February 01, 1999
Meetings & Conventions Charter Members February
1999

February 1999

Charter Members
Want more control over air transportation? Hire your own
plane and the sky’s the limit
By Lisa Grimaldi
When Lexye Aversa learned commercial flights to and from the
Canary Islands required “long and burdensome connections,” she
considered chartering an aircraft instead. Aversa, president of
Professional Touch International, a Berkeley Heights, N.J.-based
incentive firm, was convinced that commercial flights wouldn’t do
when she learned her client a high-end incentive group would have
to depart at dawn to make the flight home.
“With a chartered jet, they’d be able to leave in the afternoon
the participants would, in effect, be getting an extra day,” she
says.
Rigid commercial airline scheduling is just one of the reasons
planners like Aversa have gone the charter route. Dawn Levesque, a
meeting planner at Moline, Ill.-based John Deere & Company,
often relies on charters for “moving a lot of people from point A
to point B particularly when those points are in destinations with
little or no commercially scheduled flights. When we have to bring
clients or employees to headquarters or to factories, [chartering]
can mean the difference between two hours of flying time and eight,
when you factor in connections, layovers, etc.,” she adds.
Among the other benefits: The group can stay together for the
duration of the program or meeting, with no need for staggered
arrivals and departures; there’s no ticketing process; inflight
catering can be upgraded (at additional cost), and aircraft cabins
can be customized with banners and other decorations welcoming the
group.
Other points to consider:
" Safety: “In the United States, charter
aircraft are more fully regulated by the Federal Aviation
Administration than commercial airlines,” says Fred Gervalt,
president of Boston Aviation Services, publishers of The Air
Charter Guide (see “Need a Lift?” on page 74). To determine
whether a company is reputable, “Look for how long it has been in
business, the age of its fleet and the ratio of part-time pilots to
full-time pilots,” he says.
" Cost: Most planners and charter operators say
there is no significant cost advantage to using a charter aircraft
over commercial carriers. “It’s not the main reason to look into
chartering,” says Aversa. However, Dawn Levesque has found on a few
occasions that the cost was about equal to what it would be to fly
the same number of employees on a commercial carrier with volume
discounts.
Included in the basic price (which is quoted per aircraft, not
per passenger): fuel, pilots, cabin crew and standard catering.
Some charter airlines have their own gate personnel, on-site
customer service reps and contracts with baggage handlers. If these
services are not included, charter brokers can make the
arrangements.
“Chartering is not something for the inexperienced,” says Lexye
Aversa. “A planner should know airports and understand time
changes, gate slots and details such as peak usage of aircraft
flying into a destination before they consider it.”
The chartered skies
To find planes for hire, planners can use charter brokers, who
represent all types of aircraft providers, or travel agents. Or,
they can book directly with charter companies without going through
middlemen.
Another resource: commercial airlines. Many have special group
charter departments. “However, their planes are not as readily
available [craft availability fluctuates seasonally], and pricing
isn’t as great as charter-only firms,” cautions Kelly Brooks, vice
president of marketing for Flight Time International, a Waltham,
Mass.-based charter broker.
Following is a list of charter suppliers that handle meeting and
incentive groups.
BROKERS
CSI AVIATION SERVICES, INC.
Albuquerque, N.M.
(505) 761-9000
Fax: (505) 344-1906
(www.chartersvcs.com)
FLIGHT TIME INTERNATIONAL
Waltham, Mass.
(800) 445-0404
(781) 891-0405
Fax: (781) 891-9540
(www.flighttime.com)
Fleet: In addition to representing charter and commercial airlines,
Flight Time has its own fleet of nine planes available for
charters: one 727-200 and eight large turboprop planes (seating 50
or fewer).
CHARTER AIRLINES
AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL AIRWAYS
Ypsilanti, Mich.
(800) 521-1590
Fax: (734) 544-3404
(www.kalitta.com)
Fleet: Two L1011s
NORTH AMERICAN AIRLINES
New York City
(718) 656-2650
(718) 995 3372
(www.northamair.com)
Fleet: Two B757s, one B737, with another B737 to be added next
month
MIAMI AIR INTERNATIONAL
Miami
(305) 876-3600
(305) 871-4222
(www.miamiair.com)
Fleet: Seven B727-200s
SUN COUNTRY AIRLINES
Minneapolis
(800) 743-7848
(651) 681-3905
Fax: (651) 681-3970
(www.suncountry.com)
Fleet: 11 B727-200s, four DC10s
TRANSMERIDIAN AIRLINES
Atlanta
(888) 732-5939
(770) 732-6906
Fax: (770) 732-6956
(www.transmeridian-airlines.com)
Fleet: Eight A320s
UPS AIRLINES
Louisville, Ky. (UPS headquarters is in Atlanta)
(502) 359-7929
Fax: (502) 359-8492
(www.ups.com)
Fleet: Five 727-100s are converted from cargo planes into passenger
craft Fridays through Mondays.
COMMERCIAL AIRLINES
The following are among the U.S.-based commercial carriers that
offer charter service. (Where not noted, fleet availability
fluctuates.)
AMERICAN TRANS AIR
Indianapolis
(317) 243-4150
Fax: (317) 254-4164
(www.ata.com)
Fleet: Charters account for more than 50 percent of ATA’s business.
In use are 24 727-200s, eight 757s and 14 L1011s, with five
additional L1011s to be added over the next few years.
CONTINENTAL AIRLINES
Houston
(713) 834-6647
Fax: (713) 834-6311
(www.flycontinental.com)
DELTA AIR LINES
Atlanta
(404) 715-2652
Fax: (404) 715-2338
(www.delta-air.com)
MIDWEST EXPRESS
Milwaukee
(414) 570-3654
Fax: (414) 570-9606
(www.midwestexpress.com)
NORTHWEST AIRLINES
Minneapolis
(612) 726-6757
Fax: (612) 726-6759
(www.nwa.com)
UNITED AIRLINES
Chicago
(847) 700-5756
Fax: (847) 700-7013
(www.ual.com)
US AIRWAYS
Pittsburgh
(The airline’s headquarters is in Arlington, Va.)
(412) 747-5972
Fax: (412) 747-1481
(www.usair.com)
Charter
chatter
When chartering aircraft, it’s
helpful to know some of the lingo. Among the key terms:
Single entity: One sponsor is paying for the
charter passengers are not contributing to the cost. Incentive
groups and sports teams are prime examples of single-entity
charters.
Pro rata: An affinity group such as an alumni
organization charters the plane, and the cost is divided among the
individuals.
Public: Open to the public individuals pay for
their seats.
Direct load: Loading passengers onto aircraft
without going through the airport terminal. This is restricted to
single-entity charters and subject to approval of the airport.
Fixed-base operator (FOB): A facility separate
from the main terminal, primarily used for charter aircraft with
fewer than 30 seats.
Part 121: FAA regulations governing operation
of aircraft with passenger-seating configuration of more than 30
seats.
Part 135: FAA regulations governing operation
of aircraft with maximum passenger configuration of 30 seats.
Pitch: Distance from any point on an airline
seat to the corresponding point on the seat in front or behind it,
measured in inches as a gauge of comfort for passengers.
Slot: Authorization granted by an airport or
air traffic controller for an aircraft to land or take off at a
specific time.
L.G.
Pick a
plane
Types of aircraft available for charter in the United
States
Aircraft
typeRangeApproximate #
of seats
DC9
3 hours
90
B737
3 hours
120
B727-100
4 hours
118
B727-200
4.5 hours
170
A320
5 hours
170
B757
6 hours
214
L1011
8-10 hours
360
DC10
8-10 hours
380
B747
14+ hours
470
Regional
jet
2.5 hours
50
Source: Waltham,
Mass.-based charter broker Flight Time International
Need a
lift?The Air Charter Guide,
published by Cambridge, Mass.-based Boston Aviation Services
(617-547-5811,
www.guides.com/acg), lists more
than 16,000 aircraft charter firms worldwide. The directory, which
is updated annually, is available in print ($185) or CD-Rom ($275).
A free executive pocket edition is also available.
L.G.
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