I Don't Want to Be the Uber of Private Jet Charter, and Here's Why

The conversation in this industry has been the same for a long time. Be first. Respond faster. Get to instant pricing. Become the Uber of private aviation.

I'll be honest with you: I am slow. Not because I'm disorganized. Because I'm intentional.

Before I send a client a single option, I'm reading contracts. I'm checking whether an aircraft is owner-approved for charter. Is there any maintenance scheduled around their travel dates? Are the flight attendants hired directly by the operator, or are they contracted? These questions matter. They affect the experience in ways that don't show up in a quote.

And I've seen what "instant" looks like. I've offered it myself when I was moving too fast. The pricing was inaccurate. The details were off. It didn't serve my client. It just made me look responsive.

"Speed isn't service. It just looks like service."

Some things are worth getting right

I had a client recently, someone I've been working with for a while, and he was telling me about his Porsche. Designed in Munich. Custom, every detail considered, took months. He wasn't frustrated by that. He was proud of it. That car is exactly what he wanted because someone slowed down long enough to get it right.

His house. His suits. A meal that takes real preparation. These are the things he values in his life, and then he comes to me for a jet, and suddenly I'm supposed to get him an answer in 30 seconds? Honestly, I don't even want to use Uber for cars anymore, let alone run my business like one.

That's not the client I'm serving. And it's not the version of this business I want to be in.

Quiet luxury is in the details

When I was running my travel agency full-time, I worked closely with Four Seasons and Aman, brands that understand that the details are the product. Quiet luxury. Nothing loud about it. You feel it, or you don't. My clients felt it, which is why they kept coming back.

That approach is what I brought to The Aeris Agency here in Minneapolis. Some people want the fastest option. That's legitimate, and there are platforms built for exactly that. But the clients I work with want to feel like someone actually thought about them before hitting send.

What I do before I send you anything

So I take my time. I talk to the operator. I ask about their schedule. I make sure the aircraft is right, not just available. And when I finally send something, it's not the first thing I found. It's the thing I'd actually put my name on.

Some things are worth the wait. I'd rather be known for getting it right than for getting back to you fast.

If that sounds like the kind of help you're looking for, reach out to me at [email protected].