Plane Conversations

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.

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As I write this I am returning from a two day trip to the Caribbean.

Our company works with small airlines leasing aircraft, providing maintenance support services, parts support and training. We do much of our business outside of the US.  

I had the opportunity to catch a ride on one of our leased aircraft going to Tortola, BVI to swap out for another aircraft coming back to Tennessee for scheduled maintenance.

The aircraft we flew down and back were Jetstream 32 – 19 passenger turboprops, one type in a group of regional airline aircraft that will continue to work for small airlines around the world for years to come.  

BVI Airways  started a few months ago providing point to point service between Tortola  and St. Maarten and Antigua. They also do charter flights to the other islands. The airline was started by three US pilots who have worked in the regional airline and air charter industry for most of their aviation careers. They saw an opportunity to fill an unmet demand for travel between Islands and took the leap of faith to start a small airline far from home. If you are going to start an airline it may as well be in a nice place like Tortola.

BVI Airways has an excellent business plan that allows them to be flexible with their routes as travel needs change with seasonality and times of the year when the islands have special events like carnival and homecomings.

After a short 14 hour visit to Tortola we flew up to San Juan PR and met with a startup airline, Lebar Air, that will be providing both scheduled and on demand charter service out of San Juan to the Dominican Republic and other islands within a 250 mile radius of San Juan. They share a similar business plan as BVI Airways but serve a different niche market of travelers.  

As I think about these two operations and other operators we have gotten to know in the Caribbean, including operators in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, I see a group of small airlines that are meeting demand for point to point intra-island and inter- island travel which the major airlines and their commuter feeders don’t meet.These airlines are a cross between a scheduled airline and on demand charter operator with a nimble flexibility the big airlines cannot match. When you ride on these small airlines, the feel is much more like a charter flight where the pilots are talking to you and helping you with your luggage before you board. Islanders are used to this type of service and take small aircraft flights as a routine way of life.   

 From the perspective of the operators we work with, the economic outlook for Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands is good. Like the US, they have waded through the recession, but the allure of the islands continues to spur development of new hotels and resorts and all the support businesses that go with it. With new resort development and tourism growth come jobs and economic growth for the entire region. As more travelers come to the Caribbean from Europe, North America and South America the demand for inter-island air travel will grow.

These small airlines that meet the market demand are poised to prosper as they provide a very critical transportation component to the regions economic development.

I am a little jealous of these operators because they have a captive audience of travelers. You can’t just get in your car and drive from Tortola to Antigua like you could from Nashville to Atlanta.

The only complaint about the trip south was the lack of time to enjoy the white beaches and blue water. I think I could easily get used to the speed of island living.

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We wing toward the Turks and Caicos for a brief respite from the flight to California. The Phenom 100 is such a great flying machine that my new owner/pilot wants to keep going, but he has promised his wife a little time-out on the way home. He mockingly suggests that he put her birthday on the tail number so that she would let him have the new Phenom.  He confesses that to keep his two other airplanes, a Beechcraft Premier I and a Cirrus, he incorporated his wife’s birthday into the N number.

Our flight level 400 optic of the multi-hued water of the Caribbean is soon replaced by a much closer connection to the sea.  Greater Ambergris Cay appears ahead through the lazy afternoon clouds which dot the horizon. The tiny islands of the Turks and Caicos fill the southeastern area of the Caicos Bank with Greater (or Big) Ambergris Cay (at four miles long) as one of the larger of the Ambergris Cays. The entire island is a neatly organized community being constructed by DPS Development, the same folks who built the hugely successful Greenbrier Sporting Club in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.  We are absolutely awed by the airport facility they have completed.  At 5,790 feet, MBAC is the longest private airport in the Caribbean.  This illuminated strip with firefighting and state of the art construction is long and smooth, welcoming us from lofty perch over the sparkling Caribbean.

We taxi up to the door of the reception building where we are welcomed with  tropical island drinks made with Bambarra Rum, The Spirit of Turks and Caicos.  Quickly we learn that our complete enjoyment is the staff’s unrelenting goal.  With no cars, and consequently no paved roads, on the island, we are each assigned our own golf cart to whiz around the community and we delight in the freedom of our new personal transportation.  We all agree to freshen up and meet at Calico Jack’s for dinner.

The thatched hut of Calico Jack’s tropical bar, on the leeward side Ambergris Cay, is the perfect spot to watch the Caribbean sunset.  Calico Jack’s has an open air, covered dining area adjoining the climate controlled dining room. Although with nearly always perfect weather, it’s hard to imagine wanting to eat inside. With only 22 guests in residence, we are guaranteed a table at any time during the evening, (twenty homes have been completed with more under construction).  Walking to our table I’m greeted by Peter Pollock, the “P” in DPS Development.  Peter is an affable New Yorker who once worked as the General Manager of the Boston Celtics.  With an eye for appreciation, Peter has always picked real estate winners. No where is this more evident than at The Turks and Caicos Sporting Club.  After dinner, it is off to bed with thoughts of tomorrow’s bone fishing on the flats.

The sun peeks brightly into the single-room cabana where I awaken to the sound of the surf which lulled me to sleep. I enjoy my morning coffee in solitude from a deck that is eight feet above the azure Caribbean below. Designed to impart relaxation, island style, my 400 square foot cabana, is unique, not so much for what it provides, but more for what is missing.  Here there is no telephone, no internet, no television and no roof over the bathroom; yet, I have travertine marble floors and Ferette sheets. The bamboo furnishings evoke strong memories of my time spent in the Philippines when I flew  A-7 Corsairs from the deck of the USS Midway. I’m sure they hold up in the tropical humidity, but I much prefer the teak furniture on the sun drenched deck.

We are off to Calico Jack’s again in our golf carts.  I doubt any of our carts can exceed the posted 14 mph speed limit, but after some horse trading among the available carts, my pilot friend has found one that will out-run mine and he seems completely delighted. Again I think of my time living in Japan where the Western Pacific WESTPAC junior officers all had motorcycles, and horsepower couldn’t replace skillful driving on the narrow roads. I am treated to island pancakes with coconut syrup while my friends began their morning with a variety of equally appetizing breakfasts.

Famous for the waxy secretion, ambergris, from the North Atlantic Humpback whales that migrate through the islands in the winter, the island is also home to a wide variety of marine life.  Among the land dwelling creatures of Greater Ambergris are the rock iguana. The island teems with these foot-long reptiles who scurry between the areas of vegetation and who sun themselves on nearly every road and outcropping. My owner/pilot friend and I opted out of the manicure/pedicure event that his wife and mother enjoyed, instead we explored the island with Ceci Richard who showed us the original estate of Horatio Stubbs, who acquired the island from John Lightbourne, who purchased the island from the government of the Bahamas in 1811.  Horatio Stubbs planted sisal and reportedly organized a waypoint for livestock destined for the islands. The remnants of limestone and coral rock paddocks can still be found on the southern end of the island. The last private owner of the island, Henry Mensen has teamed with DPS Development to create a private sanctuary which will ultimately be comprised of 425 homes and a members only club.

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