Mark Hampton owns a growing events management company with more than 300 full time employees nationwide. These one-of-a kind events range in scale from corporate product launches to political fundraisers to Hollywood movie premiers. It’s often a juggling act when multiple high-profile events are taking place within days of one another and in different cities across the country. Hampton literally needs to be in several places at once. Since that can’t happen, he leaves nothing to chance when it comes to travel arrangements for himself and his clients.
“It just didn’t make sense to fly commercial. We would waste so much time in transit and dealing with the hassles of security. Not to mention the flight delays. It simply wasn’t reliable,” explains Hampton. “Private jet travel gives us more control over our travel schedule and we can maintain productivity while in flight.”
According to Hampton, he has tried them all, and as of late on-demand charter has been his method of choice. Hampton averages about 50 flight hours a year and he primarily uses light jets—which carry 6-8 passengers and average 1,500 miles per leg.
One of Hamptons’ business partners owns a fractional share which is what got them hooked on private jet charter, but because he occasionally needs more than one aircraft at the same time it made more sense to consider a block hour or jet card program.
A growing number of companies are realizing that private jet charter is an attractive alternative to commercial aviation. And thanks to prime time advertising, private jets are entering the main stream. But with so many choices–including fractional ownership, block hour, jet card and demand–how do you know what makes most sense for you?
Jet Card programs allow you to gain some more flexibility without the commitment of owning an aircraft. However you need to make an initial investment to enroll in the program. Hampton considered purchasing a jet card but his accountant quickly pointed out that it didn’t make sense to tie up $100,000 for future travel when the money could be better used in the present.
“On-demand charter essentially lowers the barrier of entry for those who don’t want to make a capital investment, “explains Kevin Godlewski, President of Executive Charter Services. “It used to be the case that rates were significantly higher because of empty leg charges but with so much excess inventory on the market, the playing field has been leveled.
Until recently, the only way you could get guaranteed pricing was to be part of a membership program. In fact Executive Charter Services is one of the first to offer guaranteed pricing comparable to membership and jet card programs.
“It is really the best of all worlds. We get access to world-class jets, nationwide availability, amazing attention to detail and the price is right,” explains Hampton.
Godlewski admits that for mid and large jets it is not cost effective to offer guaranteed pricing, but they do offer competitive rates. Executive Charter Services is able to negotiate significant discounts for clients because of partnerships and sheer volume of trips. Additionally, if you know you are going to be flying a specific route on a regular basis, ECS can develop a custom program for you.
“Trust me when I tell you that as a growing company with our eye on the bottom line we are totally price conscious and we needed someone who was accessible and reliable. For those reasons, Executive Charter Services was a no-brainer,” explains Hampton.
