Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC
An innovative corporate jet service is coming under threat, just as a study is released suggesting that increases in airfares are making chartering business aircraft a more attractive option for executives travelling in the USA.
Indigo's "regular and frequent" charter service between Chicago Midway and Teterboro, New Jersey, is under review by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to determine whether it violates the prohibition on scheduled service from Teterboro.
The Port Authority, at the instigation of local congressman Steve Rothman, is comparing Indigo's operations with its definition of scheduled service, which includes publishing schedules and selling tickets in advance.
Indigo operates two flights per weekday from Teterboro, using eight-passenger Dassault Falcon 20s. Departure times are published on its website and seats can be bought online. Indigo flights can also be booked via the Sabre computer reservation system.
The critical factor, says the Port Authority, is whether records show Indigo has actually operated its Teterboro flights according to the published schedule. If it decides Indigo violates the prohibition on scheduled service, the Authority will ask the USFederal Aviation Administration to review the company's charter certificate.
"Indigo is a charter service," says chairman Matthew Andersson. "We operate under charter-only authority, as do many other air carriers at Teterboro. While we may market our service differently, our flights are charters, both legally and operationally."
Scrutiny of Indigo is motivated by local concerns that operations with large aircraft, like the Boeing Business Jet, could turn Teterboro into another New York LaGuardia. "Indigo's flights at Teterboro will always be a small fraction of the airport's 500 daily operations," says Andersson. Indigo's plans for growth involve other New York area airports such as Morristown, Trenton and White Plains.
Meanwhile, online business jet booking service Skyjet has released a study showing that, due to increases in airfares over the past year, companies could save money chartering corporate aircraft.
The study collected published full coach and first class fares for 925 US domestic airline routes and compared 25 high-cost routes with the price of chartering a six/eight-seat turboprop or eight-seat jet, finding that "charter can save companies thousands of dollars".
Source: Flight International
