Why private flights might be the right choice for your business.
Many business owners have considered flying privately to avoid the delays and inconveniences of commercial flight. Flying privately can add time back into your day. If you often fly for business to meet with clients or vendors, a corporate plane could be the asset your company needs to meet your business goals.
Corporate Options for Private Flights
Fly Charter Through Regional Airport Services
If your business only has the occasional need to fly, chartering a private flight is an excellent alternative to owning a plane–or a good way to try out the benefits before you invest in your own. Businesses still get all the time and productivity benefits of a private plane, only when they need it.
West Michigan Regional Airport partners with FBO FlightLevel Aviation for private charter flight services. Visit our Flights page to learn more or visit FlightLevel Holland for a quote.
Enter a Shared Plane Ownership Arrangement
Fractional ownership and co-ownership of a plane works like a vacation-home timeshare, allowing businesses to own part of the plane and split the upkeep, crew and hanger costs. Like any timeshare, fractional ownership of a plane requires higher levels of communication and planning, but offers a greater value.
Purchase a Corporate Plane
Purchasing your own plane offers your company the most flexibility, freedom and convenience possible. You can store your plane in the regional airport hangar closest to your business and it will be ready whenever you are. Your teams will be able to fly to meetings, transport clients and provide optimal customer service.
Private Flights for Time-Management
Flying privately can be one of the most efficient time-management assets your company has.
Skip the Commercial Airports and Save Hours of Your Day
Not including the time it takes to get to an airport and find parking, flying commercially wastes hours –and countless dollars. Your team can expect to spend over five hours inside of a commercial airport if they have a connecting flight–and that’s not including the flight.
* The recommended arrival time for a commercial domestic flight is two hours before departure
* The average commercial layover, either by choice or necessity, is an additional two hours
In comparison, with a private plane through a regional airport, your team will spend less time at the airports than they would waiting in a Starbucks line during their commercial layover. Flying privately also cuts the stress, rush and discomfort of being in a crowded airport.
Make Use of Flight Time
The efficiency of a private plane continues into the time spent in flight. Despite the similar flight times, there are various advantages that professionals experience flying private rather than commercial.
Even in first or business class with more space and nicer tabletops, professionals often struggle to get work done on a plane. They’re surrounded by strangers after a stressful couple hours in the airport and tired after getting up early or rearranging their typical schedule to catch the flights. It’s no surprise that many business flyers aren’t as productive on a commercial flight as they are in their usual work environment.
Work En Route
With a private plane, employees have a dedicated space to concentrate on their work en route. Even on a small private plane, the level of luxury and comfort far surpass the average first class experience.
Prepare For Meetings
The added benefit of privacy also allows for easy conversations between team members. Teams can prepare for the upcoming meeting or pitch, walk through the agenda and strategy one more time or even start work on the next company project or initiative.
Debrief Afterwards
After business is complete, the team–and even your clients–can discuss and debrief on how the meeting went directly on the plane back while everything is fresh. The immediate followup opportunity can improve their response time in providing that final push to solidify a deal or launch a new product.
Can Private Flights Save Money?
Flying private can have surprising cost-savings whether you buy, share or charter your corporate plane. This is especially true for companies who frequently fly teams of executives to multiple locations at a time.
With a private plane, teams can reach multiple destinations within a single day, including picking up clients or vendors on their way to meetings. Not only does this make a good impression on the clients, but it can cut back on days of travel with the hotel costs, missed work, and food expenses that the trip would usually entail. Your teams can conduct all their business in the span of a day–both at the meetings and in the air–saving your company time and money.
Overlooked Benefits of Owning or Co-Owning a Corporate Plane
Some of the benefits of plane ownership will show up directly on your company’s bottom line. However, many business owners overlook a variety of benefits that are just as impactful.
A Corporate Plane Improves Your Customer Service and Reputation
Owning a corporate plane means you can bring more people without the added plane ticket costs. Bringing along a larger team allows you to better serve all your customers’ needs. With everyone you may need already there in-person, you can answer client questions right away and show that you have an entire team committed to the client’s project.
Not only will the level of service improve, so will your service times. Having your own plane means you can fly to your customers immediately if there is an emergency. You can provide the maintenance, parts or general support they need in a timely manner.
Every hour your customer has to wait on you for a delivery or support is thousands of their dollars lost. Increasing your response speed is a significant benefit to your clients, which often reflects significant benefits back to your business.
Employee Benefits Can Boost Your Talent Attraction & Retention
A corporate plane provides a range of benefits for employees as well as the company. From decreasing the stress of traveling to improving their work-life balance, benefits for your employees mean talent attraction and retention opportunities for your company.
Corporate Planes Provide Educational Opportunities
Client meetings and other business trips can be amazing educational opportunities for junior members of the team. But adding another seat on a commercial plane for a team member who may not have as much to contribute is a difficult financial decision. With a private plane, you can send as many people as the plane holds at no additional cost to your company. There’s no stressing over the cost of an extra ticket that might not add its value to the meeting.
Less Travel Time Means Improved Employee Work-Life Balance
Less time wasted at the airport or stuck overnight at a hotel across the country means getting your team back in time for dinner with their family and a restful sleep in their own bed. Flying private also typically gets your team closer to their final destination rather than long drives from a central commercial airport. As an added benefit, corporate planes also maximize employee comfort and decrease their overall travel stress.
Corporate Planes Create Employee Peace of Mind
In light of COVID, many professionals worry for their health in crowded spaces like airport lobbies and terminals. With a private plane, your team can avoid lobbies altogether and only be around their own team members.
Fly Private from West Michigan Regional Airport
Flying privately is the most efficient and enjoyable way to fly. You can set your own schedule, work comfortably in the air, and get where you’re going in an expedient time frame. For companies that frequently fly sales or executive teams to sites and meetings, flying private can have surprising cost-savings as well.
West Michigan Regional Airport provides companies the opportunity to hangar their own corporate plane or charter a private flight right here in Holland. WMRA is ideally situated to allow for easy access and quick travel to and from the airport by car, with convenient flight times to major airports like GRR, LAX and ATL.
Contact us today or visit our development page to learn more about your company’s growth opportunities with West Michigan Regional Airport.
