Fasten Your Safety Belts: Flying Private Is About To Go Mainstream and Be Affordable

By Marc Sellouk, Founder and CEO of Flewber

Aviation: noun; the operation of an aircraft
Innovation: noun; a new idea, method, or device; the introduction of something new

These two simple words can be found on countless grade school spelling tests across the country. But if you’re a business or leisure traveler, you probably haven’t heard these two words used in succession since October 26, 1957, when Pan Am’s first Boeing 707 made its maiden voyage from New York to Paris. Dwight D. Eisenhower was our President, World War II had only been over for 12 years and Yuri Gagarin wouldn’t be the first human to experience a flight into space for another 3 and a half years.

For nearly 65 years, the flying public has been without a noteworthy innovation that benefitted them in the commercial airline industry. Well, my friends, I’m here to tell you that the wait for the next great innovation in passenger air transportation is going to be upon us sooner than you think, and I know, because I’ve seen the plan for the prototype.

Before I continue, and for full transparency, I’m limited as to what I can disclose in this article for obvious reasons. That said, whether you’re a frequent flyer or just someone who takes the occasional flight for business or leisure, I believe that I can safely predict that 2023 is going to be the year that you look back on and say, “that’s the year that the passenger was put back in control of their flying experience.”

It was a day that started like most others and was set to end with a scheduled semi-regular get together with some industry executives that I’ve become friendly with. These meet and greets are usually not of the formal variety and often break into individual sidebar conversational groupings of 2 or 3 of us just talking shop. It was during one of these sidebars where the plan was laid out and like the Hemingway line from The Sun Also Rises, it hit me “gradually, then all at once.”

You see, commercial airlines have made it no secret that they’ve all but given up on servicing certain domestic routes and cities. As a matter of fact, American Airlines just recently announced that it would no longer be using San Francisco as a base for flight attendants, forcing over 400 employees to choose between uprooting their lives and transferring to other cities; commute via flights to get to and from work assignments; or be out of a job. Let that sink in for a moment: American Airlines believes that San Francisco is no longer seen as a city with a prospect for growth. What does that say for all of the people who live on Main Street USA?

But dread not my fellow flyers, for in the words of Alexander Pope, “Hope springs eternal,” and the winds of change are upon us. Imagine, if you will, a landscape speckled with direct nonstop private regional flights. Flights where a single seat on a private jet is sold for about the same as a main cabin seat on a commercial flight. Imagine the joy and ease of avoiding the doldrums of the hub and spoke system by using local airports where you can bypass security checkpoints and drive directly up to your aircraft as little as 15 minutes prior to departure. These things and more, are just right around the corner.

For decades now, commercial airlines have been able to haphazardly play a game of Jenga with you, the passengers, as the pieces that they discard. They’ve been able to do this because they never thought that anyone would ever figure out the affordability factor of the equation that could ultimately challenge their impotent reign over the skies. But someone finally has, and when word gets out, it’s going to send shockwaves throughout the industry. So as inflation continues to take a bite out of your wallet, while commercial airlines keep raising ticket prices in return for reduced service areas, stay steadfast my fellow travelers. A private jet passenger revolution --yes, it will be affordable -- is on the horizon, one that will finally put you, the passenger, in control of your flying experience.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

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