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Evaluating Air Taxi and Air
Charter Choices
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Class(es) of Travel Aircraft Charter companies
certified under part 135 can make their aircraft available for hire to
individuals on a per seat basis but they are prevented by FAA
regulation from publishing scheduled trips. Partly because
of this limitation, which differentiates air taxi from scheduled
airlines, they have in the past been unable to successfully market
individual seats in a Ride Sharing arrangement.
But there is a need for on demand air transportation
per seat or per portion of the aircraft. Our software asks the
Requester to indicate which class of travel they prefer: These selections help aircraft operators understand the Requester's need and to determine how best to bid for a trip. An operator who only provides “Aircraft Charter” would not consider submitting a bid on a Travel Request that lists “Ride Sharing” as the preferred class of travel. On the other hand an operator who has an aircraft available with a few empty seats may actively search our database to find a Ride Sharing request and submit a bid for that request. Selection of these options helps make our automated system work by allowing computerized searching of the two classes of requests - Aircraft Charter" and "Ride Sharing." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What's the difference between air taxi and air charter? "The term Air Taxi is a catch all phrase that refers to the renting of an entire aircraft, or aircraft seats in smaller aircraft. While the airlines specialize in selling transportation by the seat, air taxi companies focus on small groups for specialized itineraries, urgent / time sensitive freight or cargo, air ambulance and any other form of ad hoc air transportation. You may sometimes hear "Air Taxi" referred to as a service where a traveler can fly and forget the aircraft that brought them and pick up another airplane, possibly belonging to another operator, for the return trip. In this definition the consumer would not be responsible to pay for any portion of the trip except for those legs where they actually occupy the aircraft. We'll have to wait until the air taxi business matures to see what the official definition becomes. "The term Air Charter is a catch all phrase that refers to the renting of an entire aircraft vs. individual aircraft seats. While the Airlines specialize in selling transportation by the seat, air charter companies focus on small groups for specialized itineraries, urgent / time sensitive feight or cargo, air ambulance and any other form of ad hoc air transportation. Generally speaking, air charter is also known as air taxi, executive charter, jet charter and more broadly as private aviation. In the United States air charter / air taxi is governed by Part 135 of the FARs (the Federal Aviation Regulations), unlike the larger scheduled airlines, which are governed by more stringent standards of Part 121 of the FARs, which are regulations designed for scheduled air carriers. " - From Wikipedia.org. Introduction to Air Charter
A consumer's guide by NBAA (National Business Aviation Association) Air taxi/air charter guide. By the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) For more information about General Aviation and
how it can benefit you click here. "Any air taxi operator that offers services to the public must by law be certified by the FAA and meet stringent operational, maintenance, and safety rules. In addition, the pilots must be specifically qualified. The regulations for air taxis provide for a high level of safety and control. They address flight operations, maintenance requirements, and crew member training and testing. The FAR's also address crew rest, physical examinations, and mandate a stringent anti-drug program for operators. The FAA closely monitors air taxi operators to make sure that they conform to the established standards of performance. Your safety depends on flying with a legally certified air taxi operator." - Excerpt from FAA Airtaxi/air charter guide. The FAA definition: Air Taxi: An aircraft operator who conducts operations for hire or compensation in accordance with 14 CFR 135 (for safety purposes) or FAR Part 135 (for economic regulations/reporting purposes) in an aircraft with 30 or fewer passenger seats and a payload capacity of 7,500 pounds or less. An air taxi operates on an on-demand basis. Taxijet.com pre-screens every applicant operator to determine that their Air Carrier Certificate is valid before they are allowed to submit bids or Empty Legs through our system! Air Carrier Operators certified under "CFR part 121" (scheduled airlines) can set a rigid schedule to fly their aircraft while those operated under CFR part 135 (on demand air charter/air taxi) have some regulatory restrictions on their scheduling options. Part 135 operators generally will charter their entire aircraft but may be allowed, under some circumstances, to sell travel on a per seat basis. Often Travel Agencies will charter an aircraft and then sell the seats to their customers individually.With "the synergies of a number of technological advancements many aviation professionals forsee the middle class traveling easily and with much less expense than is currently possible, using VLJs (Very Light Jets) and other types of comparatively inexpensive aircraft. New technologies in engine design, airframe manufacturing methods, computer aided design and avionics as well as ATC upgrades, many say, will come together to drastically reduce cost while increasing efficiency, comfort and safety. These aircraft (Such as the Eclipse 500) are said easier to fly and much cheaper to produce than current production jets. 5,400 small airports across the United States make point-to-point air travel on smaller jets quicker for travelers than the airline hub and spoke system. Next generation avionics and systems may also make these small airports accessible even in poor weather conditions." - From Wikipedia.org. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pricing
We believe that price regulation will happen naturally in the Taxijet business model. Local operators will create their own pricing cooperatives and establish a "standard pricing" for certain routes. Air travel operators will know what they can expect for payment and passengers will come to expect that price as the standard for a given route. A price fixed at a competitive rate will deter other operators from entering that market. As the level of customer demand exceeds available aircraft the price will naturally increase and more operators will consider moving in, bringing the price down. The operators who can keep their costs low will make the highest profits and be able to expand their operations bringing their efficiencies to more customers. Lower prices will draw more passengers away from ground transportation. More passengers equates to higher profits and more efficient use of aircraft.
The bidding process takes many variables into account in a simple way that is already understood by customers and air taxi operators. Operators set a price they can live with and the system works automatically. We plan to have a way for cooperative air travel operators to set their "standard price" for immediate booking on certain flights. There are still variables, such as; aircraft and pilot availability, that may make this guaranteed price unavailable for certain dates or times of day. There is a way for passengers to make an offer for a flight. A high offer will help ensure rapid response and a low offer might just find an open seat.
Operators don't know all of your needs and limitations so their initial bid might be off base from your expectations. Don't be surprised if you get a bid that costs 50% more than you are willing to pay. Sticker Shock is common for those new to Aircraft Charter. Every Operator has different pricing, scheduling and positioning issues to deal with. You could get two separate bids for identical aircraft flown by identical pilots in identical operations but the total price is wildly more expensive for one than the other. This disparity is probably due to inefficient positioning of the one aircraft. If the price is way beyond your means just ignore that bid and concentrate on the others that fill your need in your price range.
The public will define a formula where convenience, enjoyment and time saved using on demand air travel will equate to a dollar value to be added to the cost of slower means of transportation, to include airline and ground travel. If a traveler's time is worth $100/hr, for example, a car trip that takes 8 hours will "cost" him/her $800. A small aircraft may take only 3 hours for the same trip for a savings of $500. Three persons traveling together would save $1,500 worth of time. |