April 11, 2024
Magellan Jets has reduced the lead time to book non-peak flights to 48 hours from 72 hours.
The Boston-based jet card broker had been at 8 hours before the avalanche of program changes providers implemented since the summer.
Along with reducing the non-peak booking window, Magellan Jets is adding Hawaii to its extended service area for one-way pricing.
Jet card and membership customers can book flights at a 25% premium to contracted hourly rates on super mid and large-cabin jets.
“As Covid restrictions subside, we continue to monitor how effectively we can execute within the program guarantees. Travel to destinations such as Hawaii has become more feasible. At the same time, we’ve seen a surge in interest level,” Magellan President Anthony Tivnan tells Private Jet Card Comparisons.
In terms of the movement in the booking window, Tivnan says, “We’ve seen incremental improvements since the call-out adjustment from 8 hours to 72 hours back in November of 2021. Late Q3, early Q4 of last year was the perfect storm of challenges resulting from the supply chain crisis, Covid cases were spiking, and a strong surge in flight volume was all happening simultaneously, creating large bottlenecks. We continue to monitor the situation and trends in real-time, and we’ll continue to make relative adjustments to serve our customers’ needs better.”
Tivnan says there are still challenges ahead. “One of the challenges the industry faces currently is the availability of pilots and a large pilot training backlog. Many aircraft have been sitting without crew available. (The pilot shortage) is increasingly becoming a larger issue that is directly impacting the supply and demand tug of war.”
Magellan offers two pay-as-you-go membership programs and jet cards starting at 25 hours. Its jet cards offer several semi-specific aircraft options as well as deicing insurance.
The company also split daily minimums on light and midsize jets from a flat 120 minutes to state-based zones of either 90 minutes or 120 minutes. The exception is its Phenom 300 program which remains at a standard of two hours, plus taxi time.
Earlier this month it joined Wheels Up and XO in adding a fuel surcharge. Magellan Jets expects to hit $115 million in sales in 2022 after cracking the $80 million mark last year.
