Plane Conversations

I recently finished reading Falcon 7 – the new novel by best selling author James Huston. His last book, Marine One, made the NYT best seller list. I needed to try out my I-Pad book reader and Apple has this title in their bookstore so this was the book to try out the I-Pad reader.

James Huston takes aviation, international law, and the world of military special ops intrigue and weaves a story that will not let you put the book (I-Pad) down until you are finished.

The name for the book comes from the new long range business jet the Falcon 7X, manufactured by French company Dassault Falcon. The Falcon 7X is the culmination of state-of-the-art technology in business jet manufacturing and has a non-stop range of 5950 nautical miles at high cruise speeds. The aircraft incorporates fly-by-wire technology that has usually been reserved for airline class aircraft.

The Falcon 7X plays an important role in the book, a role revealed in the first few pages, and it continues to play a part in the plot as the story progresses.

For aviation lovers, the book includes great scenes involving helicopters, low level flying, FA-18 fighters and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.

James Huston is an attorney with a practice in international and aviation law. He was also a Top Gun Naval aviator and flew the F14. He has used his knowledge of aviation and law to tell the story that will keep you spellbound and will convince you that this could really happen..  

The book starts with an FA-18 over the skies of Afghanistan on what was to be a routine mission. While on their flight back to ship, the crew is diverted to a target across the border in Pakistan. After making what was assumed to be a bomb drop on a terrorist meeting site, things start to go wrong, the aircraft is shot down and the crew ejects.

I won’t go farther in the story and give it away. If you like aviation and you like to read Grisham novels you will love this book.

Buy it in the airline terminal or at the Apple Book Store on your I-Pad and it will get you through a long stay in the terminal or a cramped and boring international flight.

You will wish you were in the back of the Falcon 7X instead of the coach seat in the back of the Boeing; but, you will not want to go where the Falcon 7X takes the characters in this story.

Starting in 2004, UPS began systematically saving money on fuel and reducing emissions, in part, by planning their routes and reducing the number of left turns in them.  About 15 minutes after the policy was first reported, the first skeptical “Bah!” issued forth.  The report was taken to mean that drivers were instructed to make only right turns, which is inaccurate.   Routes are planned to reduce the number of left turns (in countries that drive on the right-hand side of the road), thereby reducing the amount of time spent idling in the turning lane.  Other interesting measures were put in place, as well; so, the exact dollar amount of savings attributed just to right turns is hard to quantify.  Still, the increased efficiency and lower fuel costs are easy to see.  And, none of the measures were rocket science, really, just simple, common sense practices used to save money.

NextGen ATC has the potential to act like the route planning software that UPS uses, allowing aircraft to fly more direct routes, thus saving time and fuel while reducing emissions.  However, as we’ve previously discussed, that program is stalled while most of the parties who will benefit from it bicker over who will pay for it.  In the interim, Alaska Airlines is testing some other programs in their Greener Skies project at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, one reason the Wall Street Journal  named the carrier the most fuel efficient in the country.

Using satellite-based guidance technology (Required Navigation Performance or RNP) that they pioneered , the carrier has tested its use in landings.  Using the technology with a continuous descent or optimized profile descent (OPD), the aircraft can descend from cruise altitude to runway using a shorter flight path and lower power.  What they found by using these principles is that they reduced their landing fuel-burn by about 35%, which translates to about 400 pounds or 60 gallons per event.  The carrier estimates that they could save 2.1 million gallons each year by using this system.  On 13 August 2010, Jet-A prices ranged from $4.72 per gallon in Smyrna, Tennessee, to $6.98 in Boston.  While carriers don’t buy their fuel at those prices, you can still imagine the huge amounts of money that could be saved. 

The more direct flight path and lower power do more than result in just lower fuel-burns.  Those lower burns translate into lower carbon emissions and lower noise levels.  According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Alaska Airlines estimates an emissions reduction of “22,000 metric tons each year, the equivalent of taking 4,100 cars off the road.”  And, of course, a more direct route sends aircraft over fewer homes and lower power means less noise for those homes still in the approach path.  That’s great news for busy airports’ neighboring communities that are concerned with noise and air pollution levels.

A great many of the aircraft currently flying already have the technology to use these same procedures.  ATC has to catch up and redesign the approaches to make the best use of the technology, equipment and procedures.  The potential good the aviation industry can realize by the more efficient process is enormous.  With decreased costs, the industry can produce a healthier bottom line.  And with decreased air and noise pollution, we can all breathe a little deeper and sleep a little more peacefully.

As I said yesterday, both the Phenom 100 and the 300 are single pilot certified and are designed to be flown by professional pilots, as well as owner pilots. The latter present a challenge as they are generally a group with little or no pure turbojet time.  Many have flown complex turbo prop aircraft but most owner pilots have spent little time in “fast movers” and lack a complete understanding of their roles and responsibilities in the ATC system. The solution lies in training and competent mentoring.  Embraer includes two “entitlement” training slots for pilots with the purchase of an Executive Jet. The training at ECTS is a thorough introduction into the Phenom and an accurate assessment of acquired skills and knowledge.   The problem is that training ends with the check-ride and subsequent type rating.   And, in any sphere, knowledge without wisdom is incomplete.

A typical type-rating oral exam consists of knowing aircraft systems and limitations along with the immediate action items associated with specific emergency procedures.  A more thorough oral drills deeper with questions involving the working relationships of systems and an understanding of why things work the way they do. The rating-ride is a carefully choreographed series of events that test specific learned procedures such as the loss of an engine on takeoff, the“V-1 Cut”, as well as single-engine approaches and landings.  The entire check ride is given within the confines of a single airport and is an accurate assessment of skills and accomplishment. The FAA oral and rating-ride are excellent tests of pilot preparedness for the unexpected problems that seldom (thankfully) occur in real life.  What a rating-ride can’t do is impart experience and judgment to a first-time jet pilot.  With experience comes wisdom and the safest way for the first-time jet pilot to get that wisdom is with the assistance of a mentor.

Slow down, you move too fast.
You got to make the morning last.
Just kicking down the cobble stones.
Looking for fun and feelin’ groovy.

 (59th St. Bridge Song by Simon and Garfunkel)

Up until recently, Air Traffic Controllers could logically assume that everyone in a jet “kicking down the cobble stones” was a pro-pilot or at least performed like one.  The advent of the personal jet has changed that.  Now anyone with a million dollars, or even less with financing, can buy a jet to look for fun and feel groovy hanging out with the big boys.  Herein lies the problem. The old instructor adage of “slow down and make yourself time for the approach” only works at the cabbage patch, but these personal jet aircraft aren’t staying in the cabbage patch.

A gap has developed between those who understand ATC and fly accordingly and those who feel as if ATC will accommodate their lack of skills and judgment. The saner parties have been the insurance companies who have insisted upon some level of supervision for low time aviators. Insurance companies, at a loss for how gauge skills and judgment, have resorted to insisting on a certain number of hours (usually 25) of supervised flying.  Typically those hours are flown in the course of business for the newly minted personal jet aviator.

Perhaps a better way to ensure the safety and success of the owner-flown community would be to adopt the commercial aviation technique of mentor flying for newly type-rated jet pilots by creating a private IOE (initial operating experience) process. Airlines have long recognized that meaningful mentor programs consist of more than the supervised “drilling of holes” in the sky.  A truly effective mentor program imparts a higher level understanding and competence to the new pilot.

With training fresh in the mind of the newly typed pilot, the mentor reinforces good technique and emphasizes the “real world” application the newly learned skills.  And it takes both training and experience to protect your Phenom investment.

After 23,000 flight hours, I’ve just added my 7th type rating. 300 of those hours are in the Phenom 100.

The math reflects my propensity to stick  to an airplane when I find a good one and the Phenom 100 is a great airplane that does everything asked of it. My affinity hasn’t waned; so, what, then, would lure me away?  The siren song of the Phenom 300; Embraer’s latest Executive Jet offering.

I mentally questioned the ability of Embraer to improve upon the value proposition of the 100, and I was somewhat skeptical that the engineers from Brazil could score two home runs in a row. Duh!  Now I wonder what the gang in Wichita must be thinking. (Option 1: Look for a new job, or Option 2: add more sand to bury their heads deeper?)  I intend to keep flying the 100: but, to anyone out there with a 300 – you go guys!

Flight training is evolutionary. 

You go the first time to initial training and then you go back every year for recurrent training.  You don’t expect to add much because they are just getting you through the paces; but, maybe you learn something new in year two because there is something going on with the development of the aircraft. 

Last summer, I attended Phenom 100 initial training at Embraer CAE Training Services (ECTS), a joint venture between Embraer, a world-class aircraft manufacturer and CAE, a world-leading provider of aviation training.  In spite of the impressive pedigree, the venture experienced quite a few teething problems with the rollout of the first Phenom and I experienced them first-hand.  When I returned to the facility, my expectation was that my second experience would be much the same as my first one.
I was totally surprised when I arrived at CAE Simuflite in Dallas for Phenom 300 transition training.  Arriving on a Monday morning, my colleagues and I were greeted in the front lobby by no fewer than nine bright-eyed and effusively cheery CAE employees. Just after checking in, one of the greeters asked me if I needed directions to my classroom.  Since the schedule handed to me had been printed on a handy, pocket-sized card that wouldn’t get lost in the paperwork shuffle, I replied that I couldn’t miss it. I introduced myself to one of the greeters, Walter Slazyk, and in the course of conversation found that Walter was the CAE Center Leader. 

Different?   I’ll Show You Different! 
Aircraft transition courses typically focus on differences between the “old” airplane and the “new” one. The object of the training program is to prepare you for your check ride, rather than to just impart knowledge to you.  After all, this is a business.  My course was scheduled for one day of ground school followed by three days of simulator instruction and a check ride. I expected a mundane recitation of facts and figures, which I would have to regurgitate during my Friday oral exam. Instead, I was met by Steve Ford and Steve Simpson who both plowed into the whys and wherefores of aircraft systems and flight characteristics – so much more useful than the dry facts and figures.
During my Phenom 100 training process, delays in the certification of the simulator necessitated that my training be accomplished in the airplane.  Times have changed, though.  The new Phenom 300 sim has excellent fidelity and clearly mimics the feel and performance of the airplane. (Turning on the radar and taxiing over runway centerline lights are two great examples.)  On the whole, my expectations were exceeded, by a long-shot.
Both the Phenom 100 and the 300 are single pilot certified and are designed to be flown by professional pilots, as well as owner pilots. The latter present a challenge as they are generally a group with little or no pure turbojet time.  All of these pilots go through ECTS and get the best training the company has to offer.  The training is great, but how do these pilots get the experience they need to form sound judgment?  Join us tomorrow as we discuss the importance of good mentoring programs.

Johnny Paycheck has lost his position as Poster Child for the disgruntled worker.  The country singer has been replaced by former JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater whose antics would have been really funny – in a movie.

As my boss, Allen Howell said, “I personally find it pitiful that a flight attendant who can’t take it anymore thinks it is OK to pull the emergency exit slide to leave the aircraft and his job all at the same time. It is even more frustrating that he is made out to be some kind of hero for doing what he did.  Everyday flight attendants get rude and sometimes extreme hostile treatment from frustrated passengers but two wrongs don’t make it right. What does it say for the state of the airline industry when it gets to this?  The stunt will cost the airline, JetBlue, thousands of dollars in damage and more importantly it was a reckless and unprofessional act that does not need to be glamorized. This could have easily turned bad and someone could have gotten hurt.”

Anyone who has worked in customer service for more than 20 minutes has had a fantasy of creating just such a scene as the one Slater did – publicly humiliating an adult for poor behavior, grabbing a cold beer and disappearing into the mist, fog or just plain slamming the door.  As a responsible, professional adult you leave it in the realm of fantasy.  Slater caused thousands of dollars in expenses when he deployed that slide.  Mechanics at JetBlue will have to repack the slide, which is a great deal more complicated than folding up a map and stowing in your glove compartment.  There are explosives and inspections involved.  That aircraft is now out of service until it can be made airworthy again. 

It’s not that I don’t understand his frustration and his anger at these passengers who, by some accounts, acted like spoiled children.  I experienced it first-hand when passengers threw credit cards, briefcases, garment bags and even a bag of brick samples at me; however, there are methods to handle this situation – specifically airport police.  For instance, when the passenger hit Slater with her luggage, she interfered with the ability of a crew member to perform his job function.  This is a federal offense, folks.  Rather than throwing a hissy fit, he could have had her arrested upon arrival in New York, or he could have had her removed from the aircraft in Pittsburgh, where the incident occurred.  He chose not to do that.  He chose to wait until the aircraft arrived at JFK and create a public scene and a potentially deadly situation.  His behavior could very well have injured someone on the ground. 

Even if he looked out of the window and didn’t see anyone before he deployed the slide, he couldn’t possibly have had a clear view of the whole area involved.  Stand at a third storey window and look down.  Can you see the foundation of the building?  No, you can’t.  And he couldn’t see anyone standing in the area where he was about to launch an emergency slide.  His behavior was impulsive and reckless, not professional.

Yet, as I write this, Slater’s childish temper tantrum has earned him over 150,000 fans on Facebook.  The number will likely be mind-boggling by the time you read this. 

As Allen said, “If  Mr. Slater wanted to quit he should have walked off the flight and turned in his notice and gone home.  Something is wrong with this society when we glorify this type behaviour with media fanfare  and a social media frenzy.  Whatever happened to professionalism even in the face of adverse conditions?”

Airlines are trying to make a profit; something that has not happened in aggregate in their entire history of serving the traveling public. In an effort to make a profit in the past few years they have unbundled their pricing and added fees back in for everything imaginable.

I can’t blame them for trying to make profit. Profit is not a bad word. 

But somehow this whole idea of  add-on fees is having an anti-social effect on the traveling public. Mainstream media has spent a great deal of space on this issue.  The latest comes from the New York Times in an article titled “Airline Fees Test Travelers’ Limits”. 

You can almost feel sorry for the airlines because it seems at every turn they are getting kicked by either the government or the media. And the more kicking they do, the more the public demands a change. It is almost to a point where we feel that we have a fundamental right to travel cheaply by air and without problems. I don’t remember seeing this in the Constitution, but you never know. An amendment dealing with airline travel may be forthcoming.     

Congress thinks they can solve it by putting more rules (laws) in place to regulate everything from how you advertise your rates to how long you can keep a person stranded on an aircraft sitting on the tarmac. How can you regulate customer service?   

 I wonder if there is a point where the airlines figure this out?  The solutions are neither simple nor obvious because the airlines must make a profit.  At this point, though, they don’t seem to have a vision of how they can create both profits and happy customers.

 We run a business that offers an alternative form of travel. It is not cheap, but travelers do like to travel in our aircraft. 

Most days we have happy customers. Occasionally we make a mistake or weather and the laws of mechanical physics conspire against us and we end up with an unhappy customer. The air conditioner breaks on the hottest of days or weather prevents us from departing or making an on time arrival or …..

 When that happens, it is up to us to make it right. We should do what it takes to fix it. If we don’t make it right, then shame on us. Those customers who see you do the right thing when things go wrong become the best customers. When you don’t do the right thing, then the customers go somewhere else for the solution.  

Our customers are smart and successful people. They run businesses themselves and know what it takes to deliver their product or service at a profit while meeting the expectations of their customers. They also know that things can sometimes go wrong; so, mostly, I have seen a degree of patience from our customers to allow us to “make it right.”

I don’t see that with the airlines. Patience has run out. As the NYT article title suggests “travelers’ limits are tested”.

One side of me smiles and says I hope that the airlines keep doing more of what they are doing. It pushes people to consider using our form of air travel even though the dollar cost is more.

The other side of me says that the airlines need to figure out how to make their customers happy if at all possible.  The economy of this country will win if they do that.

The bottom line is that travel is about productivity. Efficient travel contributes to economic productivity and inefficient travel kills productivity. Stress in travel has to reduce productivity, too.  Let’s figure out how to eliminate the stress.

Riding down the road one day, an Aerosmith song blared out of my radio and, for whatever reason, I thought about language – specifically, how terminology can be exclusive to an industry. No doubt, Joe Perry hears or thinks the word “guitar” on a daily basis, but how often does the word “aileron” enter into his conversation? Every industry has a lexicon of its own and, if you’re going to learn to operate within the industry, you’re going to have to learn the language. To that end, we’ve compiled a list of terms commonly used in the aviation world. This list is more for business aviation, rather than actual flight language.

FBO – Fixed Base Operator – This is like a gas station for aircraft.  The facilities often include a passenger lobby and sometimes a snooze room and lounge for pilots.  Every now and then, you’ll get lucky and find cookies!

Apron or Ramp – This is the area where aircraft are parked around terminal buildings or FBOs.

Taxiway – These are the areas where aircraft “drive” on the ground to get to the runways or to wait in line to take off.

Runway – This is the area where aircraft actively take off and land.

FARs – Federal Air Regulations – these are the rules established and enforced by the FAA to govern the operating practices of air carriers.  Violations of the FARs may result in fines, imprisonment or loss of of operating certificate.  To paraphrase Tommy Lee Jones’s Agent Kay in Men in Black, “We at the (FAA) do not have a sense of humor we’re aware of.”  Regulations are taken very seriously.

Duty Day – This is the amount of time a crew is allowed to be on duty and it varies, depending on what part of the Federal Air Regulations the flight is operated under and how many crew members are on the flight deck.

Flight time – This is the amount of time calculated from when the wheels leave the ground (off time) until they touch down again (on time).

Block time – This is the amount of time calculated from when the brakes unlock and the aircraft begins to roll (out time) until the brakes are locked again and the aircraft is chocked (in time).

Chocks – those blocks of wood or rubber that are place in front of and behind aircraft tires to keep the aircraft from moving.  For the longest time I thought people were saying “chaulks.”  Much embarrassment followed when I figured out my mistake.

Prop wash or jet blast – the air that moves behind the prop or jet.  The prop wash blast from small aircraft kick up large amounts of sand and debris that can be uncomfortable to unprotected skin.  The jet blast from large airliners can actually blow over pick up trucks.

Air carrier – an entity certificated by the FAA to transport passengers or cargo for hire.  This may be a scheduled airline or it may be a freight company or a charter operator.

Broker – an entity who engages the services of a carrier on behalf of a client.  The broker neither owns nor operates any aircraft of their own.  This may be a travel agent, a freight or charter broker.

FOD – can refer to either Foreign Object Debris or Foreign Object Damage.  For instance, a plastic grocery bag blowing across the ramp at Lexington was Foreign Object Debris until it was injested into a Delta Air Lines engine when it became Foreign Object Damage, a cancelled flight, a huge headache and an enormous repair bill. 

While not an exhaustive list by any stretch of the imagination, these terms, as well as some found in articles published on July 27, 28 and 29, should put you well on your way to speaking BizAvian like a pro.

Every time I do something outside my normal routine, I learn something new (or at my age, get reminded of something that I forgot). This is true of my most recent trip to the British Virgin Islands on business. We were delivering an aircraft to the island of Tortola for BVI Airline, an up and coming company delivering air carrier services amongst the BVI. We also were returning on another aircraft which was due for some major inspections.  The inspections were  to be accomplished through our capable maintenance staff at Corporate Flight Management. We also, in a whirlwind fashion, dropped into San Juan to conclude some business with another carrier. The trip was a three day turn around on BAE Jetstream 32s.  Given the time constraints and amount to be accomplished, it was a trip that could only have occurred on private aircraft.

Here are a couple of lessons learned or remembered.

Pre- plan your communication needs.

Technology and services are a great boon to travelers – if you know what your capabilities are. I have a new service and a new plan and for my telecommunications and found out I was pretty much in the dark.  It wasn’t that I couldn’t communicate, it was just that I didn’t know my plan well enough to know how much it was going to cost me – an important consideration to my CFO soul. As I downloaded email and text to my phone –I wondered, “how much this was going to cost me?” People around me had a lot of suggestions and ideas as to what it might cost. I found out later just how wrong they were via my monthly statement. I could have avoided that if I had called my provider, told them my itinerary, and found out what were my best options. Next time!

Know what time it is.

I traveled from Central Savings Time to Atlantic Time. My new cell phone did a wonderful job of changing with the time zones. I knew exactly what time it was – or so I thought. My business associates and I scheduled a breakfast meeting at 7:30 AM. But what wasn’t discussed was time was relative on the Islands. When they said 7:30, they meant Eastern Time.  I thought they meant Atlantic Time.  I wish I had known about the use of time zones because I sure could have used that extra hour of sleep! Turns out other members of our entourage were an hour late. Next time…… we will synchronize our watches, always a good practice.

The business trip was a great success and new business for the company was developed. As we went through the various customs offices, I was reminded of how wonderful it was to travel through non- airline means. Through the whole trip we went through only one metal detector and we didn’t have to stand in line for it!  The trip schedule was our choice.  The time on the aircraft was pleasant because the travelers were co-workers, and we were able to plan our next meeting en route. Additionally, the time together was useful as new ideas for travel processes for our customers.  Since we experienced what our customers experienced while traveling international destinations, we got a better perspective on process improvements.  These discussions occurred simply because we had both time and opportunity.  Without planning the conversations, we informally discussed various ways we could improve on what we do as a company simply because we had the time and the privacy to do so.

What did I really learn and remember when I stepped outside my routine? The value of private business travel is worth the price.

Recently, as Tropical Storm Bonnie looked like she was going to take a walk up Carrollton Avenue in New Orleans, I was reminded of Hurricane Katrina, which, five years ago, lead to my unexpected move to Tennessee.  I was reminded of the powerless feeling of watching that kind of power approach my home and take nearly everything I had.  Remembering my own experiences always reminds me of the January earthquake in Haiti and how, in spite of the upheaval, I was among the most fortunate of people.

Ten months after Hurricane Katrina, my street was still without power.  Let that sink in for a minute.  Nearly one year later, in what is arguably the most advanced country on the planet, there were still people using generators.  We are now closing in on five years later and that region is STILL obviously recovering, but it’s old news.  The TV crews are gone.  The journalists are still busy covering the oil spill or some new sex scandal.  No one wants to hear about it anymore, even though Habitat for Humanity, Make It Right and many other organizations are still working tirelessly to put New Orleans and other affected areas back together.  Make no mistake, though.  It will take many more years, if not actual decades, before the area is fully recovered.  And the people still living there deal with it every single day.

Now, shift your attention to Haiti, one of the poorest countries on the globe, if not the poorest.  Some 250,000 people died and 1.3 million were left homeless in a country of 9 million.  A disaster with proportionate damage in the United States, with a population of some  307 million people, would have left 8.5 million people dead and 44 million homeless.  It’s the population of New York City killed and the population of California and Virginia left homeless.   Those numbers are approximate, but you get the idea – massive, massive impact.  As an industry, General Aviation has sent literally hundreds of flights into the area, landing even on dirt roads, bringing in personnel and supplies after the January earthquake.  As a company, we were fortunate enough to be able to help in some small ways to the relief efforts.  As individuals, we have contributed in private ways, as well.  In April, four months after the event, reports showed that donations and contributions were dwindling.  By now, they are minuscule.

I wasn’t in that earthquake and I don’t personally anyone who was.  I don’t have a personal agenda here.  However, I lost nearly everything I owned to Hurricane Katrina and I owe the lion’s share of my recovery to individuals and organizations who reached out to help me when I was all but hopeless.  I know what it feels like to face sudden, almost incomprehensible loss.  In the attached document, I’m sharing my story with you in hopes that you will remember them.  In the global scheme of things, I was so very fortunate, while they are not.  Just because they had fewer possessions to lose at the outset does not mean that they are any less shattered.

Shame on us if we don’t support the efforts of NGOs still in the thick of things, striving to make a difference – organizations like Can Do, World Vision, Feed the Children, Habitat for Humanity and others.  Shame on us if we allow that disaster to become nothing more than a sound-bite.

Yesterday we examined internal costs aircraft operators incur and how those are covered in customer quotes.  Those costs are a little bit subjective and may vary from one operator to another within a region and will certainly vary between regions, simply because the costs of living in those regions vary.  Today we will take a look at costs incurred by aircraft operators over which they have little or no control.

Landing and/or Handling Fees- Landing fees are generally assessed by the airport or port authority operating the airport the aircraft operator uses.  These landing fees are based on aircraft weight and may be waived in the event of a Life Flight, but otherwise, landing fees are collected for every aircraft that lands at or takes off from an airport.  The fees vary widely and are sometimes not billed until months after the flight.  Handling fees are generally assessed by the ground handler, which may also be called a Fixed Base Operator or an FBO.    These fees also vary widely.  For light jets, we typically pay around $275 per landing; however, at Boston’s Logan Airport, Miami International and Chicago O’Hare, we have paid as much as $900 per visit.  These fees may be waived with a substantial fuel purchase.

International Fees – Some other countries charge for use of their airspace, whether we land in that country or not.  Other countries charge for flight planning, landings, customs processing, and agricultural fees, among others.  These fees are set by the country involved and are not waived.  These are sometimes also not billed to the aircraft operator until months after the flight.

Fuel Surcharges – Just as automobile gasoline prices fluctuate, so do aircraft fuel prices.  If fuel prices jump for some reason like a storm, oil spill, vacation season, an operator may elect to charge a fuel surcharge to make up for the increased costs rather than recalculate their entire rate structure.  This allows for the charge to be eliminated when fuel costs decrease again.  If the rates increase, but do not decrease after a period of time, the fuel charge may be absorbed into the hourly aircraft rate.

Insurance Surcharges- I have seen these surcharges only once and only for a brief period of time.  After the attacks of September 11, 2001, aircraft insurance rates rose – although, as CS&A’s Tom Chappell informed me in January, not as a result of the attacks.  The general aviation industry was grounded, re-regulated and losing money.  In response to these dramatically and unexpectedly increased costs, many operators introduced different kinds of surcharges.  This insurance surcharge was one of those, but I haven’t seen it used in a long time.

Even operators who issue hard quotes for your trip will exclude some items that are difficult to predict.  Among them are de-icing or inclement weather hangar fees, special catering requests, and flight phone usage fees. 

De-Ice or Inclement Weather Hangar Fees- If your trip takes you to Milwaukee in December, it’s a pretty safe bet that it will snow while you are there.  If it does snow, your aircraft will have to be de-iced to removed the precipitation or it will have to be put in a hangar to keep the snow off of it or to melt the snow.  Regardless of which method of snow removal is used, you’ll have to pay for it.  As of today, de-ice fluid costs about $15 to $18 per gallon to apply.  Some airports have special de-ice pads with a run-off system that collects the used fluid; however, others charge another $0.82 or so per gallon in EPA fees to clean it up.  That gives us a total of nearly $16 to $19 per gallon and since you can easily use a couple hundred gallons in a single procedure, the total bill can climb quickly into the thousands of dollars.  Compare that to hangar rental at between $100 and $500 per event and it’s no stretch to guess which method we prefer using whenever possible.

Special Catering- Most business charter customers use our service because of the expediency we offer.  In line with getting the most done in the least amount of time, many of them would rather eat their meals in-flight than waste that time on the ground having lunch.  Ordering catering for your aircraft is not normally a difficult thing and it’s something that we are all happy to do.  However, catering for aircraft is not inexpensive.  I once had a caterer in South Carolina charge me over $250 for two dozen doughnuts.  I was just certain that the charge was a mistake, but, no.  When I called to get the error corrected, the caterer informed me that this was simply what two dozen doughnuts cost.  I think that he may have actually said that with a straight face, too.  If you are budget conscious on catering, be sure to mention that to your charter operator or broker.  There are solutions which allow us to lower those costs for you.  Your presentation might not be as fancy, but if I have to choose between having a coronary when I get my bill or having an edible orchid on my plate, I’ll choose the healthy heart every time.

Flight Phone Usage – Some charter aircraft are equipped with flight phones.  Passengers do use them from time to time and, since we pay by the hour for their use, that’s how we charge it out.  As of today, the phones on our aircraft are about $2 a minute to use.

Several times over the last few months, you’ve heard us say that charter aircraft operators are not in the business to make a boatload of cash.  If they are, then they are going to be sorely disappointed; the margins in this industry are just not that big.  Now that you know what the line items on your quote or on your invoice are, you are better educated and more equipped to compare quotes between companies and to understand what all of those items mean.  If you see items listed that you cannot identify, just ask your operator or broker to explain it to you.  We love our industry and our product; so, we are more than happy to answer any questions you might have.