As commercial airline travel continues to face restrictions and passengers develop frayed nerves caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Orange County private charter companies said they have noticed new business from last-minute bookings.
The virus has caused widespread cancellations for the country’s largest domestic and international carriers. At the same time, new buyer pools of travelers are exploring private charters, looking for a preferred way to return home—or to make it to a second home.
This has resulted in a busier-than-typical shoulder month for some, including STA Jets, a private jet charter service based out of John Wayne Airport.
“March is typically a slow month, and with this uptick in activity, our numbers are actually ahead of last year’s,” said Kurt Belcher, STA’s founder and chief executive.
Belcher refers to this demand as “artificial growth,” a less stable source of business that he said could end as soon as next week.
Still, it’s represented a pillow for the company that relies not just on business executives and travelers with a disposable income, but musicians and athletes, who have been experiencing cancellations of their own.
Uptick in New Biz
STA Jets operates a fleet of nearly 30 planes, including aircraft categories ranging from turboprops to ultra-long range.
It’s the latter jets that have been hit by the pandemic, with the strictest regulations implemented for international travel.
“We’ve seen a big drop off in booked travel, but we are very busy with panic bookings,” Belcher said.
“Private jets are really the only option travelers can count on.”
JetSuite, a Dallas-based charter service that has an operational base in Orange County, said it has seen an uptick of about 10% in new inquiries in recent weeks.
Close to half of those new inquiries came from travelers who have not flown private in the past.
Much of this interest is coming from corporate clients who are not being allowed to fly commercially, and families traveling for spring break.
The company noted that travelers are looking for solutions to minimize mass public exposure. Flying private minimizes interaction on board the aircraft as well as in airport terminals.
“Among the many benefits of flying private is the ability to avoid crowded security lines and large waiting areas at commercial airports,” President Stephanie Chung said in an email to clients.
“Furthermore, our aircraft have significantly fewer guests per flight and are regularly cleaned with solvents that target the coronavirus.”
Riding Out Storm
For local high-net-worth individuals looking to utilize charter services, many are fleeing to a place with sunnier skies.
Belcher said he’s noticed local families looking to travel to their second home to ride out the storm in Hawaii or the Caribbean. Others are traveling to their private ranches in Wyoming and Montana.
Belcher last week opted to take an optimistic view on recent events. “This continued interest for luxury travel bodes well for the economy,” he said.
Other new bookings have originated from business travelers that flew across the country or to Canada during, or prior, to the outbreak, and are now looking to return home.
On average, these trips carry about eight people, Belcher said.
When asked about how STA Jets is handling the pandemic internally, Belcher, who started the company in 2009, noted he’s glad they invested in a switch to go paperless about five years ago.
“We’ve spent two days handling everything remotely, and so far, so good.”
