Industry pros at NBAA Schedulers & Dispatchers trade advice, insights into best practices for buying and flying private jet charter flights.
Making sure your private jet charter goes smoothly is more complicated than clicking the buy button on an app or just telling your broker to go with the lowest price.
That’s according to multiple private aviation experts speaking during the NBAA’s annual Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference.
The event is being held this week in Cleveland, Ohio.
Attendees include corporate flight department managers who, in addition to operating aircraft for their companies, are often charged with finding supplemental lift.
Supplemental lift is chartered using the same operators who fly ad hoc charter flights and support jet card and membership programs.
Supplemental lift refers to private aviation beyond the aircraft in a company or a jet owner’s fleet.
Typical use cases include when a company’s own aircraft is already in use.
It can also be when the mechanical is away from base, and the company doesn’t have a backup ready to go.
Supplemental lift is also used when aircraft are down for scheduled maintenance.
Another use case is when the company’s aircraft isn’t a good fit for the mission.
Also, supplemental lift can save money when the corporate aircraft aren’t in position.
One corporate flight department manager whose airplanes are based on the East Coast says that when the company needs private aviation on the West Coast, it’s more cost-effective to charter flights than to fly the airplane empty across the country.
Two panels featured charter operators, brokers, and corporate flight department bosses and covered issues ranging from safety and reliability to the fine print governing private aviation contracts.
With charter prices ranging from the tens of thousands of dollars to over six figures for transoceanic flights and executives flying on time schedules often measured in minutes, getting it right is critical.
In terms of assessing safety, the moderator, Jessica McClintock of Elevate Jet, and panelists, including Wheels Up’s Brian Goldfeder, Corporate Aviation’s John Gabriel, and Tradewind Aviation’s Frank Ciatto, recommended using both ARGUS and Wyvern.
The two companies have different methods of assessing safety, they said.
Wyvern’s PASS Report – short for pilot and aircraft survey – and ARGUS TripCheq are flight-specific reports verifying that an operator, aircraft, and crew meet minimum standards and are certificated to conduct your charter flight legally.
The reports confirm insurance, pilot experience, and medical currency.
The reports can be requested from your broker or operators who participate with the audit companies.
Gabriel said that requesting reports from ARGUS and Wyvern enables users to “audit the auditor.”
If there is a discrepancy, you can then reach out and find out why.
READ: NATA advises flyers, brokers after FAA turns off public charter list
Flyers should also do due diligence to understand who they are flying with.
Wheels Up’s Goldfeder said flyers should ask who owns the operator.
He says with operators, particularly outside the U.S., “There is a lot of ambiguity.”
Operators should also be able to state where they send their pilots for training readily.
If you are flying to mountain or island airports, for example, ask about their experience of operating into the airports you are using.
McClintock said good brokers should be doing the due diligence for clients.
She and other panelists say it is important for brokers to monitor their preferred operator lists.
Even with regular operators, when operational management changes or turnover rates are high, they need to understand why.
The panelists said brokers should have and uphold standards for the operators they work with.
They said if they have concerns about reliability, there is no reason they should feel obligated to present that quote to the client.
The value of brokers lies in vetting and proposing reliable operators, not just in gathering and passing along pricing.
In fact, one broker in the audience said he lost a million-dollar charter client.
It came after selling an operator at a low price.
The broker advised the client of reliability issues.
Still, the client lost trust when the operator failed to perform.
While your flight provider should spend time understanding your needs for each flight in a trip, it also pays to make sure you provide as much information as possible.
For example, one passenger arrived with a four-foot-tall marble statue for his flight on a light jet.
READ: 21 extra charges that could be in your Jet Card contract
Brokers are valuable to consumers because they have daily experience with operators.
They serve dozens, and in some cases hundreds or even thousands, of customers.
That frequency provides them with scaled real-time insights compared to the anecdotal experiences of an individual flyer.
Speaking at a second panel on charter, Rene Skiles of EA-Americas said some operators don’t leave enough buffer in their schedules.
When they encounter weather, ATC delays, and airport congestion, pilots run out of duty time, and their schedules falter.
Panelists said while operators may notify FBOs in advance, they have a tight turnaround, and in the end, it is up to the situation on the ground when they arrive.
Brian Walker of Burke Air and Space Academy said that brokers and operators are the eyes and ears for the customer, working together.
They track NOTAMs, which can cover runway and airport closures, an airport being out of jet fuel, and other issues that, if not handled in advance, can cause delays.
Operators often want to say yes, according to the panelists, fearing they will lose future business if they can’t accept the trip.
However, McClintock said good operators are willing to “lose a deal instead of losing a customer for life.”
What’s more, flyers often don’t understand the complexities of scheduling and dispatching a private jet charter flight.
Silver Air’s Georgi Stoyanov noted that a small change in flight time requires going through the entire flight-planning process to ensure the flight can still operate legally and safely.
For corporate flight departments, that can mean telling a C-level executive or board member that the flight is a no-go.
At the end of the day, the panelists say communication is the key.
That’s internally, between the operator’s sales, operations, maintenance, and pilots.
However, it extends to FBOs, catering, ground transportation, and brokers.
However, it’s often easier said than done.
There are over 1,000 charter operators in the U.S., and each has a slightly different operating manual.
READ: 16 Reasons to use a Private Jet Charter Broker
Panelists discussed what happens when there is a delay.
It’s covered in the contract for your private jet charter.
Each operator has its own contract.
What’s more, most broker contracts state that the operator’s terms supersede the broker’s contract.
Gabriel said it is important to read the fine print of a contract before signing.
The contracts should stipulate how long you must wait during a mechanical delay before you can cancel and be entitled to a refund.
The panelists suggested corporates have legal review contracts when possible.
However, the most important thing is to read the contract and then discuss the what-if questions that may not be specifically covered.
Panelists said force majeure is sometimes used inappropriately, something that could be avoided with a discussion before contracting.
READ: Lawsuits highlight the fine print of charter contracts
McClintock said jet cards and memberships can be a good option for supplemental lift.
Many jet cards and memberships have fixed terms for booking at set hourly prices and more generous cancellation terms.
Jet card and membership contracts often leave the provider with significant wiggle room.
However, they can provide a time-saving go-to solution that lets flyers avoid dealing with the fine print on every trip.
Most of all, the attendees extolled the value of attending industry conferences and networking.
They said it is the relationships developed over time with vendors, suppliers, and other corporate flight department managers that enable them to provide the best advice and make the best decisions on behalf of flyers.
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