I have a confession to make… I love luxury and the luxury lifestyle, from exotic sports cars and yachts to what I believe is the ultimate in luxury travel, private aviation. It is true owning your own jet is the ultimate symbol of wealth. The late Bill Lear, the father of private jet aviation, once said that “wealthy and successful people don’t want to be shoved into cattle cars.” When I was six years old, I made a promise to myselfthat one day, I would own a Ferrari and my own jet. It took four decades but I made good on my promise, not before I began experiencing the luxury of flying private.  You do not have to own the plane to enjoy the luxury and convenience of private flight, in fact there are more people flying privately that do not own their own jet than those that do.

I remember being in my early twenties and planning a trip for myself and two clients along with our significant others to the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. My travel agent asked if instead of six first class tickets if I had ever considered a private jet, I laughed and told her “I wasn’t that rich”. She explained that she was not talking about buying a jet rather chartering a jet, “You can do that, I exclaimed”. That day I learned for little more than the cost of first-class airline tickets you can enjoy all the perks of having your own jet without all the expense of insurance, maintenance and keeping a pilot. Over the years I would use what were commonly called business jets, which are nothing more than private jets that the owners charter out to help with the expensive of upkeep. Over the years the Business Aviation model has evolved, and that evolution continues today.

Today Business Jets are no longer for business, the jets themselves have become the business. Private jets offer an incredible combination of three things: they can generally land on shorter runways (regional vs commercial airports); they have effective ranges from 1400nm up to 8000nm and they generally fly higher and faster than commercial airliners. Couple these three things with lighter restrictions on cargo (i.e. sports equipment, the number of bags you can bring) and you have the perfect combination for groups of leisure travelers.

Covid-19 has increased the demands for businesses to become more agile. From the way we conduct business, moving from a centralized workspace to a virtual workspace (work from home) and video conferencing replacing the boardroom. Industries have had to pivot, fashion houses making mask, distilleries making hand sanitizer and car companies using their factories to produce ventilators. Just as these industries hand to pivot to meet the demand for products that were not part of their core business model so did the private/business aviation industry. Due to the current state of the commercial aviation industry, the private/business aviation industry had to pivot not only from business travelers, but to more leisure travelers and light cargo. Today more than ever there is a larger need for private aviation than most realize.

The truth is the pivot for private/business aviation was not that much of a pivot at all. It is often overlooked that these aircraft are deployed in times of crisis. The three things that make these planes appealing for business and leisure travelers make them extremely important in mission critical or emergency situations. Because these jets can get in and out of smaller more localized airports; they can fly above and faster than most weather systems, allowing them to fly more often and experience less delays.

Prior to the Covid-19 Pandemic, private jets have been used to transport supplies and volunteers to areas where commercial airlines could not, such was the case in 2010 after the earthquake in Haiti. Private Jets were also used to evacuate people during hurricanes Harvey and Irma. During the worst of Covid-19 smaller jets were used as air ambulances. Because of the modular design of seating these planes could be stripped out and quickly refitted with the same emergency medical equipment found in hospital trauma centers.

The truth is the private/business aviation business model is still the same; get people and things where they need to be, and get them there quickly, safely, and conveniently. Today more than ever the need for companies like JustCharterIt have never been higher. Whether you are planning a family escape to quarantine remotely; or you need to move people and supplies to areas where they are short and in high demand. We are here to assist you in all your mission critical private aviation needs.