With airlines now creating an unofficial “last class”, a class of seat that offers less comfort and features than even economy, according to recent news reports, air travel has become even less comfortable — expect for those who can afford business class or a charter plane service. While both might seem out of your price range, for business travelers charter plane services can offer excellent value for money, especially with one-way pricing.
The news of the unofficial “last class” has once again highlighted the issue of seating comfort in air travel. A recent poll by TripAdvisor found that 30% of Americans surveyed would like airlines to invest in more comfortable seating; similarly just over 40% would like airlines to improve the amount of legroom available. Given that eight million people flu every day and that over a third of all domestic business trips involved some kind of air travel — in comparison to just 11% of leisure trips — the need to find comfortable options for air transport is increasing.
Private jet charters, traditionally thought too expressive for many small or medium-sized businesses — are gaining in popularity as pricing has changed and flexibility and the need for in-flight productivity has surpassed cost as factors influencing choice of transport for business travel. In fact, small and mid-sized companies make up the large majority of business aircraft operators, with 70% of companies using such services having less than 1,000 employees and almost 60% employing fewer than 500 employees, according to a recent survey.
One of the core benefits of charter jet services apart from comfort, privacy and flexibility, is that business travelers tend to be more productive. In a survey, a 20% increase in productivity when compared with the office was reported among charter jet service users; conversely those flying commercial said their productivity fell by 40%. As traditional airlines pare down their service offerings and make it more difficult for business travelers to remain productive in the air, demand for private aircraft charter is likely to grow.
