Charter jets' popularity soars: Convenience justifies high price

By Leslie Wright
Free Press Staff Writer
Saturday, April 12, 2003

At a time when business travel is declining, the two on-demand charter airline companies at the Burlington International Airport are poised for growth.

Heritage Flight has seen steady demand for the company's fleet of air taxis. Trakair saw business surge 35 percent in 2002.

Both companies are adjusting for growth. Trakair is about to upgrade its aircraft. Heritage added a jet capable of trans-continental travel and is considering adding another.

What's happening at the Burlington airport is part of a national trend that charter operators have seen since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, said Clifton Stroud, spokesman for the National Air Transportation Association.

"We've seen a number of charter operators have anywhere from 15 to 30 or 40 percent increase in business since 9/11," Stroud said.

Now, more than a year later, convenience has eclipsed fear as the main reason business travelers seek out private charters, said Adam Barbor, pilot and owner of Trakair.

Commercial airlines in financial distress have cut flights, shifted schedules and stopped flying to some destinations. These cuts are making it harder, if not impossible, to get to some areas of the country quickly, especially from an out-of-the-way airport like Burlington.

A charter flight goes direct to where the customer wants to go and departs on the customer's schedule.

"I deal with businessmen and women. These people have a meeting they have to get to whether it's 10 o'clock in the morning or 2 o'clock in the afternoon," Barbor said. "They no longer feel they can book an airline flight and get there for that meeting. I can give them that assurance."

Barbor plans to upgrade from his eight-passenger Beechcraft King Air B200 turbo prop to a Piaggio P 180 Avanti, a faster turbo prop.

Heritage Flight added a nine-passenger Canadair Challenger jet to its fleet in November. Passengers wanted a faster, more comfortable jet, said Christopher Hill, president of Heritage.

This growth for charters is happening as business travel has been falling for four years, according to the Travel Industry Association. Business travel has fallen 10 percent since 2000. An association survey taken in late March found that 26 percent of business travelers plan to travel less or not at all this spring or summer compared to last year.

Paying up


To be sure, chartering a plane is expensive. A flight to Portland, Maine, on Heritage starts at $1,200 compared to $489 on Continental Airlines with seven days' notice. Landing fees vary from none at small airfields to $150 at major airports. Keeping the plane and pilot waiting for the return trip costs $40 to $50 an hour.

The savings comes if several people fly together. Charters charge by the aircraft, not per passenger. Time savings is another factor that often tips the scales in favor of chartering a plane.

The Continental flight to Portland requires flying through Albany, N.Y., and takes two hours and 15 minutes. The Heritage charter takes 45 minutes.

Charters are popular to destinations that are hard to reach from Burlington on commercial airlines. Jager Di Paola Kemp Design in Burlington flies Trakair to places like Buffalo, N.Y., and Memphis, Tenn., said Sascha Mayer, brand strategist.

"One of the great things about Trakair, specifically, is they have as many as eight seats and for the same flat rate we can take eight people to get face-to-face with the client," Mayer said.

Bob Stiller, president and chairman of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc., said some benefits of charter travel can't be expressed in dollars. Stiller, a long-time Heritage customer, bought the company in September.

In addition to the time savings, he has seen a positive effect on employees who bond during a private flight and come away from the trip energized.

"Originally I thought some of it was just rationalizations, but to experience it and see some of the results has been rewarding," Stiller said.
Contact Leslie Wright at 660-1841 or lwright@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com