What? Charter? What does that even mean? Most people don’t know what it means if I tell them I fly private charter. The first part is the easiest but the second part? No clue!
I fly a private jet owned by a person or a family. But because of the expenses and maintenance, this family can decide to put a plane in a company who rent out their private jet to others. This company rents out their aircraft. This happens by so-called brokers.
How does this work? Just imagine you have money enough. (I’ll never have enough for this). Let’s say that Elmo (sesame street) wants to fly from Amsterdam to Paris. Elmo tells his manager that he wants to fly on Wednesday next week at 14:00 local time to Paris with a friend, Kermit the fr0g. The manager will contact some brokers with this information. The Broker will then look for flights and companies that offer their jets for these kinds of flights and look for a price. Or the broker will contact companies directly. This company will send an invoice and once this is paid the flight is booked. Elmo can now fly with his friend Kermit to Paris.
The easiest way to explain what a private charter is compared with commercial aviation like you most likely know it is:
Commercial aviation: is like a bus ride, you know the times it goes and if you are not on board it will leave you there and you have to go on the next one.
Private charter: is like a taxi, you order a taxi and it will pick you up from where you are on the time you want but it is a bit more expensive than a bus ride.
