From Saudi Excess to Eco-Travel: Private Jets Year in Review
Written by Amy Gunderson 12/06/2007
Private flying in 2007 was nothing less than extreme. A new class of
ultra-light planes, personal jumbo jets, and billion dollar deals
for fleets of aircraft all made headlines this year. The past 12
months also saw jet companies launching green initiatives as the
phrase “carbon-offset” became part of the private flyer lingo. And
as the year closed down, the entrance of marketing behemoth Virgin
into the charter business threatened to turn private aviation on its
head in 2008. It was a wild ride this year and here is a look back
at the biggest stories.
VLJs roll out, redefine cramped leg-room
Ok, so you thought private flying was all about comfort: sipping
champagne, being able to spread out your work files, or toting along
a masseuse for an in-flight neck rub. Sure that’s true, just don’t
expect to do that on a very light jet, the latest breed of
affordable aircraft launched this year. Also, don’t plan on standing
up for very long, or using the restroom. What VLJs lack in leg
stretching spaciousness they make up for in price. The Eclipse 500
is going for $1.6 million, less than the price of many one-bedroom
condos in Manhattan, while fractional provider OurPLANE took
delivery of its first plane this fall and Jet-Alliance prepared to
offer quarter shares of a VLJ for $450,000. DayJet also launched the
air taxi concept, which is just what it sounds like, using a fleet
of VLJs for regularly scheduled charter service on short haul routes
that have been underserved by the commercial airline market.
Private flying turns a lighter shade of green
Traveling on a private jet is an inherently un-green way to get
around, of course. Hey, if you were a real treehugger you’d still be
waiting for your carpool to show up or figuring out how much it
costs to offset the carbon output of your Southwest flight. We at
Helium Report aren’t under the illusion that private flying could
ever be truly green, that is until a Gulfstream 450 can be powered
off of used french fry cooking oil, but we have taken notice of jet
companies that made green moves this year. In September we reported
that fractional ownership jet provider, NetJets Europe, announced a
major eco-travel initiative requiring all new and existing private
jet clients to pay some €4,000 per year to offset their carbon
footprints. NetJets also began to fund Princeton University’s Carbon
Mitigation Initiative, which investigates green jet fuel
technologies for commercial and private jet use (perhaps our french
fry oil powered plane isn’t a pipe dream after all?)
There were other industry green moves. Executive Charter Services
started buying carbon offsetting TerraPasses for clients in January.
Avantair also partnered with Terrapass to become the first provider
of fractional-share planes to offset carbon emissions. Air charter
Le Bas International launched their Carbon-Zero JetCard, and charter
company Jets.com linked with Carbonfund.org to create its Carbon
Neutral Flights Program, where flyers can pay a bit more for their
flight but in return know that a portion of their flight costs are
going towards reforestation programs across America. We also
embarked on our own carbon offsetting quest, calculating the cost of
offsetting an hour of private flying on a private jet. We found that
it didn’t cost much at all, ranging from $7 to $60 an hour which is
literally pocket change considering an hour of air time in a private
jet can run up to $13,000.
Billion is the new million for jet orders
2007 will go down as the year of free spending for jet companies. In
September charter company XOJet inked a $600 million deal with
Cessna for 30 new Citation X jets and the following day announced
that it was ordering 20 Challenger 300 jets from Bombardier for $450
million, with options for an additional 60 aircraft. The total value
is an estimated $1.9 billion. The shopping spree came on the heels
of a jumbo $363 million round of financing from TPG and Lehman
Brothers GPS. Delivery of those swanky new Cessna’s should be
wrapped up by 2010.
Not to be outdone, Flight Options in December announced that it has
made a similarly eye popping deal with Brazilian plane manufacturer,
Embraer for 100 of is Phenom 300 jets and options for 50 more
models. If all of the options are exercised, the deal would top $1
billion.
Virgin finds one area that it hasn’t dominated: Charter flights
We fly Virgin to Europe and now fly Virgin’s new domestic airline
from San Francisco to New York. We’ve drank the cola, seen ads for
its cell phone service, and dreamed about a holiday bonus large
enough to fund a space trip with Sir Richard through his Virgin
Galactic project. But the one thing we haven’t done is booked a
private flight through the Branson empire.
But wait! The void will be filled in early 2008. This fall, Virgin
Charter formed bringing the branding machine to the world of private
aviation. We met with Virgin Charter CEO Scott Duffy and over a taco
lunch, he shared the Virgin vision. In short: total domination.
Think of it as Expedia for the private flying set. The company is
aiming to increase competition among the 2,500 existing private jet
charter operators all without requiring Virgin Charter to own or
operate a single plane. Our favorite talked about feature: a rating
system that will both individually evaluate the safety and consumer
feedback on a given charter provider. Customers will be able to rate
their flying experiences but Virgin also gives the jet companies a
mouthpiece since they’ll be able to rate those same consumers. A
word of advice: Be nice to the flight attendant.
Saudi Prince drops a few hundred million on a plane. Yes, just
one.
Oh, those Saudi royals. They certainly know how to get around in
style. Like many fliers, we were drooling over the new Airbus 380,
with its cool double decker design and photos of first class cabins
with full-sized beds sprinkled with rose petals. In fact we were
plotting how we could finagle a business trip to Asia on Singapore
Airlines, the first airline to fly the new model, when news broke
that Prince Alwaleed bin Talal was forgoing the whole airline
ticketing process altogether and simply buying an A380 for himself.
The plane costs in excess of $300 million, though the minds at
Helium Report think that the price tag could likely top $400 million
once it gets a polished interior design, and well, a hot tub (a must
have, we think, for any long haul flight).
Sure a personal jumbo jet seems a little excessive, but we were
happy to hear that the Prince had made his purchase. For starters it
got everyone to stop talking about the Google plane, a Boeing 767
owned by the billionaire founders, and prepared us to not gasp when
we hear about other billionaires purchasing other gigantic aircraft
for personal use. After all the Dreamliner, the latest jumbo jet
from Boeing, is set to roll out soon.
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