YOUR FAMILY, YOUR FRIENDS... YOUR AIRPLANE Written by Craig Kaminer / Photo by Lou Bopp
Even before the COVID pandemic, high on people’s wishlist was – and still is – access to a private jet. No advanced booking, bypassing the lines and security, gourmet food, a welcoming crew who knows you by name and are genuinely happy to see your pets, ...without needing a letter from a mental health professional. With everyone now wearing masks, social distancing, and avoiding crowded places, private jet travel – buying aircraft, fractional ownership, membership programs and chartering – is on the rise. While private jets are being used less right now for business travel, discretionary travel has more than made up the difference. When you finally make the decision to break up the monotony of staying at home binge watching Netflix, you can be in northern Michigan, the Hamptons, Maine or the Rockies in under two hours without coming Myra, Jamie and Barry Sherman into contact with anyone but your flight companions. Additionally, if you are planning to head back to Florida, California, Arizona or the big skies of the Northwest for the winter, you may want to book a jet now as one-way bookings are heating up. 30 slmag.net
SpiritJets, one of the original jet companies offering sales and acquisitions, management and charter services in St. Louis, specializes in servicing predominantly St. Louis travelers. Compared to larger, national private jet companies which stop at multiple cities throughout the day with their fleet of hundreds of jets, SpiritJets will fly to Naples, for example, drop off their client, and return with another family coming back to St. Louis. With their fleet of economical light jets to the global capability of their large cabin jets, they can handle just about anything with their superbly maintained aircraft, personalized service, and prices often significantly less than their national competition. Even if you are chartering or utilizing a membership card for just 20 hours a year, there’s something nice about knowing the SpiritJets team on a first name basis. At SpiritJets, any plane you use feels like your plane because you will likely fly the same jet regularly, compared to other companies where you don’t know anyone, you are on a different plane with a different crew
