{"id":1225,"date":"2016-05-26T08:16:11","date_gmt":"2016-05-26T14:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/flightlistpro.com\/private-jet-charter\/?p=1225"},"modified":"2016-06-02T10:34:02","modified_gmt":"2016-06-02T16:34:02","slug":"private-jet-startups-failing-with-commercial-airlines-soaring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flightlistpro.com\/private-jet-charter\/private-jet-startups-failing-with-commercial-airlines-soaring\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Are Some Private Jet Startups Failing, With Commercial Airlines Soaring?"},"content":{"rendered":"

— Private jet charters\u00a0Blackjet, Blue Star Jets and Beacon, among others, have ended operations in recent months, citing funding difficulties as well as\u00a0problems securing planes, among other issues. —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

With commercial airlines soaring, why have some private jet start-ups failed?<\/h2>\n

By Hugo Martin, Los Angeles Times, May 21, 2016<\/em><\/p>\n

The nation’s commercial airlines are reporting soaring profit margins and enough revenue to invest billions of dollars in new planes, airport lounges and even designer-made employee uniforms.<\/p>\n

So why hasn’t that success extended to the fleet of private jet start-ups\u00a0that launched in the last few\u00a0years?<\/p>\n

Private jet charters\u00a0Blackjet, Blue Star Jets and Beacon, among others, have ended operations in recent months, citing funding difficulties as well as\u00a0problems securing planes, among other issues.<\/p>\n

Many of the new jet\u00a0charter businesses have tried\u00a0to jump on the popularity of the\u00a0“shared economy,” with some comparing themselves to the ride-hailing business Uber. The private jet businesses have also promoted themselves as a way to avoid long airport\u00a0security lines.<\/p>\n

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\"SurfAir\"

Captain Chris Pimentel, right, waits for passengers to board the SurfAir airplane at the Hawthorne Municipal Airport in Hawthorne last year. SurfAir is an all-you-can-fly membership airline. (Genaro Molina\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

“There was this feeling that we have this unmet demand,” said\u00a0Brad Stewart, chief executive and president of XOJET, a San Francisco-based charter jet business.<\/p>\n

But according to industry experts, too many of the charters either overestimated the demand or underestimated the funding needed to keep the businesses in the air.<\/p>\n

Commercial airlines can squeeze\u00a0more seats into each cabin and use each jet as extensively as possible to keep costs down, but private charter jets don’t have that option, said Seth Kaplan, managing partner at the trade magazine Airline Weekly.<\/p>\n

“The economics of small private jets are not the same as the economics of commercial carriers,” he said.<\/p>\n