Nothing is more synonymous with wealth and extravagance than the private jet. Los Angeles-based Aero wants to bring premium luxury travel closer to a reality for its customers by offering semi-private flying.
Along with its on-demand chartered services, Aero offers scheduled service that brings the private jet experience within reach. It offers the private jet experience, sold by the seat. The premium air carrier’s scheduled services flies from Van Nuys Airport in the north of LA to luxury locations such as Los Cabos, Aspen, and Sun Valley.
Aero CEO Ben Klein added that luxury experience begins at Van Nuys where it has its own private terminal where customers can relax in its own lounge, catered by its offering of food and drinks. If guests are running short of time, they can arrive at the terminal as late 20 minutes before the flight, and thus eliminating the stress of time pressure that typical commercial flight usually entails.
From there, passengers will embark on Aero’s ERJ135 jet with its striking, clean dark livery with its tail and engines decorated with an eye-catching orange-yellow gradient, reminiscent of a setting sun. The aircraft configuration’s 16 seat configuration are all first-class, meaning that while passengers share the semi-private experience on its scheduled product, the quality of service is by no means compensated.
Passengers can relax on its Italian leather seating and indulge in its premium open bar, as well as inflight dining featuring LA’s upmarket Erewhon. Passengers will be served by Aero’s top-class cabin crew, that have all been trained through the British Butler elite service training programme.
“We have a lot of guests who have their own jets or who charter but if we’re going on the schedule they want to go on, they’ll choose to fly with Aero,” said Klein. “It’s not just because it’s more cost effective, but because it’s just as good an experience for them as if they were flying private.”
The service extends beyond the flight and to further facilitate its premium travel experience, Aero has a 24/7 “concierge” service to assist passengers in booking arrangements at their destination, bringing an “end-to-end level of service for the journey,” Klein said. He added: “You call, we answer the phone any hour of the day within a couple of rings, which is a pretty unique feature in the aviation world.”
Aero offers its other product it calls Aero Private, which allows for groups travelling together to charter a bespoke flight on its service for a “really special experience”. Klein said this product has “proven really popular for weddings and corporate events”.
Aero had launched operations in early January 2021 as the pandemic continued to impact the globe; the aviation industry in particular has only mostly recovered years on. Despite the challenges such as mask mandates and the risk of crew getting sick and limiting operations, Aero noted that the pandemic had saw an increased demand for less density. Naturally, Aero’s more private offering from the lounge to the boarding process, to the aircraft itself, filled that demand. Klein added that post-COVID, the demand has stuck despite global commercial airline recovery. Even in the commercial airline space, passengers are gravitating more towards premium seating. He said that people are more willing now than ever to pay that bit extra for the better experience.
For the short- to medium-term, Aero is honing its strong LA market. “We have a very loyal guest base that continues to grow, and there’s a lot more opportunity there,” said Klein. “But I think maybe 12 months or so from now, we’ll be in a position to fully consider where that next base will be.” He said Aero is already mulling over where it can expand to, with great plans lying ahead for the semi-private company.