Friendly Skies

You think your little corporate jet’s impressive? Step aboard a private Boeing 767 or new Airbus 380 designed just for you. Fly right!

By Daniel McGinn
Newsweek

Oct. 1, 2007 issue – For business travelers, the last few months have been the summer from hell—a time of endless flight delays, tarmac gridlock and overstuffed planes. But as so many frequent fliers have come to dread their next trip, the fortunate fliers who patronize Gore Design Completions can’t wait for the next one. Gore builds customized interiors for the large jetliners that heads of state, corporate chiefs and billionaires have begun turning into private flying apartments. It’s a rarefied business, but lately it’s soaring. In the past three years, Gore has grown from 50 employees to 320. Revenue was just $23 million last year, but is expected to surpass $100 million in 2008.

Today Gore’s hangar is filled with five half-completed jets—and it’s fully booked with work until nearly 2010. “We’re about maxed out,” says cofounder Jerry Gore. Aviation has always been a boom-and-bust business, but lately things have been looking up. In October Airbus will deliver its first A380, a gargantuan double-decker plane capable of ferrying 555 passengers nonstop from Los Angeles to Sydney. Later this fall Boeing will begin test flights of its new 787, a revolutionary jet made of carbon-fiber composites that Boeing promises will fly passengers longer distances more comfortably while using far less fuel than existing planes. Airlines are lining up to order both new jets.

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What billionaire boys do with their jets

Oliver Warren – TIMES ONLINE

Larry Page and Sergey Brin may have secured a Nasa landing spot for their personal planes that is the envy of their Silicon Valley colleagues, but in the field of private jet oneupmanship their achievement is relatively modest. John Travolta, who has his own pilot’s licence and is well known as an ambassador for the Australian airline Qantas, demonstrated his enthusiasm for flying by naming his son Jett. His five planes, which include a customised Boeing 707, are within even easier reach than the Google jet – they are kept on the driveway of his house, which has a full-length runway complete with a replica 1950s airport lounge.

Even Travolta, however, is outclassed by some super-rich jet owners. Airbus revealed earlier this year that they have received an order from a private client for one of their new A380s. The plane, worth £150m, is the largest passenger aircraft in the world, capable when used commercially of carrying up to 800 economy-class passengers. Its size makes it unable to land at most airports. Various designs for private use, which would add up to £200m to the price, have been proposed, including plans for two en-suite bedrooms (one with its own hot tub), two dining rooms, an office, a library, a gym with its own sauna, and a stateroom, as well as quarters for eight crew members.

Times Online

Not all jet owners have their personal convenience in mind. Emergency medical transport is available from several private jet charter companies and the Corporate Angel Network is a great resource for corporate flight departments to donate empty seats on aircraft so cancer patients can catch a lift to medical appointments.

The sky’s the limit with company perks

When it comes to company perks and employee incentive programs, many savvy companies offer Carbon Offsets as a perk. Take 37 year old Darby Wood, who travels coast-to-coast 4 times annually. She was offered a $100 gift certificate to “insert restaurant chain“. However, she opted to offset her carbon footprint through TerraPass. And she’s not alone.

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Fly the miserable skies

AFTER THE WORST six months of airline delays in history, travelers have a right to expect Washington to help reduce the congestion that can leave passengers sitting in stifling airplanes on the tarmac for hours. Letting the airlines book as many flights as they want into overcrowded airports is simply not working, especially when bad weather at hubs can cascade into nationwide backups. The Federal Aviation Administration should work with airlines to reduce peak-period use at all the bottleneck airports, either through peak-hour fees on flights or by auctioning off the rights to takeoffs and landings at rush hours. If the airlines balk, the agency should get power from Congress to mandate such measures.

Congress also has a crucial decision to make: how to fund the $15 billion to $25 billion cost of modernizing air traffic control with a shift from a radar system to a satellite-based one. While the improvement will not ease congestion for years, if then, one part of the FAA’s funding plan – a new user fee for corporate jets and small private aircraft at the nation’s busiest airports – could have an immediate payoff in delay reduction.

Read the Boston Globe Editorial