there aresomethatofferuniquecapabilities. appear tobejustwayshookupprospectivechartercustomerswithbrokers, device apps,andappslikethesekeepproliferating.Whiletherearemanythat and groundtransportation. book andflyatrip,thenpayafterflying.Customerscanalsoorder catering “instant confirmation guaranteeing seats and pricing” and allows members to a charterusingtheBlackJetiOSapp.AccordingtoBlackJet,app provides ture allowingcharteroperatorstomodifyandrespondquoterequests. Avinode planstoaddanAndroidversionoftheMarketplaceappaswellafea- operators andviewpushnotificationswhenanoperatoracceptsatriprequest. responses. AccordingtoAvinode, brokerscaneasilycomparetripquotesfrom database ofcharteraircraft andemptylegs,organizingtriprequests ter operatorstomanagetheirbusinesses,includingsearching thecompany’s Charter AppsSimplifyBooking

JetSmarter EmptyLegMarket

Available oniOS and Android,theJetSmarter app allows mobileaccess to EmptyLegMarket wasanearlytechnologyadopter, creatingasimpleWeb in- Skyjet BlackJet The transactionisthencompletedthroughtheapp.Allofoptionsfor The app gives prospective customers a good idea of the pricing, and then they No membershipfeeorsign-inisrequiredtousetheapp.Allaprospective The Skyjetappalsooffersinstantcity-pairpricingestimatesfordifferent Directional Aviation’s (andsistercom- Skyjetcharterbrokeragesubsidiary Many companiespromisetomakebookingachartersimplerusingmobile BlackJet memberscanbookseats on brokeredcharterflightsorrequest Avinode’s newMarketplaceiPhoneappprovidestoolsforbrokersandchar Avinode

n -

© 2015 AIN Publications. All Rights Reserved. For Reprints go to www.ainonline.com tions from theU.S. Department of overdue charter broker regula said. dleton our truecustomeristhebroker,” Mid is really theircustomers? “Mybelief brand loyalty when passengers aren’t a bigsalesforce.” on runningoperations versus having actually good,” hesaid.“We canfocus view theshiftfavorably. “Ithinkit’s more valuable now,” hesaid. jets, soinmany waysof abroker is complex andthere’s abiggermix tance. “Theworld isbecomingmore tification for theirgrowing impor which represents brokers, findsjus- Air CharterAssociation (BACA), tic, Tony Baltic Coe, of chairman first two pages isbrokers.” for jetcharter, andeverything onthe ators anymore. Doa Google search Silver Air. “People don’t calloper California-based operator CEO of the industry,” saidJason Middleton, really changedthedynamics within market channels. aim todisrupttraditional charter kers andapp-enabled accessoptions role, online bro- even asa welter of brokers have taken onalarger sales year ahead. projects a4-percent increase for the Argus, whose TraqPak data also according to aviation data provider Part 135 activity rose 3.4percent, dynamics. Over thepastyear, U.S. ing bookingsandchangingmarket expand against a background of and brokers appears tobemending tionship between charteroperators by Wynbrandt James charter operators and brokers Relations improving among sales mechanism,andthat has evolved, charterbrokers are the OPERATORS/BROKERS FOCUS ON Meanwhile, inthe absence of But how canoperators create Middleton isamongthosewho the Atlan From the other side of “The way the industry has Meanwhile, full-servicecharter The sometimes-contentiousrela CHARTER REPORT ------lem” that “canruina[broker-] anda“widespreadflights prob cancelledcharter cant source of earlier this year labeled a signifi North America (Acana) ciation of cess, which theAirCharterAsso- streamline theowner approval pro remains important. and Argus auditprograms Safety Foundation and Wyvern fication through theAirCharter vices. Ontheoperator side, certi- Transplant Transportation Ser ation, Stratos Jet Chartersand members: Apollo Jets, R&MAvi- last year, which now has four fied Broker program, introduced mally endorsedtheArgus Certi- association alsothissummerfor education servicesprovider. The program through aWeb-based a three-level onlinecertification regulation. BACA isdeveloping munity continues promoting self- Transportation, thebroker com popular fortheseclients. charter. Super-midsize aircraftare the most fractional shareownerswhoareswitching to Priester reportsitscustomersareformer Silver Airhasalsoworked to ------

client relationship,” said Joel from itsGlobalPreferred Network Team that arranges extra-fleet lift example, hasaStrategic Sourcing needed lift.PriesterAviation, for otherwise mightlookelsewhere for approval,” saidMiddleton. withoutformalcan booktheflight within thoseparameters, Silver Air theproposed tripfalls tions, andif to airports” approved for opera from leglengthtodaily minimums, on what [owners] approve for atrip, Stratos Jet Charters. Thomas, Acanav-pandCEOof grumbled that theprivately held charter world, but competitors parency–and customers–tothe Those prices brought new trans continental rates below $23,000. nity, XOJet nolongeroffers trans- throughout theoperator commu Landmark Aviation. Travel Management Company and through vetted 900aircraft, sourced Network of XOJet offers itsPreferred Partner vetted operators andaircraft. of each other to service clients who also enhancingrelationships with notwithstanding, operators are Increasing reliance onbrokers “We setsomeclearparameters Meanwhile, innews welcomed Cooperative Spirit operators including - - - ended updropping prices. relative to our customers, and say we boughttoomany airplanes bone toremain competitive. forcing otherstocutpricesthe ing moneyonitsoperations, while owner andoperator hadtobelos- ter business. 20-percent increase inretail char theyear, of XOJethalf reported a able andprofitable.” For thefirst pricing to what we feel is sustain- ent baseandhadtheability toraise but dramatically expanded ourcli pany. We’ve capacity, shrunkfleet were goingtobeahealthy com in 2013.“Imadethedecisionwe who becamepresident and CEO itable,” admitted Brad Stewart, more business, but were notprof- within the industry. changed the dynamics and that has really the sales mechanism, Charter brokers are “Looking back,we cansafely We were growing anddoing —Jason Middleton o - - -