Avoiding the long and exhausting boarding processes on scheduled flights, having a luxury car to take you to the airport, first class catering, and the benefit and convenience of sharing the flight with a small group of passengers are the value-added services with which the company wants to attract and pamper its best clients.
This new program becomes a legitimate novelty because regular flight schedules are often incompatible with the kind of customized travel offered by private jet services. Thanks to sophisticated technology and data analysis programs, the system can identify candidates who would benefit from the service, based on their past record with the airline, as well as booking and availability of private flights.
About 48 hours before their scheduled flight, passengers who have a reservation with Delta Airlines in business or first class will receive a notice from the company, inviting them to improve their flying experience and travel by private jet for a surcharge of between 300 and 500 dollars, depending on the case.
In principle, passengers who are offered the service are members of the Delta SkyMiles plan, particularly those who exceed 25,000 miles and spend $3,000 per year in travel. Initially, the service will be available only for domestic flights within the United States, in the area known as the East Coast hub.
Besides the advantage of filling the empty seats of private jets, this program seeks to captivate the airline’s most valuable customers and promote this experience among business executives, professional athletes and artists who accumulate large amounts of miles every year.
Although it is likely that the companies that cover the travel expenses of their executives and employees with Delta will be unwilling to afford this price difference, the passenger will undoubtedly be inclined to choose the experience of a flight in a first class private jet.
An innovative business proposal, Delta now offers its frequent flyers the advantage of having private flights at reasonable prices, opening the way for a potential clientele that— after the first experience— will want to repeat it as often as possible. Other airlines that also offer private jet services: Emirates and Air France. ■