It’s expected over 50 million Americans are driving or flying somewhere over this Labor Day weekend, and many millions more are spending the three-day holiday grilling or chilling locally. On the other hand, many of the more than one million professionals who work in $219 billion business aviation industry are on duty, and for quite a few, they have been going nonstop for more than a week.
“While we are in an industry that is getting used to taking a barrage of negative PR, in emergency situations like this hurricane, it’s nice for everyone in the sector to feel proud of what we do,” Adam Twidell, CEO of Directional Aviation’s PrivateFly emailed me over the weekend.
PrivateFly wasn’t alone. Greg Raiff, CEO of Private Jet Services Group, which specializes in corporate shuttles, sports team and live entertainment tours, as well as selling on-demand charter and jet cards said, “Between government and civilian demand, we have thus far seen 47 requests for flights related to Dorian - either evacuation by airliner or private jet or relief services getting staged and ready to bring personnel and equipment.”
In addition to arranging evacuation flights from the Caribbean, Florida and now Georgia and the Carolinas, Air Charter Service has already flown medical supplies into Puerto Rico and has requests for people who need to return once the storm passes. A spokesperson for Air Partner added, “This weekend (we) received a spike in last-minute bookings for those looking to travel from Florida to other regions of the U.S.”
Adam Twidell, CEO of Directional Aviation's PrivateFly: “While we are in an industry that is getting... [+]
Although it’s Dorian this time, after Hurricane Harvey hit Texas at least 60 private aircraft “from pistons to jets” moved over 250,000 pounds of relief supplies.
In one case Robert C. Johnson had his Cessna 421 loaded and ready to go for yet another trip when a dispatcher rushed out asking him to unload. Land access to Hawthorne, a small town west of Beaumont, was cut off. A clinic that had lost its medical refrigerators needed replacement refrigerators for its medicine. Johnson unloaded his airplane, loaded the replacement refrigerators and other medical supplies and landed at the small airport with his life-saving cargo.
While Dorian is still bringing its deadly force to the Bahamas and with his own base in Jacksonville potentially in the path, Eliot Mintzer, president of Boomerang Air Charter was already in action.
After starting a funding page for supplies, he told me, “Once the all-clear has been given to fly our three Pilatus PC12 aircraft and Beechcraft Baron 58, these aircraft will carry supplies to help with humanitarian aid in the time of crisis.”
He added, “Our friends in the Bahamas need us and we are determined to help however we can after the storm passes.”
The NBAA Humanitarian Emergency Response Operator (HERO) database is a list of people in the... [+]
A spokesperson for Wheels Up said it had flown dozens of flights for its members leaving Florida and coastal Georgia and the Carolinas. He noted the company had proactively communicated to its members in the lead up hoping as many as possible would make the move sooner rather than later.
Twidell said many of the flights PrivateFly executed were for people who would have had difficult getting out otherwise. In one case, there was a couple in their mid-90s who flew from Stuart, Florida, to Chattanooga, Tennessee in a Beechjet 400.
Another flight on a Cessna Citation Sovereign took four pregnant couples from Boca Raton to Denver. In another flight from Boca, a Hawker 800 carried a passenger who required regular dialysis to Atlanta. Other trips included families with grandparents, infants and lots of pets.
Andrew Flaxman, director operations for ExpertJet Charter shared a cockpit photo from a flight... [+]
In one case, one customer had arranged for his aunt to fly out of Fort Lauderdale last Wednesday, however, she changed her mind and decided to ride out the storm. By the end of the week she had changed her mind, and PrivateFly was able to arrange a flight on Saturday. Several of her friends decided to join her.
A spokesperson for business aviation’s trade group, the National Business Aviation Association said it had activated its HERO program – Humanitarian Emergency Response Operator – but didn’t have any stories or statistics yet.
After the earthquake in Haiti, business aviation ran over 700 flights transporting 3,500 passengers and more than one million pounds of cargo and supplies. In a typical year, business aircraft make 15,000 humanitarian flights.
Even while wanting to jump in and help, executives say safety comes first. Andrew Collins, CEO of Sentient Jet, also part of Directional, noted, “We are 24 x7, as always, and handling heavy holiday weekend volume as per usual.”
He added, “In addition to redundant infrastructure and remote command center capabilities, we have planned our staffing and coordination efforts in advance. As of now, we are handling all client flights but also making sure we are following any and all governmental alerts, requirements, and related formalized pop-up decisions and policies. Additionally, given the millions of dollars we have invested in safety and workflow, we are following all of our traditional internal policies and not wavering in these areas.”
Like many in business aviation, Dorian isn’t providing any surprises, but is another example of the industry’s often less covered key role in responding to natural disasters, evacuating people out of local airports not served by airlines and providing the leading edge of relief supplies.
“You will recall when Harvey and Irma hit, in relatively similar windows, we were able to get all of our clients out of Florida and surrounding, impacted areas – we will work to provide a similar outcome but do so with our safety layers and procedures in mind,” Collins said.
