Air charter
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The term Air Charter is a catch all phrase that refers to the renting of an entire aircraft vs. individual aircraft seats. While the Airlines specialize in selling transportation by the seat, air charter companies focus on small groups for specialized itineraries, urgent / time sensitive freight or cargo, air ambulance and any other form of ad hoc air transportation.
Generally speaking, air charter is also known as air taxi, executive charter, jet charter and more broadly as private aviation. In the United States air charter / air taxi is governed by Part 135 of the FARs (the Federal Aviation Regulations), unlike the larger scheduled airlines, which are governed by more stringent standards of Part 121 of the FARs, which are regulations designed for scheduled air carriers.
It is believed that over 70% of the private air charter in the world is within the United States, the largest market for private aviation globally. (Sources: see external links below)
History
Aircraft charter can trace its roots back to the dawn of civil aviation. The true growth, however, or corporate aviation and related air taxi, air charter suppliers, boomed following the close of World War II. With excess / surplus aircraft (lower start up costs) both corporations and stand alone air charter companies entered the business of dedicated charter flights for executives, high end travelers, special missions (such as organ donor flights, critical auto parts freight, etc.), sports teams, entertainers, etc.Technology & Business Structure
The 1960's saw the arrival of the first small jets, such as the Learjet. The Learjet was adopted by some of the first "jet" air charter operators, such as Hop-A-Jet and Clay Lacy. Both companies still exist today as larger charter management firms. Charter management became popular at the dawn of the private jet age as a way for companies to own aircraft "off their books" - namely away from the prying eyes of shareholders. Local entreprenneurs realized that by managing the aircraft that belonged to another entity (one that could afford to buy the multi-million dollar aircraft) they could help offset the cost of ownership through rental income and aggregate owner costs for insurance, fuel, maintenance etc. Today, this type of aircraft ownership arrangement, forms more than 75% of the on demand air charter industry for the United States, which encompasses about 70% of the air charter activity in the world.In 2004, the FAA began the process to re-regulate the Part 135 industry, mainly due to the widespread problems created by the tension between aircraft owners and management companies. The FAA felt that air carriers (the air charter companies) had in some cases begun to lose operational control. The term "operational control" indicates that an air charter company can know where and when its aircraft are at all times and dictate their movement. The complications caused by these owner relationships, and historically minimal FAA oversight has was fertile ground for the air taxi revolution.
Growth Factors
Beginning in the late 1990's the air charter / air taxi interest moved into main stream media and discussion with the growth and advent of several key factors:
- Very Light Jets or VLJs popularized the concept of small affordable jets that would bring the capital carrying cost of aircraft down enough so that many more could be sold and operated. Eclipse Aviation is perhaps one of the most well known new aircraft brands, although other companies including Adam Aircraft, Cessna, Honda, and Embraer have designed or built VLJ's of their own. While the air taxi debate is concerned with whether these aircraft will actually contribute to change, the mere discussion, media coverage and excitement over new technology is bringing more and more attention to the concept of ad hoc air transportation.
- Internet Communication: Because air charter was never part of the major GDS or travel distribution systems, it could not reach wider audiences. With the advent of the Internet, distribution of information regarding the availability of aircraft, placement, pricing etc., became more available to the increased broker and buyer community.
- Problems: Growing dissatisfaction with the scheduled airlines over security and congestion related delays. While not all airline passengers could afford alternatives, the upper echelons of airline passengers sought was to stop flying commercially or exploring corporate aviation, fractional or air charter.
- Alternatives: Air Charter and its cousin Fractional Ownership popularized the notion of private aircraft use and ownership. Fractional aircraft ownerships growth led to the advent of a distinct set of regulations in the United States designed specifically to regulate fractionally owned aircraft companies. These new regulations are spelled out clearly in Part 91 Subpart K and bring fractional aircraft operations into line with existing air charter regulations, making fractional ownership into simply another flavor of ad hoc air transportation.
VLJ Manufacturers
- Eclipse Aviation
- Honda Aviation manufactures the Honda Jet. In 2005 Honda maintained it had "no plans" for certification or sale of the Honda Jet, citing that it was purely a platform for testing the engine.
- Adam Aircraft Industries
- Safire Aircraft was a small airframe manufacturer that discontinued operations after it could not secure additional funding.
References
- [Your Air Taxi Is Almost Ready] A business week article on the advent of air taxi using today's and tomorrow's aircraft.
- [Air Taxi—Myth or New Market Niche?] An article outlining different perspectives within the industry.
- [Article on operational control issues] An article on operational control issues.
External links
- [The National Air Transportation Association]
- [FAA Regulations (FARs)]
- [RTI International's Air Taxi Simulation & Modeling Program]
- [Taxijet - On demand air travel booking system.]
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