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.

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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.

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Yesterday, I gave you a few questions to ask that will help you get the best value for your charter dollar.  So, you’ve gotten your quote, but what are all of those line items?

If you got a quote from a charter operator who gives hard quotes, the quote would probably include some of the following: aircraft charges, daily minimum adjustments, high-density airport fees, short leg fees, daily crew charges, wait time, crew overnights, landing and/or fees, international fees and, depending on fuel prices, you might see fuel surcharges.  At one time, it was not uncommon to see insurance surcharges.  If you got a quote from a charter operator who invoices based on actual flight time, it might include most of the preceding, but would exclude high-density fees and perhaps some of the others.  Let’s look at these line items more in depth.

Aircraft Charges – Whether an operator owns the aircraft they charter out or they manage aircraft belonging to others, there are clearly hourly costs associated with the operation of the aircraft, i.e. engine maintenance, fuel, and crew salaries and training costs.  Those costs are figured into the hourly operating cost, which is used to determine your aircraft charges.  Years ago, operators commonly charged by the mile flown; however, flight times over miles vary depending on weather and ATC, charging by the flight hour is a more effective way for operators to make certain their costs are covered.

Daily Minimum Adjustments – Until recently, the industry standard for average daily use of an aircraft on a single charter was two hours per day during non-peak dates.  During holidays, the daily minimum usage requirement could be as high as four hours; however, since the market has softened, these minimums are sometimes waived.  The purpose of the minimums is to prevent an owner’s asset from being committed to a non-revenue producing situation.  For instance, if a charter customer from Miami takes a Lear 45 to Cleveland for a week, that trip involves eight calendar days; however, it generates only about 5.2 hours of revenue.  In a perfect world, the operator would be able to charter the transient aircraft out of Cleveland; however, in reality, that happens very rarely.  This means that for six calendar days, the aircraft is unavailable to produce income for its owner.  So that the asset is used to its greatest potential, the daily minimum charges, ensured that this did not happen. 

High-Density Airport Fees- Depending on ATC, when on approach to O’Hare Airport in Chicago, LaGuardia or JFK in New York City or other high-traffic airports, an aircraft may have to hold in the traffic pattern for some time.  For an operator that invoices trips just as they are quoted, this ATC hold may result in additional flight time and associated costs not covered in the estimated flight time.  By averaging out the hold time aircraft using those high-density airports experience, the operator is able to assign excess costs associated with those airports.  Those costs are used to calculate high-density airport fees.

Short Leg Fees- Every engine start-up and shut down is an engine cycle.  Every take-off and landing is a landing gear cycle.  Scheduled aircraft maintenance is sometimes based on the number of hours flown.  Other maintenance is based on the number of cycles, regardless of the amount of flight time between the start-up and shut down or take-off and landing.  Long flight legs spread the costs over more flight time, while short flight legs compress the costs.  Thus, the cost of a short leg in terms of associated maintenance costs is higher than that of long legs.  To cover those associated costs, short leg fees may be assessed.

Daily Crew Charges – Instead of including crew salaries in basic aircraft charges, an operator may opt to charge them as a separate line item.  In this case, a charge will be assessed for each calendar day the crew is required, whether they are flying or sitting transient.

Wait Time- This charge is based on the amount of time a crew sits on the ground at a destination.  It is normally charged only on trips which may be completed within a single duty day.  This charge covers crew per diem, meals and other expenses.

Crew Overnights- Sometimes, this may appear as Crew RON, which means Crew Remain Overnight.  This charge also covers crew per diem, meals and other expenses.  Typically, if an overnight charge is assessed, additional wait time charges will be waived.  Some operators use a standard rate for this while other vary the rate depending on the location since hotel rooms and rental cars in Chattanooga, Tennessee, are surely less expensive than those in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, during ski season.

To this point, the line items we have discussed have been based on aircraft and crew associated costs.  Just as costs of living vary around the country, so these costs also vary.  For this reason, you would not expect to find a Lear 35 operator in Montgomery, Alabama, to charge the same hourly rate as a Lear 35 operator in White Plains, New York.  Now we will look at some fees that are charged to the operator by other vendors.  These fees are outside the control of the operator and are the subject of our next blog – Unbundling Charter’s External Costs.

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It’s almost absurd to think that is a possibility these days.  Just think about it…. you’ve been longing for your annual vacation which you’ve planned with your partner, friends or family for a long time.  You’ve spent hours researching the most desirable location, you’ve packed your best vacation clothes, you’ve booked a wonderful hotel on Expedia, you’ve planned your activities, you’ve practiced your golf swing, and you’re thinking about your first margarita.  Now you just have to get there. 

But you know your vacation isn’t going to start until you actually arrive at your destination.  You know you have to go through the battle of travelling on the airlines with the road warrior, the mother and wriggly child, or the stranger who saw your socks when you removed your shoes at the longer-than-long secuity line.  You know that you won’t truly be able to relax and be in vacation-mode until you actually step out of the bustling airport.  But is there an alternative? 

I can tell you that there is.  Before I started working in general aviation, I never even thought it a possibility that I could fly on a private jet or turbo-prop airplane.  It seemed way beyond my reach…they’re just for rockstars flying to resorts right?  Wrong.  CFM has just started operating a 30 seat Jestream 41 which would be perfect for a group of people to get together and fly to a beach destination like Destin for the weekend, maybe hunting in Arkansas, or shopping in New York?  These airplanes are economical, time saving, comfortable and you get to skip the big airline terminal experience entirely. 

So how does your vacation start at the airport?  This is how, and I know because I’ve done it:

You arrive at the airport 15 minutes before your wheels up departure time.

You grab yourself a coffee and hand your luggage to the crew (you can see your bags being handled and put gently onto the airplane).

You step out onto the ramp and take your seat in a comfortable aircraft with smiling crew and passengers who are as excited as you are to be heading to their destination. After all, the passengers are your friends or family.

You land at your destination and walk through a lovely lobby of an FBO to your waiting transportation, and head on to your resort to enjoy your one vacation a year! 

So, now you just have to find some friends to travel with right?  How many friends do you have on facebook?  And how many friends do your friends have?

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I have been fortunate in my career to get to travel to interesting places that don’t show up in the top ten tourist destinations. Our company sells regional airliners all over the world and often times those aircraft sales result in  deliveries and follow up visits to customers who end up becoming friends. In the past five years, we have sold and delivered aircraft to operators in Europe, South America, Asia, the Middle East, Australia, Caribbean Islands and Africa.  This particular delivery started at the factory in Brazil will end up at the aircraft’s new base in England.

The journey started with an airline flight out of Nashville, a seven-hour layover in Atlanta and a nine-hour connecting flight to Sao Paulo where we were met by a driver who took us to Embraer’s headquarters and airline manufacturing facilities at Sao Jose Dos Campos.  We had 20 hours there before turning right back around and heading to the United States in the new Phenom. In Sao Jose Dos Campos, Bill Minkoff and I met up with Rob Posselt who works and lives in England.  Rob assists European clients with deliveries of Embraer business jet aircraft. Bill, Rob and I were to be the crew for the first stage of the delivery.  

On my last visit to Sao Jose Dos Campos two years ago, I was able to see the first three Phenom 100s going through the flight tests that ultimately led to aircraft certification one year ago. I also saw the fuselage and engines for what would be the first Phenom 300 to be used in certification testing.  That aircraft was certified last week.  This visit, I was impressed to see a hangar full of Phenom 100s and Legacy 600s going through their final, detailed inspections before delivery.

The Phenom 100 has a range of 1,250 nautical miles; so, delivering outside of Brazil includes multiple fuel stops. Our route from Brazil to Tennessee followed this route: San Jose Dos Campos, BR – Brasilia, BR – Belim, BR – Georgetown, Guyana – St. Maarten – Fort Lauderdale – Nashville.

Getting through Brazil requires careful planning and a degree of patience as things don’t happen as quickly as they do in the United States with flight plans and handlers. As you fly north out of Sao Paulo state, you get into less populated areas of the country including the Amazon forest. There are not a lot of airports in this region of the country; so, we planned stops every 800 miles for fuel, leaving enough fuel on board for alternates in the event of weather or maintenance issues.

All of our stops were uneventful with the exception of minor delays.  The handlers were friendly, and weather cooperated along the route of flight and stops.  In the case of this trip, flying the Phenom ended up being the highlight of the trip. We were never in any one location long enough to see the sights.  But we still have a few good ones.

As we were flying over the equator, something I have done a few times now, we were able to capture the position on the display showing the latitude of 00.00.01.  

 The terminal in Georgetown, Guyana, gets the award for the most colorful as they were decorated up for Christmas.

This was my first time to fly a new jet out of the factory and the experience did not let me down. The aircraft performed flawlessly, as have the other Phenom 100s we have delivered.  It is stable in all flight regimes and the technology up front is fantastic. Everything the pilot could possibly want to know is available.   

Although tiring, flying for me isn’t work.  But, after two hard days of flying, I did have to get back to work.  Another CFM pilot, Will Rowell, gets on board with Bill and Rob to complete the next legs of the journey from Tennessee to England.  Out of Nashville the route continues to Bangor, Maine – Goose Bay, Newfoundland – Sondre Stromfjord, Greenland – Reykjavik, Iceland - Wick, Scotland and then to the aircraft’s new home in Leeds, England. The most challenging part of the journey remains as the crew flies over the North Atlantic, dealing with harsh weather and little daylight.  

By journey’s end, the new bird will have flown over 10,000 miles from the Southern Hemisphere through South America  into the Northern Hemisphere through the Caribbean Islands, the United States and Canada, and over the North Atlantic before arriving at its new home in England. The journey started in tropical Brazil, almost touched the Arctic Circle in Greenland where there are only three hours of daylight per day this week, before turning back south to England. Hey, it’s all in a days work (or, is that fun?)

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