Scheduled charter flights—a hybrid of charter and commercial service priced nearer the latter—could take off from John Wayne Airport in late June if Orange County Supervisors approve an agreement between the airport and the company that hopes to provide the service, Irvine-based JetSuiteX.
The deal was signed in January; details aren’t public until it goes to a supervisors vote—an April agenda item is possible pending completion of a parking study now under way—but the airport in its annual August-to-October passenger allocation process set aside about 68,000 for JetSuiteX.
Airport Director Barry Rondinella said the airline has asked “to begin flights at the end of June.”
JetSuiteX had an allocation of 96,000 last year, but the airport and the airline couldn’t hammer out a deal’s details and flights never took off.
Rondinella said, “This is a new model they’re proposing” because the airport “does not have scheduled commercial service operating anywhere outside the terminal.”
JetSuiteX flights under the deal would depart from its fixed base operator, ACI Jet.
Suite Deal
JetSuiteX is owned by charter airline JetSuite Inc.
Alex Wilcox is chief executive of both and has backed an idea in airline circles that looks at air travel from a door-to-door vantage—not solely the flight time—because of the effort commonly needed to get on and off planes and in and out of airports. He was an early executive at JetBlue Airways Corp. which owns a stake in JetSuite Inc.
JetSuiteX seeks to combine lower-cost, convenient charter flying—commonly costing several thousand dollars—with the mass market customer base of commercial travel.
It works if it can set enough flights and entice enough folks to upgrade—about $129 to $300 one-way to business areas, such as the Bay Area and Silicon Valley, and leisure locales like Mammoth Lakes, Montana and Las Vegas.
It flies 30-seat jets for scheduled charter, compared to a four- or six-seat plane for conventional charter flights.
Wilcox began JetSuiteX flights from Hollywood Burbank Airport two years ago. It’s also flown from Santa Monica and Carlsbad but in Southern California is only in Burbank.
Wilcox’ work brings a charter carrier under different Federal Aviation Administration rules—requiring posted flight schedules, for instance—and John Wayne is “one of the most heavily regulated airports in the country,” Rondinella said.
Space Time
ACI Jet is paying for a traffic and parking study by Minagar & Associates Inc. in Irvine to show the impact of the additional passengers coming through its FBO.
The deal currently calls for some combination of JetSuiteX passengers possibly parking at the airport and coming through Terminal C, then being transported to ACI Jet or parking or being dropped off in the FBO’s lot.
“We’re right next to the terminal,” said ACI Jet Chief Executive Bill Borgsmiller. “The airport says we need it if we’re going to have vehicles.”
He expects the results by about the end of the month to show “no significant impact,” and the study is “the last thing I know of” that has to be done before the supervisors have their say.
An element that some sources said doomed a deal last year—disagreement about how JetSuiteX passengers will be screened for security—also seems to be nearing a solution.
Rondinella said, “TSA was not an issue for us at all,” as John Wayne doesn’t set security criteria—Transportation Security Administration does. He said screening will be worked out between the agency and JetSuiteX and looks to be, like scheduled charter itself, a hybrid, involving screening outside the usual lines and “sterile” areas—terminal space beyond security checkpoints.
Super Idea
He cautioned, “The agreement has not yet been submitted to the board … and is subject to change.”
Supervisor Todd Spitzer said, “The board is very open to the concept, and personally I’m very supportive.”
Spitzer’s third district includes the airport’s flight approach corridor.
“The luggage is screened,” he said, and ACI Jet will “figure out how to park the cars.”
He called scheduled charters “long overdue” and said John Wayne needs to be “business-friendly, passenger-friendly. I don’t know how in the world John Wayne Airport hasn’t had this service.”
Wilcox was diplomatically optimistic.
“We are hoping to bring our services to SNA [John Wayne Airport] this summer.”