The head of a Denver-based advertising agency wanted to bring his entire team, including junior staff, to present a new campaign to a customer in Omaha. The firm’s travel agency was asked to book coach fares for the group of six. Only United Airlines offered a direct return flight to Denver in the afternoon, and the last-minute coach fare cost $1,269, or $7,614 for the six tickets. Skyjet quoted a price of $7,456 for an eight-passenger Learjet 35A, which would be a savings of $158. In addition, Skyjet offered a six-passenger King Air 90 for $4,687, for a savings of $2,927. The agency opted for the faster and quieter experience of the Learjet 35A, for increased productivity during the flight. They were able to bring projection equipment and storyboards onto the jet with no hassles. And, when their presentation ran over the allotted time, the private jet was waiting for them.

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It was important that a Cleveland-based CEO visit three of the company’s manufacturing plants to make a key announcement. However, he was needed on other urgent business at the company’s headquarters the next morning. He wanted to accomplish the trip in a single day, without sacrificing any of the plant visits. Although Cleveland is a major airline hub and all three plants were located in the Southeast, no commercial airline could get the CEO to Chattanooga, TN, Savannah, GA, and Gainesville, FL., in a single business day. In fact, no airline could accommodate any two of these cities in a single business day with enough time to visit the plants and return the executive to Cleveland that evening.

The itinerary proposed by Skyjet included a 6:00 a.m. departure from Cleveland, arriving Chattanooga at 7:39 a.m.; a 10:00 a.m. departure from Chattanooga, arriving Savannah at 11:15 a.m.; a 2:00 p.m. departure from Savannah, arriving Gainesville at 3:09 p.m. on a seven-passenger Learjet 35A. The CEO returned home to Cleveland at 8:10 p.m. The total cost for this itinerary was $15,742.

With this schedule, the CEO was able to bring three executives along to revise the strategy for the next day’s important meetings. Using a private jet not only made the difficult itinerary possible, but also kept the executives productive en route.

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Three lawyers needed to fly from New York to Charleston, SC for a full day of depositions and dinner with the client. The earliest airline flight at 8:30 a.m. wouldn’t arrive until close to 11:00 a.m., so they would have to fly in the day before. There were no flights; departing Charleston after 5:10 p.m., so this meant departing the following morning. They asked their travel agency about other options. Skyjet quoted a price of $8,276 for a five-passenger Learjet business jet. The lawyers departed from Teterboro, NJ, near their homes, at 7:00 a.m. and arrived in Charleston at 8:57 a.m., working during the one hour and 57 minute flight. Because they were able to do the entire trip in a single day, they brought a paralegal to assist. After an early dinner with the client, they departed at 8:00 p.m. and were back on the ground in New Jersey by 9:45 p.m.

The cost of the jet was $3,626 more than three coach fares ($1,190 each on Delta or Continental) and a two-night hotel stay and meals ($1,320) for three. But the gain in time and productivity more than offset the difference. The cost “premium” for a private jet was equivalent to 2.9 hours of the legal team’s combined billing rate, yet it saved them days away from home and many hours in lost productivity and unbillable time.

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A corporate travel department received a last-minute call to fly six senior-level executives from Charlotte to Washington to attend an industry summit in Northern Virginia, but three of the executives needed to return in time for an important meeting later that day. US Airways was the sole carrier with nonstop flights to and from Washington-Dulles, with only one return flight at the time the executives required. The coach fare quoted by US Airways was $815 or $4,890 for the six executives. Skyjet quoted two different options: For a cost of $4,127, the executives could fly on an eight-passenger King Air 200 turboprop, with a $688 cost per passenger or a total savings of $763 compared with the coach fares. Skyjet also quoted an eight-passenger private jet at $4,879, approximately the same cost as the airline fares. While the light jet offered a slightly larger cabin, it wasn’t significantly faster, so the company opted for the turboprop. The one hour and nine minute charter flight departed exactly when the executives wanted to go and returned in ample time for their meeting.

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