Families flying private is becoming a trend in developed countries:Aviation firms confirm that about 35 percent of their flights this year are for personal travel. Here are 10 why families leave commercial air travel and fly solo.
1. Ultimate Bonding Experience
Events like the Masters Golf Tournament, and Super Bowl are big draws for executives because these become bonding experiences for the whole family. The bonding activitycould also be as simple as renting a remote island.
2.Customized College Tours
With private aircraft able to land in multiple airfields in a single day, parents with teenage kids are turning to private flight for college tours. On hindsight, this could be even more practical as it will save them time from airport transfers. The time savings were important, according to a Wheels Up client.
3.Health and Wellness
Around 30% of sales is caused by last-minute emergency flights,”says Ben Schusterman, CEO of ElJet, a charter-brokerage company. This is most likely for visiting a dying or ill family member.
Traveling on a private jet also reduces stress caused by flying, which can be physically taxing for a sick passenger.
4.Security and Safety
The private aviation industry holds a reputation for strong safety record that go beyond federal regulations—an important attribute for affluent families.When parents send younger children to summer camps via a private jet, they are being closely looked after by the flight crew.
5.Celebrations
Grand weddings are now a thing for financially able families. For instance, a Sentinent Jet Card client, attorney Neal Pendergraft, has recently flew his family to Texas to attend a wedding, and have mentioned that he has never had a crew who didn’t treat his mom like a mother.
In-flight anniversary celebrations are also common. What better way to make your partner feel loved than start the celebration in the plane? Some clients decorate the aircraft with flowers, and romantic scents, with matching wedding music on the background.
6. Sport and Recreation
ACASS, an aircraft-management company, has a client who uses a private jet for transporting his son to Formula 3 races to prepare for a career as a Formula 1 driver. Since this is not something he could do by train or on commercial airlines, they have no choice but opt for a private plane tour.
Professional golfer Jason Day says that his NetJets membership frees him up to focus on his sport. “It also lets me bring my wife and son. That’s not something I’d do if I flew commercially.”
7.Family Unity
Some businessmen work on various states in a week. Waiting for flights to go home will be detrimental to their filial bond, thus, a private plane would be convenient to fly to and from different states, and be with their family when they are free.
8.Whims
Some wealthy families just decide in a snap to go on a trip, without prior booking. It is hard to get a commercial flight that way, thus, a private plane is the best and possibly only option.
Last-minute itinerary changes because of weather or just a change in plans can also be accommodated.
9. Luxury Trips and Vacations
Family vacations play a big part of private-jet travel—Christmas, New Year’s and the Fourth of July are the industry’s busiest times.But beyond just getting to a destination more quickly, families are also taking advantage of the partnerships between jet card providers and luxury brands.
10.Yachting
Yacht charter brokers are seeing more families come to their yachts via private jet since the location of their yachts are not accommodated by commercial flights.
