KATE SARSFIELD / LONDON
Former employees plan to create one-stop shop offering "premium white glove service" to customers and operators
Two former employees from the now-defunct FlightTime have established a charter brokerage to reclaim the customer base of their former online charter employer.
Boston-based Executive Charter Services says it has cultivated "some very strong relationships" with around 80 FlightTime customers and so far has organised travel arrangements for more than a dozen of these. Brian Carr, Executive Charter Services chief executive, says: "We are picking up the pieces where FlightTime left off. So far we have a couple of large corporations and a number of high net-worth individuals as our regulars. We have the capacity to handle up to 60 individual or scheduled trips a month."
Carr says the company hopes to become a one-stop shop for charter and is examining a number of initiatives towards this goal. These include a customer loyalty scheme and a corporate shuttle service, although Carr suggests the "market isn't begging for this type of service at the moment".
He says: "We regard ourselves as a facilitator, offering a premium white glove service to both the customers and the operators."
Carr believes FlightTime's demise has left a bad impression with many operators. Some, it is understood, have not been paid for their services. "To run a successful charter company you must be able to guarantee availability. In order to gain the loyalty from our operators we pay up front for any flights and get the money from the passengers before their trip," he says.
Flights are booked via phone, email or internet, although Carr admits the latter service is limited. "We plan to expand the online service eventually and are no win talks with a software provider," he says.
Source: Flight International
