Travelers Turn to Charter Jets
As Airport Lines Get Longer

By DANIEL COSTELLO
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Last week, John Uznis and two friends grabbed a quick flight from Palm
Beach, Fla., to the Bahamas for a few days of vacation. And quick it was:
They didn't wait in lines at the airport, check their bags or show boarding
passes at the gate. They just hopped right on the plane.

No, it wasn't a mistake: Mr. Uznis and his friends paid $350 apiece to
charter their own King Air turbo prop. Door to door, the trip took about an
hour. "It's a little bumpy, but at least you don't have to deal with
delays," says the Michigan real-estate executive.

Worn out by long security lines? Don't feel like getting patted down in
public? A small but growing group of air travelers is finding a new
solution: renting their own plane and pilot. In the past three weeks, plane
rentals at more than 200 U.S. charter companies have shot up 40%, even
during the slow post-Labor Day season, according to the Air Charter Guide,
an industry research firm in Boston. New York's Blue Star Jets, whose prices
range from a few thousand dollars to $120,000 a trip, says business is up
nearly 50%. Others are so busy they've started waiting lists.

But while this shift to friendlier skies is a boon to the $2 billion charter
business, the industry's lack of any meaningful security alarms safety
experts, especially considering all the measures commercial passengers go
through now. At issue: Although the Federal Aviation Administration has
jurisdiction over major airports, it has little control over passenger
security at the nation's 5,000 general-aviation airports. The towns that own
the airports handle that, and most simply don't have the resources to screen
fliers.

"There's no question smaller airports are still vulnerable," says Michaela
Schaaf, senior research associate at the University of Nebraska's Aviation
Institute. "Anybody can step on charter flights."

Industry officials say they are stepping up safety measures and that the
risk to the general public is minimal, given that most charters deal with
customers they know. "We don't want to be paranoid," says a spokesman for
the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, an industry trade group in
Washington, D.C. "How secure are rental trucks and rental boats, anyway?"

Still, even charter companies concede their security remains far different
than what commercial airline passengers are seeing today. "It was no fuss,
no muss," says Martine Rothblatt, recalling a recent family trip she
chartered to Vermont from Melbourne, Fla. She says the only added security
she noticed was the pilot asking for everyone's name. "Normally, they don't
need that," says Ms. Rothblatt.

Feeling Safer

Since Sept. 11, Tammy Morgan has taken a charter three times to avoid
airport hassles, including a five-hour flight from Los Angeles a week after
the attacks. The New Yorker says she also feels safer flying privately; she
knows everyone on the plane and figures no terrorists would target a tiny
jet. "I don't want to fly anything else," she says.

This niche of travel, of course, isn't for everyone. Only celebrities and
CEOs can afford the highest end of the business, with rentals of the
slickest jets starting at $300,000 a year. Far cheaper flights can be slow,
cramped and lack virtually any amenties including bathrooms and food. And
fancy jet or not, some travelers will always be jittery about small planes;
after all, the accident rates on charters are generally higher than they are
on the major airlines.

Still, in recent years, many charters have been reaching out to a wider
audience, offering one-way fares or working with online agents to find
customers. Even Travelocity is thinking about listing some charter flights
on its Web site. What's more, because many of the planes can seat six to 10
people, more customers now reduce their bill by splitting costs with family
or friends. The result: While dipping in this year's down economy, charter
revenues grew more than 25% from 1995 to 2000, and now account for about 2%
of all flights in the U.S.

But that's nothing compared to the boom in new customers that these outfits
have seen in the past three weeks, both from business and leisure travelers.
Universal Jet Aviation in Florida, for example, says business is up about
50% since Sept. 11, while Avbase Aviation in Cleveland has started waiting
lists to deal with its 25% spike in sales. Among the most popular trips?
Fall-foliage weekends in Vermont, college-hunting tours along the East Coast
and even getaways to Europe. In Scottsdale, Ariz., Executive Aircraft
Services says it's also getting customers because so many major airlines are
cutting routes lately.

"We're almost their only choice now," says Gordon Johnson, president of the
company, which charges as much as $4,000 an hour per plane for its
highest-end trips.

All the new business hasn't gone entirely unnoticed by the FAA, which has
imposed a number of restrictions in the past three weeks. Since Sept. 11, it
has banned some small planes from flying near major airports, and has
broader restrictions near New York City and Washington. The FAA also has
asked general-aviation airports to report suspicious behavior or clients and
could take over more security responsibilities at smaller airports. An
agency spokeswoman says it's confident small airport security is "adequate"
but adds, "we may expand our supervision."

Until they do, small airports and charter companies are trying to handle
matters themselves. Arizona's Scottsdale Airport has added fences and closed
some access gates, while other airports have stopped letting customers drive
right up to their jets. Princeton Airport in New Jersey says the FAA did
call and suggested that it add security staff and do background checks on
employees. "But we can't afford that," says Ken Nierenberg, the airport
manager. "Nothing has changed a lot."

Self-Monitored

Major airports that house charter companies do have stricter security
measures. But even there, charter fliers can often skip metal detectors and
baggage searches by boarding through charter hangars away from the main
terminals. "We leave security up to [the charter companies] to monitor,"
says a spokeswoman for Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix.

That bothers some safety experts and passenger groups, some of whom have
been arguing for beefed-up charter security for years. The World Trade
Center attacks only make those changes more pressing, these people say, as
do all the new safety measures going on at big airports. "It doesn't seem
right that people who pay more money don't have to bother with security,"
says David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association in
Washington.

Maybe so, but Joe Carreras, a consumer-products executive in Cleveland, says
he plans to take more charter flights, not fewer, in coming months. A big
reason? "My son thinks it's cool."

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