Page 40 - 914INC Q2 - 2016

THE BUSINESS OF
Clear Skies Ahead for
Private Aviation
Comfort, convenience, safety, and time savings await private-aviation customers. By Dave Donelson
38 914INC. Q2 2016
“This is a tremendous time to be in aviation,” according to Cory Rossi, who, with his wife, Shari, owns Eagle Air, a charter operator based at Westchester County Airport (HPN) in White Plains. He joins a chorus of executives in the local private- aviation industry who say business is
booming due to several factors.
“It’s a very large business in this area,” says Linda Schiavone, charter sales manager for White Cloud Charter, which is also based at HPN. “Just think about the number of major corporations and wealthy individuals; this is the area for it.” According to Rossi, HPN is the third-busiest airport in the country in terms of non-airline flights. Only Teterboro Airport in New Jersey and Van Nuys Airport in California boast
more private traffic.
According to the FAA, there were
about 125,000 charter, air taxi, and private flights at HPN in 2014, which
represented 82 percent of the total takeoffs and landings there. What’s more, they carried more passengers than did the scheduled airlines.
It’s not hard to see why private aviation is growing in popular- ity: Anyone who suffers the agi- tation of flying commercial from LaGuardia Airport (LGA)—which Vice President Joseph Biden once de- scribed as reminiscent of something in a Third World country—could attest to that. Much the same holds true for JFK and Newark. “The all- day hassle with a two-hour flight in- between is becoming more and more common,” Rossi points out. “Our cli- entele recognizes this and says: ‘First class isn’t at the level it once was.’”
Eagle’s customers, like those of other charter companies we spoke with, experience something entirely different. Rossi describes the charter experience like this: “Let’s say you live within a 20-minute drive to Westchester airport. Your car drives right on the tarmac to the aircraft; the
red carpet is rolled out; your catering is on board; and you have WiFi on the plane. The ground crew will handle your bags and park your car, and the plane will depart within 10 minutes of boarding. At your destination, you will have the same experience on the ground.” Sure, it costs more, but what is your time and comfort worth?
The private-aviation business isn’t monolithic. Some companies, like White Cloud, charter only their own planes, which are also at the (occasional) call of the company’s corporate parent, Conair Corporation. Others, like Aircraft Services Group, operate and manage planes owned by others, providing everything from crews to maintenance, as well as charter service for the aircraft, much like a vacation-home owner who rents out a condo when they’re not using it. Eagle Air does both, as does Tradewind Aviation, which is based in Oxford, Connecticut, but offers flights from HPN.
Tradewind Aviation