Curtailed flight schedules, security worries and a fear of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) are draining first-class travelers from the major commercial airlines. But those problems have indirectly benefited several new companies that sell multiple flights on private jets.
Marquis Jet Partners, Sentient and the Delta AirElite subsidiary of Delta Air Lines are among the companies selling these private-jet membership services. These companies essentially sell prepaid blocks of travel on small aircraft -- like Cessna Citation jets that seat six and Gulfstream IVs that seat 14 and can accommodate a flight attendant.
Prices vary and can be difficult to compare, but they generally start at about US$100,000 for about 25 hours of flight time. Gourmet catering is included.
While those prices average out to well above first-class fares on scheduled airlines, the companies promote their services as a novel way, amid a sluggish economy and corporate belt-tightening, to fly privately without some of the expense of owning a jet outright or having a fractional share in one. They also bill their newer and plentiful planes as better alternatives to those of traditional charter services.
Sentient, based in Norwell, Massachusetts, said it signed up over 200 more customers in March than it did in the same month last year.
The company, which T.H. Lee Putnam Ventures, a New York investment firm, bought this month from a unit of Credit Suisse First Boston and other investors, now has 1,300 customers, divided almost equally between corporations and wealthy individuals. Harvey Golub, the chairman of T.H. Lee Putnam Ventures, is a former chief executive of American Express.
Sept. 11 effect
"People are really looking for security and convenience," said Mark Stone, the chief executive of Sentient, which was formerly known as eBizJets. He said the company's total revenue since the week after Sept. 11, 2001, has been about US$100 million, and that the company has been profitable since the second half of 2001.
He declined to provide further details, saying only that sales for last year rose 78 percent from the previous year.
Marquis, a privately held company based in New York, said its sign-up rate for new members more than tripled in March from the month a year earlier. The company says that it has 600 customers -- about 500 of them individuals and the rest corporations -- and that it became profitable last month, ahead of its year-end target.
Total revenue since it opened for business in June 2001 has been about US$105 million, said Kenneth Austin, the executive vice president. He added that the company was nearly "one year ahead" of its original revenue projections, but declined to disclose further details.
He said Marquis had been growing so fast because "people just can't get from here to there commercially anymore."
Or at least not as quickly. Major airlines have been paring back their schedules to save money, making commercial flights less convenient for some frequent travelers. Delta Air Lines, for example, cut its regular service by 12 percent last month.
In addition to offering service on demand, private jet services also help travelers avoid airport delays. The services, including Delta's own, often fly to many of the nation's 5,000 tiny municipal airports and airfields, away from congested commercial-airline hubs and clogged security checkpoints.
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