Alert: FAA Computer Glitch Causes Flight Delays and Cancellations

An FAA computer glitch which caused several flight cancellations and delays across the country today has been resolved, but delays are expected to linger throughout the day.

Major flight delays were reported in Washington, New York, Philadelphia and Chicago. Some flights were more than two hours behind schedule. Some airports in the South reported delays as well.

According to David Demelio, director of Aviation for the Greater Rochester International Airport, it is possible that the failure could also could have a ripple effect and delay corporate jet and private flights as well.

NetJets CEO, David Sokol, on the Future of NetJets, Pilot Furloughs and More...

In a recent interview with CNBC, NetJets CEO, David Sokol, paints a picutre of a new and improved NetJets, meanwhile smoothing over their recent announcement that, effective January 15th of next year, they will furlough up to 495 pilots from its North American fractional operations. Many NetJets owners I speak with these days are understandably concerned about the future of NetJets and how their investments will be impacted by the upcoming changes. We will, of course, be watching this very closely and report back with any new information.

Finding the Right Jet Charter (Part II): Finding an Empty Leg

As I've mentioned before, the most important aspect of any flight is, obviously, safety. For most of our clients, the second most important aspect of any charter flight is cost. One way to achieve the lowest possible cost is to find an operator who is flying an “empty leg” that suits your itinerary.

What’s an “empty leg?” In most cases, when a private flyer books a charter for a trip that includes a stay at his destination of more than a couple of days, upon completing the outbound leg, the charter operator will fly the aircraft back to its home base, and then back again to pick up the flyer for his return flight. In so doing, the charter operator will charge the flyer for two round trip flights. However, the aircraft will be flying empty on two of the legs. In such a circumstance, the charter operator may be willing to charter these “empty legs” at a very favorable price.

Sounds good, right? How can you find an empty leg that’ll work for you? Here are a few tips:

• Flexibility is the Key. The more flexible you are, the more likely you are to find an empty leg. Be willing to depart at any time of day, or over a couple of days, and be willing to fly out of as many airports as possible. Also, be flexible as to the type of aircraft you’ll fly on. If necessary, accept a fuel stop in order that smaller aircraft can be included in your search.
  
• Do the Legwork. The more in depth your search, the more likely you are to be successful. Check with as many reputable operators as possible.
  
• Accept Uncertainty. Most operators don’t know whether they’re going to have an empty leg until a week or so before the flight, because that’s when most charter flights are firmly booked. Thus, get comfortable with the fact that you may not know whether an empty leg is available until the last minute.
  
• Make Sure Your Booking is Firm. Once you book the flight you’re entitled to know that the booking is firm and that the price will be honored by the operator. On the flip side, make sure you understand the cancellation policy in case your plans change.


• Safety Remains Your First Concern. Your flexibility in flying on the operator’s schedule is what gets you the lower price, not compromising safety. Insist upon satisfactory answers to the safety questions we discussed in our last post.

If you’d like to find an empty leg, but still want to fly your trip privately if you can’t find one, Shaircraft can help. We’ll book a charter flight for you while at the same time searching for an empty leg. That way, you have all your bases covered.

When we book a charter, our goal is to find you the best price for your flight with an experienced operator on a well maintained and appropriately equipped aircraft flown by top notch pilots, all with a spotless safety record.

Re-post: Welcome to Inside Private Air Travel!

For those just now joining us...Welcome to Inside Private Air Travel, a blog devoted to providing information, insight and commentary on issues of interest to private air travelers. My company, Shaircraft Solutions, represents and advocates for private flyers, providing a unique blend of legal and aviation expertise. We specialize in so-called “shared use investments” like fractional ownership, jet card programs and charters.

As the CEO of Shaircraft, I have been an industry commentator for some time--authoring the award-winning “Inside Fractionals” column for Business Jet Traveler magazine, as well as providing insight and analysis for several other media outlets—print, online and broadcast. In doing so, I’ve learned that many media outlets are somewhat limited in their ability to provide inside and timely information to private air travelers. Some are in large part beholden to the jet companies that advertise and sponsor them. Others publish infrequently, so developments in today’s rapidly changing industry environment are stale by the time they go to press.

Thus, we at Shaircraft have decided to offer this blog as a means of providing unvarnished and timely industry information to the private flying community. We are not compensated by the private jet companies; so we’ll bring the same candor and insight to this blog that we deliver everyday to our clients.

We will investigate and comment on a wide range of industry issues. We’ll also provide timely information on the latest developments with the jet companies and other industry players.

In short, Inside Private Air Travel will be a one stop destination where you can learn how to get the most out of your private air travel investment, and avoid costly mistakes.

We welcome your feedback. If you have suggestions for topics that we should cover, or a comment on any of our blog posts, please email us directly at info[at]shaircraft.com. This blog is here for you and there’s nothing more valuable to us than your input.

Finding the Right Jet Charter: Think Safety First

With the holidays approaching, many private flyers are turning to traditional charter to satisfy their travel needs. With no long term commitment and an abundance of capacity in the market, charter may offer an attractive alternative to fractional shares and jet card programs.

If you’re new to charter, your first concern should be to make sure that the flight will be safe and operated by a reputable charter company. A personal referral is always great, but with over one thousand charter operators in the United States, you may have to some due diligence. Here are a couple of tips that will help you guide you as you look to book your next flight:

• Review the operator’s five year safety accident/incident record.
  
• Require that the operator, the aircraft you’ll be chartering and the pilots all are certified by one of the established safety auditing firms like ARG/US or Wyvern.
  
• Make sure the aircraft has state of the art avionics and other safety equipment and is in full compliance with all FAA directives and maintenance requirements.
  
• Make sure the pilots have flown a significant number of hours in the particular model aircraft you’ll be chartering.

I’ll have more to say about chartering in future posts, but for now, think “Safety First.”