Plane Conversations

Part 3 in a 4 part Series

There is a huge gap between the time it takes to get from origin to destination by Private Aviation and the time it takes on the Airlines. In some cases, even a small, single-engine, propeller aircraft can get you there quicker than the airlines. In all cases, a business jet aircraft can get you there quicker and here is why:

• Your schedule:  You start by setting your own schedule when you use private aviation. If it makes sense to leave at 7am, then you leave at 7am. You set the time of departure based on when you want to arrive on the other end. Have a meeting at 10am?  Then you set your departure time to arrive in time to make your 10 am meeting. Easy enough. No traveling the night before.
• Closer airports: With over 5500 airports in this country and only 500 of them having any commercial service at all you have an additional 5000 airports to choose from when you take a trip via private aircraft; so, in all cases you can get closer to your real destination. Instead of going into the large commercial airport closest to where you want to go, most of the time there is a smaller airport that saves a lot of driving once you get there. That also works on the departure end. In larger cities there are several airports located on different sides of town, allowing you to pick the one closest to your home or office and leave from there. If you live in a small town, then you no longer have that sometimes one to two-hour drive to a big city to catch an airline flight. In our home state of Tennessee, we have more than 80 airports; so, no matter where you live in our state, you are no more than 30 minutes from a public airport. Smaller airports are less congested, giving you the added benefit of less time holding in the air or on the ground due to busy airport traffic jams.
• Direct Flights: You always go direct with private aviation; so, you waste no time going though a hub airport with one to four-hour layovers and multiple boarding processes just to get to your destination.
• No standing around: Flying in private aircraft, you can show up between five and ten minutes prior to the departure time you set, park close to the private aviation terminal and, in some cases, pull up next to the aircraft to unload bags. You are greeted by the pilots and you board immediately. You can skip the time wasted riding the shuttle to the terminal from long-term or off airport parking, queuing up for baggage checks, security screening and then waiting at the gate for 45 minutes.  There is no way you can plan on getting to the gate just five minutes before scheduled departure – the air mass-transit’s Contract of Carriage forbids it.

When you compare the two methods of air travel, the savings of time by flying private aircraft can be hours per trip and, in many cases, even days.  When we get people to their meetings and back on the same day, they tell us that the airlines would have taken two days with a limited meeting schedule or three days if they wanted a full day of meetings.

Everyone has a value on their time and it is especially important to quantify that value when you think in terms of productivity in business. Those who charge directly for their time like accountants or lawyers can easily quantify their time and compare the options to see if they can gain productivity by using a more efficient means to travel. Most travelers don’t think about it because they assume that they don’t have an option. What if we gave them a tool to measure the productivity of alternate means of travel? Could that close the gap?

What is your time worth?