Flights of Fancy

Time is money, and that is possibly the No. 1 reason why flying private is all the rage. To anyone running a dynamic business, there's nothing more counterproductive than standing around in airports, racing to catch the next connection, trudging through security checks at a snail's pace or waiting for luggage. Pure convenience is cause enough to charter the next plane out of, or into, Southwest Florida.

"The best thing that can happen to our business is that people fly on commercial airlines and inevitably become disgusted," says Glenn Frith, vice president and co-owner of Aeronautical Charters, a charter company based at Page Field General Aviation Airport. "When they're ready to do things differently, they call us."

Frith, a pilot for eight years, started a charter service almost two years ago when he and business partner Todd Carroll bought an existing charter company and moved it from Punta Gorda to Fort Myers. Aeronautical Charters employs four full-time pilots and a support staff of one.

"Todd and I realized that there was a great need for this kind of executive travel in Fort Myers," he says. "There was just no one doing it the way we wanted to. There were smaller operators using older airplanes but nobody was really addressing the demand."

The company first bought a Pilatus PC-12 turboprop, an aircraft that holds up to nine people. Business was strong, and within one year a second Pilatus was added. The company recently purchased a Cessna 206, a single-engine plane that seats five, a Citation jet and a helicopter. A second Citation jet is on order. Although the company's hub is Page Field, Aeronautical Charters' pilots often fly to other local sites such as PrivateSky at Southwest Florida International Airport, Naples Municipal Airport, LaBelle Airport and Clewiston Airport, to name a few, to pick up clients. The turboprops, which are available for $1,075 an hour, fly to destinations all over the eastern United States and clear to Wisconsin without refueling. With a more limited range, the smaller Cessna rents for $230 an hour.

Frith continues to pilot planes but is spending more time lately talking to clients interested in buying their own planes for Aeronautical Charters to manage. Some of those choose to offset their expenses by chartering their aircraft, which can be done under the company's charter certificate, a permit issued by the FAA. "If they add it to Aeronautical's charter certificate and rent it out when they are not using it, they get revenue back," he explains. "We get a lot of people coming in that want to help us expand."

Private pilots don't always file flight plans and airports without towers don't keep tower logs, so private-aviation statistics are not very dependable. But those in the business, such as Frith, see private aviation skyrocketing in Southwest Florida. "This is an exciting business, and it's growing at an incredible rate because Southwest Florida is such a hot area," he says.

Aeronautical Charters is putting up a 14,000-square-foot hangar next to its existing 8,000-square-foot hangar to support the growth. Although rising fuel costs led to a rate increase six months ago and will probably force another soon, that's not slowing business. "Passengers understand and are willing to pay," he explains.

Page Field General Aviation Airport accommodated more than 80,500 aircraft take-offs and landings during 2004. That number has held steady for several years, says Coleen Baker, senior manager of the airport, but the type of traffic has changed. The numbers of training flights (Page Field has a lot of training flights) and smaller aircraft, such as single-engine Cessnas and Pipers, have declined. At the same time, she adds, "We have much more corporate traffic now."

More than 300 aircraft, including jets, turboprops, twins, singles and helicopters, lease space and are either tied down or stored in hangars. As newer and more expensive planes come to Page Field every day, the waiting list for suitable accommodations grows longer. Hangars, which protect planes from harsh weather, are more desirable than open-air tie-downs.

The Lee County Port Authority, which operates both Page Field and Southwest Florida International Airport, recently announced construction of 68 new T-hangars and a new aircraft apron at Page Field. In addition, Page Field's southeast ramp is being modified to expand the self-service fueling and maintenance area for private and corporate pilots. The T-hangars will provide storage for single-engine aircraft, which generally seat between two and six passengers each. The project will bring the total number of T-hangars at Page Field to 189. The new 270,000-square-foot apron will provide tie-down space for nearly 40 aircraft.

At the apex of Southwest Florida's private aviation spectrum, PrivateSky Aviation Services operates the luxury terminal and maintenance center for private jets at Southwest Florida International Airport. PrivateSky's main facility, tough to miss with its screaming yellow exterior, includes an upscale two-story lobby and a 2.5-million-cubic-foot, air-conditioned hangar with a 55-foot ceiling. The operation includes several hangars and support buildings on more than 30 acres.

For the fortunate few who fly in and out of Southwest Florida International Airport on private jets, the terminal offers concierge services, a luxurious lobby with slate floors and walls and leather upholstery, fresh-baked cookies in a café, conference rooms for business meetings and a quiet lounge with comfortable seating for pilots resting between flights.

PrivateSky mechanics maintain and repair Gulfstreams, private aviation's equivalent of the Rolls Royce. The streamlined jets are equipped with the latest safety equipment and avionics, including color radar, traffic collision avoidance systems and all the bells and whistles found in a commercial jet. Depending on size and style, they cost between $7 million and $50 million. Vincent Wolanin, chairman, CEO and co-owner of PrivateSky, decided to get into the business after his own Gulfstream needed repair work.

"When the estimate came in at $250,000, I started thinking that this might be a good business to get into," he says. "The people that want to buy a plane of this caliber really cannot compare the expense to the cost of commercial aviation because it will never compare. But the savings in time and the amount of additional business that can be accomplished with that time far outweigh any expense."

Because of the airport's 12,500-foot-long runway, many jet pilots who might otherwise fly from other airports choose to fuel up at PrivateSky and take off from Southwest Florida International Airport.

"The longer runway increases the safety factor," says Wolanin. "We have a lot of customers who come here from Naples for that reason. Our clients can come here, load up on fuel and fly all the way to Paris."

Safety and security rank high among reasons why corporations are shelling out big bucks for Gulfstreams, according to Wolanin. Following the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacking of three commercial airplanes, many corporations took a closer look at corporate travel and began requiring senior management to fly on private charters. More corporations began investing in aircraft. "There is the added safety factor of knowing who is taking care of your airplane, who is flying your airplane and who is controlling the food that goes in and out of the airplane," says Wolanin. "At PrivateSky, we do all of that."

PrivateSky's confidential client list includes celebrities, golf pros, wealthy individuals, senior management of publicly-traded corporations and heads of state. (WCI Communities is among local businesses that house corporate aircraft there, a company official confirmed.) For security reasons, Wolanin does not release the number of employees or specific traffic figures for PrivateSky.

The number of private jets flying in and out of Southwest Florida International Airport fluctuates greatly depending on the time of the year. "During September we might have 35 to 50 jets out of here a day," Wolanin says. "Come Thanksgiving or Christmas week it's unbelievable. There might be 500 jets in and out of here a day, and they're parked everywhere."

Mark London started his Naples-based aircraft business in 1987. London Aviation Group offers Cessna and helicopter flight training and small aircraft charters. Located adjacent to the Naples Municipal Airport, the company provides maintenance and hangars for small aircraft and leases office space to other charter aircraft businesses. "Chartering is not our main business, but we have seen an increase in that end of it because of the difficulty of flying commercial," he says. "Naples is an up-market place, so people have the means to charter planes."

Many wanting to own a plane opt to train in Southwest Florida for several reasons, according to London. "We do get a lot of Europeans, because the weather is consistently better and it costs less to train in the United States," he says. "One gallon of aviation fuel in England is approaching $8, and here it's $4. Their currency has been stronger so that makes it even more of a bargain."

Catherine and Jon Fay, owners of Naples Air Inc., lease space from London Aviation Group and have seen a strong uptick in business in each of the three years they've owned their charter company. "We increased our sales by 100 percent in our second year of business and expect to be up by 30 percent this year," says Catherine Fay. "It would be difficult to sustain 100 percent growth per year."