AvWorld Flitematrix signs first deal as it applies to operate flights using secondary airports at six cities across USA
A new approach to providing public transport using chartered business jets is being pursued by US start-up company AvWorld FliteMatrix. Details of the Elburn, Illinois-based company's plans have emerged in a filing submitted to the US Department of Transportation (DoT) late last month.
FliteMatrix plans to operate scheduled public charters between between secondary airports serving six US cities initially: Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, New York and Washington/Baltimore. The company plans to enter into agreements with Part 135 charter operators, and has signed its first deal with T-Bird Aviation, based at Chicago's DuPage airport. T-Bird will operate the start-up six-city pattern of services, says FliteMatrix, with flights to begin in June.
Participants will buy a minimum of three "programme seat hours" (PSH) each month, at $499/h, for use when reserving charter flights in the following month. The 3h minimum is the equivalent of one typical round trip, says FliteMatrix. Payments will be due on the 15th of each month and will be held in escrow. Shortly after, based on the payments received, FliteMax will establish the specific flights for the next month and allow participants to make reservations on line.
Once the series of flights for a given month is confirmed, and no later than 10 days before the first flight of the month, the escrowed funds will be allocated to cover the full cost of operating each charter flight. That way each month's flying is fully funded, FliteMatrix says, and each charter flight can be operated regardless of whether a break-even load factor has been achieved. If a participant decides not to fly, or cancels a reservation, the pre-paid PSHs can be rolled over to the following month or transferred to another individual who does want to fly that month.
FliteMatrix says it will require a minimum of 350 initial charter participants to fully fund the start-up series of more than 1,000 one-way flights between the six cities. As additional participants join the programme, the company plans to expand services to include Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St Paul and Philadelphia. FliteMatrix says charter operators will be required to meet higher standards than Part 135, including a lower limit of flightcrew duty time and higher non-precision approach minima.
Because the programme differs from a conventional public charter in several ways, FliteMatrix has had to apply for an exemption from existing regulations. The company declines to discuss its plans in detail until it receives the hoped-for exemption from the DoT. FliteMatrix has requested a ruling by 19 April.
GRAHAM WARWICK / WASHINGTON DC
Source: Flight International