TIPS TO BETTER ASSESS PRIVATE JET TRAVEL OPTIONS
AUGUST 15, 2023
The internet is filled with many articles and guides on what to ask when considering a private jet travel solution. The common questions are easy to ask and answer. How many hours a year do you plan to fly privately? What are your typical trip distances or city pairs? How many people do you typically fly with or what safety standards and accolades does a flight provider have? And so on.
All of those are critically important aspects of your decision – but are all well covered in this blog as well as any number of resources or forums advising on private airlines.
Despite the increased demand in private jet travel and the challenging dynamics of nuanced regulation, good providers still find a way to execute your trip to your standards. What may make sense for one person may be different from another. But, whether you choose Flexjet to help arrange your flight (and we hope you do) or someone else, here are three key questions you should ask before you choose a private jet provider.
AM I TALKING TO A TRUSTED ADVISOR?
When an individual or company is actively considering private airlines, it’s usually in favor of an approach that features more service guarantees, scheduling flexibility and straightforward private jet travel pricing structures.
Charter is a great place to initially experience the benefits of private jet travel in an ad hoc nature – but with each increase in commitment level, so do the number of considerations and capital obligations. Be it committing to jet card programs, jet memberships, leases, fractional ownership or even whole aircraft ownership. Finding a trusted advisor that factors in all access solutions available in the marketplace is invaluable.
Private airline providers generally focus on one primary means of access and their counsel may invariably position it as the best option for you.
Flexjet is an outlier in this regard. While Flexjet focuses on fractional ownership and leases, we are the only private jet travel provider with affiliated sister companies that also specialize in on-demand charter (FXAIR), jet cards (Sentient Jet and PrivateFly) as well as whole aircraft Ownership transactions (FXSolutions) and management (Corporate Wings and Sirio).
This 360-degree offering ensures the counsel you are receiving from Flexjet is a proof positive indication that we take a unique and consultative approach to fitting solutions that match your needs alone.
WILL THEY STILL BE IN BUSINESS OVER THE LENGTH OF MY CONTRACT?
Over the last couple of months, a handful of private jet travel providers of scale have experienced financial difficulties. Even as their inbound business was robust, their business models did not dictate sustainability from a physical operations, operating revenue or profitability perspective. In some cases, people lost the upfront capital they committed.
You will want to inquire about how long a given flight provider has been in business or how many industry and economic upturns and downturns they have experienced. Additionally, what is the tenure of their leadership and the background of their corporate ownership?
For example, Flexjet has been in business for nearly 30 years guided by a long-tenured and invested leadership team. Prudent financial management has fostered a consistent trajectory of growth and profitability through decades of varying business and economic cycles. Overall, you are trying to evaluate if they are a stable and historically consistent company where your commitment of capital will be in good hands.
HOW DO THEY SAFEGUARD THEIR SERVICE LEVELS?
Because of the recent demand upturn within private jet travel, some providers were not as disciplined with how many hours they promised over how many were available within their fleet. Many providers will promise you the world, but when making use of your access, it is not uncommon to find a lacking or delayed service experience.
Your providers’ philosophy regarding managing hours sold into their available aircraft, their plans to add aircraft supported by actual aircraft delivery timelines (not just orders) and their approach to maintenance will all help shape the consistency of service.
At Flexjet, sales into the fleet are tightly managed to maintain the industry’s highest service levels, specifically. By year-end of 2023, Flexjet will have added nearly 88 aircraft since Q1 2021 — bringing the total fleet to nearly 270. Beyond that, Flexjet is proud to have the world’s largest proprietary maintenance network of any private jet travel provider. This practice guarantees the needs of Flexjet aircraft are always prioritized, to our exacting standards and ready to be dispatched to our Owners.
To discover additional points of consideration when making a private jet purchasing decision, please consult our Runway Guide blog series which examines each mode of access from a pricing and logistical lens. Our team of aviation experts can further provide you with everything you need to make a truly informed decision in this space.
