The Ultimate Guide to Private Jet Charter

Published March 2021
Welcome to the exceptional world of private aviation where you get to enjoy complete control of your travel experience. Private aviation delivers the freedom to tailor every detail to your unique preferences and needs. Here, we've assembled a guide to help you understand private jet charter (and its alternatives) so you can better understand the best choices for you.

Is Private Jet Charter the Best Option for Me?

To make sure we answer the most critical questions, we need to begin here. Chartering a private jet may be the most well-known option for passengers entering the private travel space, but it's not the only option. Here's a high-level assessment of the most popular ways to fly private.

Private Jet Charter

With private jet charter, flights are purchased individually as one-ways or round trips (usually under 24 hour return windows). The billing is based on hourly rates with additional factors depending on circumstances (I.e. empty legs, repositioning, landing fees, etc.) The flexibility of each flight and the absence of long-term commitments makes private jet charter the favorite option for clients who aren't sure about frequency of future travel needs.

In this way, chartering a private jet allows:

The ability to select different jets for different travel needs. For example, you can charter a more affordable light jet like the Hawker 400XP for shorter trips with fewer passengers. If your next flight requires a longer range or more passengers, you can opt for a larger aircraft like the Falcon 2000 or Gulfstream IVSP.
The opportunity to familiarize yourself with different aircraft experiences. Passengers who are considering longer term arrangements like jet card memberships or even acquisition enjoy the opportunity that charter provides to sample different jets before committing to a type of aircraft.
The freedom to gauge client experience from your operator. The aircraft itself is only part of your private aviation experience. Chartering allows you to determine if you're fully satisfied with the service you receive from an operator before considering any longer term arrangements.

Private jet charter provides you the opportunity to experience the comfort, safety, and convenience of private aviation while maintaining flexibility on a flight-to-flight basis. Passengers with more frequent travel needs should explore the benefits provided by jet card memberships or possibly acquisition when appropriate. We'll briefly introduce jet card memberships here.

For more information on private jet acquisitions, we recommend speaking with a private acquisition consultant who can help you understand the process, commitment, and opportunities of owning a private jet.

One detail to keep in mind is that while empty leg flights can mean increased prices for point-to-point travel plans, they also provide less expensive opportunities if you happen to find an empty leg that aligns with your travel needs.

Private Jet Card Memberships

Private jet card memberships are ideal for frequent flyers who are not interested or prepared to own and manage an aircraft. They are designed so flight hours are purchased in larger packages, usually 25 or 50 hours. Dumont JETS offers customizable options that can be discussed with our Charter team at 302.777.1003 (ext. 1).

Jet cards have rapidly grown in popularity in recent years due to the perks they afford their members. These perks vary from provider to provider, but they often include features like:

Locked in fixed rate pricing
Guaranteed availability
Simple monthly statements
Personal travel concierge
Point to point pricing with no repositioning fees

The Santos Jet Card from Dumont JETS adds additional benefits like guaranteed Wi-Fi connectivity, free interchange between jet categories, no fuel surcharges, and more.

How to Select the Best Choice for Private Jet Charter

Assuming you're primarily interested in the private jet charter option, let's take a look at what details to consider when choosing your private jet. We recommend you look at two main factors when choosing how you're going to fly: the aircraft and the operator. Both are critical to the quality of your private aviation experience.

Here, we hope to provide you with a useful guide to get acquainted with the options available to you. Before you make your decision, we do recommend speaking with a private aviation consultant who will be able to apply their thorough knowledge of the industry to your unique needs and preferences.

Understanding Your Options: Private Jets

Picking the right aircraft for your travel is a matter of prioritizing the right details in your planning. Some are practical – like passenger count, range, and luggage. Others are about your in-flight preferences – like Wi-Fi, entertainment systems, turbulence allowance, and culinary capabilities.

Private jets are organized into three main classes that indicate aircraft size, passenger capacity, range and hourly rate. These are heavy jets, midsize jets, and light jets. There are variations and subcategories within each class, but they give you a good idea of your primary options.

Heavy Jet Options

Short of business liners (commercial aircraft sizes customized for personal use), heavy jets make up the upper echelon of the private aviation world. They offer the best of the best – the most space, the longest range, the highest luggage capacity, etc. To give you a better picture of the heavy jet class, let's take a look at some examples from the Dumont JETS fleet.

Heavy Jet: Gulfstream IVSP

For example, this Gulfstream IVSP comes equipped with:

14 Passengers
Range: 4,166 NM (nearly 4,800 miles)
Free High Speed Wi-Fi
Lavatory
Full Galley including Oven and Microwave
Airshow Entertainment System
Charging Outlets

Take an immersive virtual tour of the Gulfstream IVSP

Heavy Jet: Dassault Falcon 2000

Smaller but still a heavy jet, the Dassault Falcon 2000 is equipped with:

10 Passengers
Range: 3,120 NM (nearly 3,600 miles)
Free High Speed Wi-Fi
Lavatory
Full Galley including Microwave and Oven
Airshow Entertainment System
Charging Outlets

Take an immersive virtual tour of the Dassault Falcon 2000

Midsize and Midsize Jet Options

Midsize and super midsize jets come in just below the heavy jet class. They provide comfortable space and amenities at a lower price point. In fact, you'll find many of the same amenities in the midsize class as you will with heavy jets.

Midsize jets typically provide capacity for 8-9 passengers with a range over 3,000 NM (about 3,500 miles). Depending on the operator, these jets can also come equipped with Wi-Fi, lavatories, galleys, entertainment systems, and charging stations. Above is an example of an 8-passenger super midsize Falcon 50 from the Dumont JETS fleet.

Light Jet Options

Light jets represent the smallest aircraft until you reach the ranks of the turboprops and piston aircraft. This class of aircraft is ideal for short flights that are lighter on passengers and luggage. They still include basic amenities to make the in-flight experience comfortable and connected.

Their primary benefit is their financial accessibility – they provide the convenience, safety, and privacy that comes with the private passengers desire at a lower hourly rate. There are differences that lead some clients to choose larger aircraft, but they meet the needs of short range passengers very well in many cases.

Similarities and Limitations of Light Jets

A light jet like the Dumont JETS Hawker 400XP has a few similarities to its super midsize counterpart the Falcon 50. For example:

Seating for 8 passengers (although the Falcon 50's cabin feels much larger)
Wi-Fi connectivity (slightly slower than the Falcon 50 and 2000)
A lavatory and galley, although smaller
Airshow entertainment system

Despite the similarities, it is the significant differences that set the light jet class apart:

The Hawker 400XP provides a range of 1,693 NM (just under 2,000 miles) compared to the Falcon 50's range of 3,057 NM (just over 3,500 miles).
The Hawker 400XP allows for 50 cubic feet of luggage versus the Falcon 50's 115 cubic foot capacity.
A lighter jet like the Hawker 400XP will experience more turbulence than heavier alternatives.

The Final Step to Choosing the Right Charter Solution

If you begin with basic questions like the range, capacity (passengers & luggage), and amenities you'll need, deciding the right jet becomes much easier. The final step involves the operator you choose for your charter experience. Every provider promises excellent customer service so how do you decide which operator to choose? Here's a few insights into find the right provider for your preferences.

Size of the Operator

As is the case in many industries, many potential passengers are most familiar with larger operators like NetJets or XOJet. These operators are known for their larger fleets with a wide variety of aircraft. They also carry some of the newest models of aircraft, albeit for much higher rates.

Smaller providers operate smaller fleets, but they are known for more attentive care for their clients. Because of their smaller number of clients, they are able to dedicate more time and attention to individual relationships. The results is often a more finely tailored private aviation experience.

Safety Certifications

Safety is not one of the more glamorous parts of private aviation, but it is one of the most significant. This involves not only your physical safety, but also your medical safety especially in the wake of concerns like Covid 19.

For industry safety standards, look for industry certifications like the Wyvern Wingman Standard and ARGUS rating. The Wingman Operator certification covers regulatory compliance standards for operators, aircraft, and pilots engaged in charter services. ARGUS ratings indicate excellence in operations for charter providers. (These come in tiers up to a Platinum rating, which Dumont JETS carries.)

Location of the Operator

With the nature of operating costs in private aviation, it makes sense to look for an operator who services an airport near you. It will increase your costs to select a service provider or aircraft that requires repositioning. If you can choose a provider who has aircraft on the ground near you, you can avoid unnecessary costs.

For example, we serve the Philadelphia (PHL) area from our location in New Castle, DE (ILG). We also provide charter services out of:

Choose a Trusted Industry Consultant

If you'd like to learn more about your private aviation opportunities, we invite you to start a conversation with one of our personal aviation consultants. We're happy to answer any questions you have to help you create the perfect private aviation experience.

Talk to a Personal Consultant

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