Hurricane Milton’s trek towards Florida drove over 100 flight requests in the past 24 hours, says Fly Alliance.
Fly Alliance has seen a surge of Hurricane Milton related enquiries and bookings ahead of the storm’s expected landfall Wednesday on the west coast of Florida.
“In the last 24 hours we have taken over 100 hurricane-related requests. We have booked about 20,” President Chris Tasca tells Private Jet Card Comparisons.
Most missions are Florida-based residents either evacuating from their homes or arranging flights for family and friends, he says.
The top 20 charter/fractional operator says its national floating fleet model has helped.
Floating fleets don’t have a base they return to after each mission.
Instead they stay in the market, flying to pick up the next customer after dropping off the last.
“We forecasted this, so we positioned most of the planes to central and south Florida over the weekend,” Tasca says.
Managed fleets, he says, base their aircraft at or near their owners’ home airports. That adds to repositioning expenses and response time.
Fly Alliance’s corporate headquarters are in Orlando, but Tasca says that hasn’t impacted the operator’s efforts to prepare for the surge in requests.
The Fly Alliance jet card has the lowest non-peak callout of any guaranteed rate jet card currently on the market at just eight hours.
The current industry average is 65.1 hours, up from 23.2 hours in 2019, prior to the COVID-related surge in demand for private flights.
After also increasing its callout like many other jet card sellers, Fly Allianced cut the non-peak deadline for booking at contracted rates in October 2023.
Tasca called the move “a return to normal.”
Last week, Fly Alliance announced a move to inclusive pricing.
It is eschewing variable fuel surcharges and quoted hourly rates inclusive of the 7.5% Federal Excise Tax.
Milton is currently a Category 5 hurricane.
It follows Hurricane Helene which hit Florida’s Gulf Coast region last week.
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