Why Companies Rent or Buy Private Jets
A trend is emerging over the past few years, which shows that most businesses are chartering planes for their important personnel. They are choosing to rent a private jet for the most relevant trips, rather than booking their employees in business or first class on commercial airlines.
The price of a private jet rental has gone down over the past five to ten years, which is part of the equation for businesses. They can now affordably send their executives and other vital professionals to meetings or conferences by chartering a plane.
Below is a more detailed explanation as to why companies are renting private jets for their employees, or buying a dedicated jet that executives from the company can use for business trips.
Privacy
When companies are sending important personnel on a domestic or international flight, they may want to do so privately. Perhaps a sports team is arranging for a player transfer from another team, and they want to get him to their stadium as soon as possible, without anyone knowing.
A Fortune 500 company may want to ensure its executives can get to important meetings, seminars, or other events with ultimate privacy. Some companies even offer the borrowing of a private jet as a perk to their most important employees, should that employee need to take a short personal trip.
Security
No company wants to see an employee get into an incident at an airport or on a plane. Commercial flights increase the chances of this happening, as there are so many people crammed into a single plane. An unruly passenger may cause an incident, and the company’s executive may be caught up in that ruckus.
Private jets are also more secure in terms of a passenger’s belongings. Businesses that are sending important employees to conferences and meetings in other cities would not want laptops or documents stolen or misplaced.
If a business flies all its vital employees privately, they never have to worry about electronics, digital information, or papers getting into the wrong hands during transit. Private jet companies take security very seriously, and they even provide chauffeured transportation to and from the airport.
Productivity
When an employee flies commercially, the flight takes a long time. Not only do commercial flights involve a longer security check, but boarding, disembarking, and waiting for the flight to depart takes longer than a comparable flight on a private jet.
Employees that spend less time flying are more productive, as they have more hours in the day to focus on their work. Company executives can even continue to work on a private jet, especially if they are traveling as a small group. They can take out their laptops and collaborate on projects and brainstorm while they are in the air.
As businesses often send employees to other cities for client meetings or seminars, ensuring those employees are more productive is vitally important.
Flexibility
Business trips don’t always happen on a set schedule. When companies send employees to planned seminars or conferences, they can book commercial tickets or private jets ahead of time.
If there is a sudden meeting taking place in another city with other teams from the same company, or with vendors or clients, businesses may not be able to get their employees’ last-minute airline tickets. Even if they can get a ticket, the flight may arrive at an odd time, and the ticket itself is likely to be very expensive.
Flying by private jet means that you can alter flight plans until the last moment. Companies can also book a jet within 24 hours, especially if they are a regular customer of the chartering business. Such flexibility is vital in the business world and a key reason why many businesses use private jets rather than flying their employees on commercial airlines.
An Affordable Perk
Businesses rarely spend money on perks for their employees unless they can get a return. Allowing upper management to travel via chartered flights is beneficial to companies, as they are more likely to attract the best talent through such a perk.
Private jets are also a lot more affordable than many people realize. If a company is sending four or five people to a conference, they would have to buy them all business or first-class tickets on a commercial airline. If they are booking last minute, those tickets can add up to a significant expense.
In comparison, booking a private jet would be enough to take all those people to the conference, and the prices are comparable. Companies can also get further discounts if they regularly book a private jet from the same chartering business.
