Private Jets: Not only for Executives

The days of glamorous air travel seem to be long gone. There is no joy in arriving at the airport hours before your flight departs The good news is that there is an alternative, which brings back the idea of efficiency to air travel: the use of private jets. Even better: they're no longer just for the chiefs of industry or the rich and famous. There is a proliferation of private jets use for corporate purposes, and not just by the chief executive, but also by senior and middle management.

If you choose to travel via private jet there are several options available. The three principal options are leasing, fractional ownership (the aviation equivalent of vacation timeshares) and full ownership. A simple rule of thumb: lease if you plan to fly 150 hours or less a year, take on part ownership for annual airtime of 150 to 300 hours, and buy the aircraft if you need to travel more than 300 hours annually.

Although expensive--private jets lease for $2,000 to $5,000 per hour, and cost $2 million to $5 million and up to buy--the benefits are numerous. The first factor is convenience. There are no lines or security slowdowns. You show up at the private airport (or the private aircraft area of a commercial airport), leave your car with the Fixed Based Operator or "FBO," and walk with the pilots across the tarmac and onto the plane. The luggage is loaded in the hold and a few minutes later you're in the air. It's just that simple. Add to that geographic convenience: while there are 500 commercial airports in the US, there are 4,500 private airports.

Part of the underlying benefit is the reduced stress from the whole experience--you control the departure time, the plane is there for you and not the other way around--but what is really impressive is the time savings, allowing business travelers to turn overnight trips into day jaunts, or maximizing time while traveling to multiple cities over several days.

As for cost, the basic dynamic is that the larger the plane is and the farther it flies, the more expensive it is to charter. The age of the aircraft will also make a price difference, though not necessarily a difference in safety--some older models have impressive records. There are a variety of aircrafts available to suit specific needs and budget. The most jets available for private jet charter are Cessna, King Lear, Challenger, Bombardiers, gulfstream and Falcon. You can choose any of the aircraft that fits in to your budget and caters to your requirements and be free of any hassles and worries in the air.

And in the end, isn't reliability in air travel what we all want?