In smaller airplanes for shorter trips yes. For example, you could charter a Cessna 400 series airplane 6 - 8 passenger seat twin engine piston airplane from Los Angeles to Las Vegas for a little bit more than first class at an airline like cost.
All six seats filled splitting the cost would be a little more per passenger than getting first class. But trust me the experience is 1000x better than the airlines. No security, no waiting, no baggage check, no charge for parking, none of that.
Oh yeah that market is thriving right now for sure. Private charter is booming right now and expanding quickly. The problem is it’s prohibitively expensive to start and operate a business in charter aviation. I want to myself but I need around $5 to $10 million to get started. I don’t have that kind of cash
I am a professional pilot - this idea has already been tried many times. The market is there but the FAA keeps shutting it down.
Can it be done for a price most middle class could afford?
In smaller airplanes for shorter trips yes. For example, you could charter a Cessna 400 series airplane 6 - 8 passenger seat twin engine piston airplane from Los Angeles to Las Vegas for a little bit more than first class at an airline like cost.
Is that first class like cost divided among 6-8 passengers or is that per passenger?
All six seats filled splitting the cost would be a little more per passenger than getting first class. But trust me the experience is 1000x better than the airlines. No security, no waiting, no baggage check, no charge for parking, none of that.
Are booking empty leg flights not a thing anymore?
Because there still seem to be quite a few places online offering this type of service for private planes.
Oh yeah that market is thriving right now for sure. Private charter is booming right now and expanding quickly. The problem is it’s prohibitively expensive to start and operate a business in charter aviation. I want to myself but I need around $5 to $10 million to get started. I don’t have that kind of cash
Yeah, the couple of sites I checked out all seem to list empty leg return flights from various private plane charter companies.
I didn't really see any owner/operator type planes but I did go through them rather quickly.
And for the prices they want, if you had a small group that wanted to go somewhere and you split the cost it would be less than flying first class.
Yeah if you got the right airplane and got enough people to fill the seats and it also depends on how far you want to go