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Aviation Industry, Blog, Private Jets

Did you know: private jets save lives more often than they fly the rich?

Posted on by Ivanna Nikolskaya

The concept of a private charter flight can indeed be misleading. Frequently it’s seen as a luxury, designed for the surpassingly wealthy and inaccessible to most. If that were true, many business people would consider private flight impractical and unnecessary. In fact, most private jets are owned by corporations or chartered for business or private needs. They provide access to airports that aren’t served by airlines, allowing companies to run their businesses more efficiently.

Since the pandemic still impacts the way we move around the world, we witness a change in priorities, as more and more travelers seek out private jet services for the first time. Turns out, it’s more practical and not as expensive as they might have expected.

While private jet flights are becoming more popular, more people talk about them. This also means that a large number of misconceptions in the industry have emerged. Let’s take a look at some of the most common myths about private jets that your customers may have heard, and debunk these false assumptions about private aviation.

1. People who fly on private jets are champagne-drinking superstars or those who consider themselves as such.

Many people — including travelers who have paid a large sum for a first-class seat on a commercial airline — see private jets at airports and immediately conclude that they belong to the rich and famous. Reality shows and music videos give us glimpses of the richest people flying on private jets to paradisiacal destinations just as often as some of us make our morning commute to work. In fact, most private carriers offer charter flights for business. This can be as much about important business meetings for which the entire team travels, transporting the most detailed, time-critical and valuable items, as it’s about vital medical and healthcare charters. Medical personnel and cargo need fast transportation solutions to arrive on time when punctuality is needed most. These flights actually save lives!

2. Private jet flights are only for the super-rich.

As a matter of fact, private charter services are used for various business needs and mainly involve a whole team of professionals or business people, not one person who buys the flight. Besides, you don’t have to own a private jet to fly it. This means that you only buy the flight you need and use the plane for your specific trip. The cost of traveling on a commercial flight for a business team can sometimes be almost equivalent to traveling on a private jet, and the time savings and efficiency gains in this case are priceless.

3. A private jet flight is pure luxury.

In reality, private jet charter services are not just cost-effective and justifiable for business, they are also very likely to be vital. Particularly when it comes to cargo and ambulance flights. Hiring a private jet for the medical branch has a lot of advantages, including last-minute flights for medical personnel, researchers and virologists as well as transporting organs, blood supplies, medications and other urgent medical supplies.

Another advantage is that in a private jet, the on-board courier can accompany the precious cargo if necessary and ensure that it is delivered safely. Furthermore, during the pandemic certain private carriers offer some of their individual services for free to support the medical sector.

4. The number one environmental pollutant — is private jet.

Private planes are often criticized for being bad for the environment; it is claimed that they pollute excessively and should be banned. However, they are no more harmful than driving a car or heating a house. Business aviation accounts for 0.04% of all global emissions, while there are considerably more polluting and inefficient industries that produce far more environmental damage.

Criticism of private jets is nothing new, but the changes that have taken place in the industry over the past 50 years are significant. Carbon offset programs are most common among charter companies and are used as a way to reduce pollution. Many large charter brokers around the world report on their offsetting programs. Given the current state of the environment, as well as shifts in public opinion, the industry is buzzing with interesting ideas and developments aimed at making private aviation greener. The aviation future is bright; researchers, manufacturers, and operators take real steps to reduce the environmental impact of private aircraft both now and in the years to come.

5. Hiring a private jet is inefficient and overpriced.

Commercial flights for business indirectly increase the travel costs for full-time employees by adding car rental, hotel, per diem for each traveling team member and a full day of round-trip travel to the price of airfare. That adds up to three days out of the office for just one meeting. Unlike commercial airlines, private jets don’t fly on a rigid schedule, taking multiple flights per day. Private jet routes aren’t bound by the need to connect passengers at hubs. As a result, private planes are much less susceptible to flight delays and cancellations. In addition, the ones used are often more conveniently located, allowing you to get to your actual destination much faster.

So in many cases, it turns out that traveling on a private jet becomes equivalent in cost to buying a first-class ticket on a regular commercial flight, and the gains in time are immeasurable. Moreover, booking a private jet means you know the full cost up front, unlike many commercial airlines, which charge various hidden costs on top of the ticket price. Besides, team members can have meetings and continue to work with each other aboard the private jet on their way to the business meeting, which is often not possible on a commercial flight. This allows for the most productive time possible, and is another reason why traveling on a private jet can be efficient and even cost-effective for many companies.

Let’s MOVE THE SKY together, free of misconceptions!

There are a number of other misconceptions about private jets, such as safety issues, a limited list of destinations, confusing pricing and the difficulty of booking. Oddly enough, these myths are mostly invented and propagated by those who have never traveled this way and therefore can’t really say much that’s accurate. And now the complexity of booking flights is a thing of the past, thanks to VOO’s revolutionary B2B platform for direct search, booking, management and straight payment on private jet flights.

Since debunking these misconceptions is so easy, it’s time to realize that traveling by private jet may be the ideal solution best suited to you and your company’s needs.

(C) photocredit: Dassault Aviation