Airplane Charter

The air charter industry began as corporate air charter. Private air charter now is used by many others as well. There are individuals, business executives, sports teams and entertainers that use it. Airplane charter also is used for cargo, freight, air ambulance and organ donation flights.

This type of flying is known by a few other names, such as air taxi, jet charter and executive charter. Whatever you want to call it, it is all the same thing.

Air charter has many of the benefits of airplane ownership, but without all of the costs. There are several methods. The traditional method is on demand charter. That method is a pay as you go system. As the person chartering the flight, you book an airplane to take you from one place to another. You either pay before your flight or afterward. Aircraft charter rates can vary, so it definitely is worth taking the time to search for a better price. You are able to reserve your flight using either a local charter flight operator or one of the many air charter brokers who operate nationally.

Jet cards are another option. They serve as flight debit cards. First you need to put down a couple of hundred thousand dollars. After you do so you will get to fly on a certain type of airplane for a predetermined number of flight hours. If you do not use all of your flight hours by their expiration date, they will expire or you will get a refund for your unused balance.

Fractional ownership programs also have become popular. With those you will own an interest in an airplane or a type of aircraft, along with a few other people. The shared aircraft are owned by the air charter companies. Those companies will maintain the airplanes and provide the pilots, flight crews and catering for you.

In fractional ownership programs you will purchase an exact share, which usually will be somewhere from 1/16 to 1/2. That purchase will get you the usage of an aircraft for a predetermined number of flight hours. The usual minimum number of hours is about 50 per year. In addition, you will have to pay for each of your flight hours. On top of that you will pay for fuel and flight fees.

Today jet charter planes come in a wide variety of different sizes. The larger jet planes are called heavy jets. There are other jets called medium jets and light jets. The smallest jet today is the very light jet, which usually is called a VLJ. If you decide that jet flights are going to cost more than you want to spend, you always can decide to become a fractional owner of a single-engine piston airplane instead.

If you plan a shorter trip, then a helicopter charter might be right. The aircraft charter service has grown rapidly in recent years with the vast spread of the Internet. Now the information on the locations and availability of different aircraft is accessible nationally. Instead of your having just a few yellow pages choices, you now can go online or can let one of the air charter brokers find a flight for you.