So much for the 5am wakeup and the 4 hours I usually allocate between leaving home in White Plains, New York to landing at Boston Logan Airport. Today I’m rolling out of bed an hour before my flight, arriving at Westchester FBO just minutes prior to departure, and parking my car quite literally next to the aircraft.
All because I switched to the scheduled private service with Tradewind Aviation (for the price of a single seat, no less).
Welcome to my new normal when commuting to Boston for weekly business meetings. No TSA screenings, no layover headaches, and certainly no waiting like a herd of animals to board a commercial flight. Here it’s just me and seven other passengers, all comfortably reclined aboard a Pilatus PC-12. There’s also Captain Nick Ogle, a Tradewind pilot with over 4,000 flight hours, who greet us with a relaxed smile and a thorough review of the plane’s main features: the spacious leather chairs; the elegant window blinds; the large storage area for extra luggage; and my personal favorite, a pullout liquor cabinet with complimentary beer and Cabernet.
“Settle in” he says as we lift off across the Connecticut border. “We’ll have you on the ground in Boston within 55 minutes.”
A quick power nap later, there I am touching down at Boston Logan, rested and ready for the day’s meetings in the city. My private Suburban is waiting directly outside the aircraft and before I know it I’m arriving for the first meeting of the day at Smith & Wolensky—a choice steakhouse just 15 minutes from the airport.
Once my meetings are over and it’s time to head back for the day, I’m no longer left dreading the 3-hour struggle waiting for me on a commercial flight. In fact, after cruising through the skies with a gratis brew and a gorgeous view, I’m literally landing back in Westchester County at the same time I’d normally be exiting security. And instead of a boarding line, the only line I’m taking at HPN is the 20-foot beeline from one BMW design to another. Their plane to my car—no rushing, no waiting, no nonsense.
Fifteen minutes later and I’m arriving home in time for family dinner with a strangely unfamiliar feeling of excitement, not exhaustion. That wasn’t just easy, I think, it was actually fun—a sentence I never thought I’d associate with a flying experience.
Could it be I’m already looking forward to my next commute?