You may have come across programs where you can split the cost of a private jet with other third party passengers, each paying for their own seat.
The offer of a lower cost to fly privately is always going to have a financial attractiveness but this is not a service Jet Members offers and for a range of reasons.
The raft of issues to consider:
Legally, the operator may not have the proper approvals to offer individual tickets (even if they hold an Private Jet AOC for hire and reward) you need to think about who are the primary passengers responsible for the aircraft. Secondly the issue of individual tickets may constitute that the seller of these services hold an ATOL License. If there was an incident on the aircraft, or operational delay, or failure of service, what are individual passenger rights?
Secondly, the very definition of a private jet is to travel privately, so sharing a Light Jet with 5+ other strangers seems a little odd to us. Your schedule is commanded by the last person who would arrive and could potentially jeopardise your take-off time and landing slots (conversely if you’re the one running late will the aircraft wait for you?) Additionally if you're intending to make use of your time in the air conducting meetings or reviewing sensitive data, you will not have the degree of privacy these private aircraft provide.
Indeed, cabin space on Light Jets with a full load of passengers can be tight, and interlocking legs with a stranger who is keen to explore all the amenities on board may be fun for some, but we swing a pass on this one, and save ourselves the fallout post flight.
So in basic summary, do we offer private jet seat sharing… afraid not.
Is there another alternative to private jet seat sharing?
There are several other avenues to consider when it comes to using Private Jet Charter.
Empty Legs are a popular choice. This is when an aircraft is committed to fly without passengers to its next destination or vicinity, and may be able to offer a reduced rate if you can adhere to the schedule already planned by the airline. You must remember of course as you are essentially piggy backing off an existing charter, you may have to be flexible with the terms of arrangement.
The other option is see if your trip request could be linked to another potential client wishing to take the aircraft back to original destination, after you (i.e. you're based in London, flying to New York on Sunday, and there is another client in New York wishing to visit the UK on Monday). In this situation both parties are eliminating / reducing the positioning costs, so both should be able to share the reduction in cost. This is not essentially an empty leg as the flight hasn’t been created yet and matching schedules isn’t necessarily easy but if both parties work together and commit to their schedule, you are able to reduce the cost of a private jet.
This was the premise of some older traditional fixed rate jet cards, where the idea of a Network of Jets could work together and offset positioning charges to all card holders. The problem however is making this very network work efficiently, if not, the fixed hourly rate you pay has to factor in the inefficiencies (a polite way of saying the hourly rate payable will have to factor in positioning costs anyway, even if it is claimed no positioning costs are added).
Bidding for a trip? Scheduled airlines offer passengers the ability to upgrade their seat by means of a closed bid, can you do the same with Private Jets? In our experience, bidding of private jets in Europe isn’t really a thing. If a schedule airline has to fly, bidding for empty seats may be more logical. Bidding for a private jet that doesn't need to fly (excluding empty legs) normally ends up with the operator politely declining. Bidding on empty legs may be more successful, however too low a bid and your request won't be considered.
So as a final thought, seat sharing has quite a few disadvantages and the legality of such a service poses enough consideration for us to keep a wide berth. Linking trips and utilising empty legs have fewer concerns. Trip bidding also has limitations; generally expect airlines to decline lower than their advertised costs, unless they may work to their schedule.
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