Tradewind Aviation sits down with ticket book holder Matthew Snyder to discuss his regular commuting patterns and experience with the scheduled private shuttle service.
Early this morning I found out I needed to be in Boston today,” says Matthew Snyder, slowly sipping on a cup of coffee as he settles in aboard a Pilatus PC-12 departing White Plains, New York. “So I called up Tradewind at 7:30, booked the 9:30 departure, and will be returning this afternoon on the 2 o’clock.”
It’s become a familiar routine for Snyder, who lives in Westchester and runs a real estate investment/development company with several projects currently in Boston. “My business partner and I commute at least once every week,” he says. “Often twice.”
Which, as Snyder knows better than most, can quickly lose its appeal when commuting with less streamlined methods. “We’ve tried commuter trains, commercial shuttles from LaGuardia, automobile, you name it,” he admits. “Driving eventually became the most convenient, even though it’s much less productive.”
Thinking back to October of last year—when Tradewind introduced its scheduled private charters from New York to Boston—Snyder doesn’t hesitate: “Tradewind has clearly been the better solution for us.”
Asked to elaborate, “For me it’s a quick 12-minute drive to White Plains FBO, where I can arrive just 15 minutes before the flight,“ he explains. “Even for my partner who lives on Long Island; he will trade the hour-long drive to White Plains any day for [Tradewind’s] convenience, quick parking, and avoiding the hassle of LaGuardia.”
“But to be completely frank,” Snyder adds, “what I love about Tradewind is that I can have anybody who works for me fly on my tickets.” Snyder buys ticket books for well over 50 tickets at a time, so “it’s easy to get people up and back in a relatively economical way.”
“It works perfectly for me,” he says—a fitting segue into our follow-up question: Anything not so perfect?
“Well, people have a false sense of security on big planes,” he acknowledges, “which may make them a bit wary of small aircrafts like Tradewind’s.”
That said, “What commuters like me have come to find is that not only are these planes much more convenient, they’re also highly safe and operated by experienced pilots.”
“In fact, I actually recall flying down to Florida two weeks ago on a big plane, and feeling more comfortable on the small plane because I can see what’s going on.”
Much like in the present moment, as today’s pilots signal for initial descent into Boston—angling the plane towards the Massachusetts coastline for a quick and efficient landing at Boston Logan FBO.
Total flight time: a little under 50 minutes.
So much for the 4-hour drive.