Little has changed for business travelers in the wake of Covid-19. However, the construct in which they are traveling for work has transformed significantly.
Communication platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams have fueled opportunities for remote work, while hospitality venues, especially hotels, have sought to become an appealing workplace alternative to the traditional office. While plenty of newly remote workers remain the same distance from their places of employment as before the pandemic, many others have relocated, seeing remote work as an opportunity to move outside of a city, or try somewhere completely new to them.
With so many people now working at a distance from their clients, co-workers, and places of business, what we’re seeing at Tradewind Aviation is professionals are traveling for work more frequently and efficiently. As such, the convenience that we and other private aviation companies provide is especially befitting for current times.
Flexible
In our Northeast neck of the woods, for example, a corporate executive desiring to travel from their weekend place in Stowe, Vermont to a can’t-miss meeting in New York City has two choices:
- A commercial airline will offer a myriad of options, all according to a schedule for its own convenience. The traveler will have to make their way to a major airport, which are rarely convenient to get to; arrive at least an hour ahead of departure; factor in 20 minutes or so for boarding and takeoff; and then wind up at another major airport with 20 minutes more of arrival time before they make the long walk to connect with public or private transportation to get to their engagement. They’ll also have to do the same thing again on return.
- With a private aviation provider such as Tradewind, the traveler has much more flexibility. They can often schedule “their” flight according to “their” convenience. In Stowe, Tradewind departs from the Morrisville-Stowe State Airport (MVL) just 10 minutes outside of town, rather than Burlington International Airport, which is 45 minutes away. The travel process at MVL will unfold quickly and efficiently with a private gate and no TSA security checkpoint. An exclusive FBO lounge is also available should the traveler desire to relax before takeoff. Added all up, that’s about three hours (and plenty of hassle) saved each way – a big difference for a one-hour flight.
Convenient
The private aviation approach is even more compelling when one considers that there are only a couple hundred airports in the U.S. accessible to commercial airliners, but more than 5,000 small airports accessible by private airplanes – plenty of them nestled near vacation-home areas. Indeed, Tradewind’s first-time clients are often surprised upon learning that they can fly out of an airport right near their residence.
Private aviation can also get travelers close to major cities as well. Just a few of the metro area airports that Tradewind serves in the Northeast include Teterboro Airport near NYC, College Park Airport in Maryland, near Washington, D.C.; Hanscom Field in Bedford, Massachusetts, near Boston; and Northeast Philadelphia Airport in the city, as well as Trenton-Mercer Airport just an Interstate drive away.
Economical
Private aviation also makes sense from a cost perspective. An hour flying in a Tradewind Pilatus PC-12 runs around $4,500, and even less in the Goodspeed Card Program. Split that by eight seats, and that’s just $550 per person, in a comfortable and private cabin that allows for business to continue in-flight. Consider also that an hour of flight time covers 200 miles – roughly the distance from Boston to Maine or Nantucket to New York.
Tradewind isn’t taking the uptick in traveling for work lying down, of course. Tradewind recently signed a deal to purchase 20 new Pilatus PC12-NGX aircraft directly from Pilatus Aircraft Ltd. The first aircraft slated to arrive in Q3 2022.
With this continued growth, we’re also going to need pilots. Tradewind’s recent selection into JetBlue Airways’ Gateway Program will go a long way towards meeting this objective by providing us with strongly motivated, highly qualified pilot applicants who are eager to gain valuable experience on our charter and shuttle flights. Tradewind is anticipating a good flow of pilots from the partnership. We’re look forward to helping them along their career journey from private to airline flying across oceans and beyond.
Meanwhile, Tradewind has been seeing a strong market for more than a year now. When people initially came out of lockdown, many wanted to go to places where others weren’t. This became the major draw for them to switch over to flying private. Back then, they came to us looking for a way to travel in good health; now, they stay with us for the convenience and efficiency.
That’s a win-win for Tradewind Aviation and the private aviation industry all around.