How to find Last minute charter flights

Chartering a jet directly through an operator can be a pleasant and convenient experience. Especially when most of your flights have the same routing; it becomes familiar and routine. But as the seasons change so does the demand for jet charter service. Experienced flyers who charter jets regularly, have at some time or another found themselves scrambling to find a last minute charter flight because their regular plane is down for maintenance or off on a charter flight for the owner. Working exclusively with an operator for air charter limits your selection of aircrafts to what is within their fleet and thus limiting your availability.

Dependent upon the executive airport required for departure and the itinerary, last minute availability can be hard to find and can be costly. When you have the need for a last minute charter flight, repositioning an aircraft is likely required. When you are trying to get out of town quickly the last thing you want to do is spend time on the internet searching for an operator who has availability on the appropriate charter jet for your last minute charter flight.

Air charter agents exist because they can locate all of the relevant charter jets and evaluate the cost of repositioning multiple planes. They can then present you with the most affordable and cost effective options available industry wide as well as provide information related to the pilot’s level of experience and aircraft maintenance records. Air charter agents do not own or operate any aircrafts, but instead work with multiple operators to provide service regardless of the executive airport requested. This is why working with an air charter agent will allow you to gain you access to 24hr charter plane availability. An agent allows you to gain access to worldwide availability not just the regional availability that an operator has. Charter Agents that have solid relationships with many operators can provide multiple aircrafts at competitive bids that usually compete with the retail prices of an operator. It is important to work with a reputable air charter agency with strong relationships within the industry. The value of the air charter agent lies in the strength of the relationships that they have within their strategic network of operators with which they work. With an agent you can find the nicest charter jets at the best available price throughout the United States of America, Europe, the Caribbean Islands, Pacific Ocean, Asia and the Middle East. Working with a reputable agent helps ensure that when you NEED a last minute charter flight your aircraft can be available.

When trying to find last minute charter flight availability, it is wise to provide a firm but flexible budget. By providing your agent a budget for your last minute flight, will enable your agent to work quickly and on your behalf to find available aircrafts at the very best price. It is best to give a general budget for guideline for your agent to act within. By providing a budget you will send a powerful buying signal that your agent can work with to negotiate pricing on your behalf. To develop a relationship with a reputable air charter agency, I recommend you visit http://www.stratosjets.com/ or contact them at 1.888.478.7286

Emergency Charter Evacuations and Humanitarian Relief Assistance

The recent major earthquake in Haiti provides another example of how quickly events can occur and evacuation needs can arise. When a catastrophe like this happens, it's hard to know what to do next. If you were impacted by a natural disaster while in a foreign country, who would you call?

If you or a loved one was seriously injured during a disaster like this one, would you receive adequate medical care? The needed medicine(s)?

The effects of the disaster itself, the added language barrier and the long distances involved can quickly turn a bad situation into a horrible nightmare for many families.

When you or loved ones are abroad and need emergency evacuation services, Stratos Jet Charters is always here for you. Stratos Jets will help get you out of your destination country and back to the U.S. as quickly as possible, sometimes within hours.

We also stand ready to arrange the delivery of life saving supplies - such as food, water. vital medicine and medical equipment, or shelter and clothing.
We also have a Spanish speaking staff member here at Stratos Jets, 24-hours-per-day, who can immediately assist you to arrange your safe return home or to medical facilities in the United States by emergency air charter transportation from Latin American countries.

Regardless of your situation, no matter what your needs may be, arranging for emergency evacuations or other critical, urgent travel needs is a forte here at Stratos Jets. It could save your life.

And of course we can facilitate other travel requirements as well, caused by potential violence or social unrest, medical emergency or life-threatening illness, or an emergency family situation back at home. The bottom line: we will always do whatever possible to assist you during a time of crisis!

For more information, give us a call at 888 478-7286 to find out more about your many options and all of our services here at Stratos Jet Charters.

We all wish we could avoid every natural disaster, like this current emergency in Haiti. But when the situation arises, we look forward to the opportunity to provide critical assistance during your time of great need.

Joel A. Thomas, Owner – Stratos Jet Charters
Phone: 888 478-7286
Email: joel@stratosjets.com

Differentiating Beyond Price – Your Tool Kit For Making Intelligent Jet Charter Decisions

Part 3 – Pilot Certification

When you hire Stratos Jet Charters as your air charter agent, it is our job to identify all relevant aircraft, ensure the proper certification, maintenance and safety of each plane and to create a competitive market for your charter flight. And determining the motivation of your broker can sometimes be difficult, especially those brokers with limited aviation expertise – who place a priority on their profits, not your safety. This is why we created this educational series, or “tool kit”, to provide you with the knowledge that you need to make well-informed jet charter decisions.

Our first two topics discussed aircraft insurance verification and aircraft maintenance, and how vital each is to your safety. Our third, and equally critical topic focuses on the issue of pilot certification.

First, some basics on pilot certification and training. To fly air charter, a pilot must progress through flight training and obtain a commercial pilot’s license, an instrument rating, and a multi-engine rating. After obtaining these licenses, every operator has a minimum number of hours of Pilot in Command experience which they require for a pilot to be eligible to fly air charter. As the aircraft becomes more complex, the minimum hours required by operators and also their insurance companies increase.

Pilots should receive a minimum of 5 to 10 hours of in-flight training covering every possible emergency that can happen in an aircraft. They should also have a primary concern for safety, including the safe condition or airworthiness of the plane; knowledge of weather factors affecting the safety of the flight; flight regulations; air traffic control procedures, and air navigational aids designed to provide maximum safety in the air.

After their training, pilots take an oral and written examination, as well as a flight check in which they must demonstrate their ability to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) examiner. Pilots need to demonstrate to the FAA that their flying skills, knowledge and state of health are at all times acceptable for the particular flying jobs they perform. These flight checks are demanding, and can be failed.

And while these standard FAA requirements are stringent, Stratos Jet Charters goes even further in our own pilot requirements. Each Pilot in Command of a charter flight arranged by Stratos Jet Charters is required to have a minimum of 3,000 hours of total flight time. And each Second in Command is required to have a minimum of 1,000 total flight hours.

Operators chosen by Stratos Jets are required to only hire pilots with a 100% training record and all pilots must attend Flight Safety School at least once per year. We also require that every aircraft contracted by Stratos Jet Charters be regularly audited by an independent agency, such as Wyvern or ARGUS.

Wyvern and ARGUS have the two most recognized safety auditing standards in the industry. During an on-site safety evaluation, Part 135 charter operators are measured against the demanding ARGUS or Wyvern operating standards, both which far exceed government regulatory oversight. The reliability of audit results depends on the application of well-defined, consistent audit processes and standards. The strength of both Wyvern and ARGUS safety audit programs lie in the experience, qualifications and superior training of their audit teams, reviewing operators' aircraft fleets, crews and maintenance. Every area of the operation is scrutinized.

And meeting these standards does make a real difference in safety. This can be observed in historical safety records. A miniscule percentage of both fatal and non-fatal FAR Part 135 accidents from January 1991 to April 2009 involved ARGUS or Wyvern-compliant and recommended aircraft or aircrew, far less than 1%. Having an ARGUS or Wyvern compliant operator, crew and maintenance program is your assurance that the pilots of your flight have a record clear of accidents, incidents and enforcement actions, are adequately experienced in the aircraft they will be flying, and have all proper certifications and type ratings.

When it comes to the safety of your charter flight, know that Stratos Jet Charters will never, ever cut corners. Which is why, once again, that you should not choose a charter broker based solely on price. The safety and security of you and your fellow passengers MUST be the primary consideration for every charter flight. This is just another aspect of our commitment to you – our invaluable clients!

Joel Thomas – President, Stratos Jet Charters

Stratos Jet Charters Now Rated By Dun & Bradstreet With "Strong" Financial Ranking

As our regular readers know, we at Stratos Jet Charters have always felt that having confidence in those you do business with is a critical component of the decisions you make every day. The financial history and standing of the charter company you choose to do business with matters, both in terms of your assurances that you will receive what you have paid for, and in the overall performance and quality of services that relate directly to your travel experience.

This explains why we are proud to announce that Stratos Jet Charters has recently received the rating of STRONG regarding the financial condition of our company from Dun & Bradstreet (NYSE: DNB). D&B is the world’s leading source of credit information and reports, commercial information and insight on businesses in both the US and internationally. They provide their customers with the financial foundation that their customers rely on to make vital business decisions.

In both the Financial Stress Class score and the Credit Class score, Stratos Jet Charters received the highest possible ranking of 1. This places Stratos Jets above the national average for the Jet Charter Industry, the South Atlantic Region, within our Employee Range and for the Number of Years in Business by significant margins in both categories. Here is a link to our official release announcing our rating, with more detailed category descriptions.

Dun & Bradstreet also compile payment performance data independently from the various trade references of each rated company to create a D&B PAYDEX score. This score is a unique, dollar weighted indicator of payment performance based on the payment experiences of a company’s business partners and vendors. Among the 58 vendors reporting to the D&B file regarding Stratos Jet Charters, we paid within credit terms in 100% of all reported cases, for a total score of 80 – compared to an industry median PAYDEX score of 70 – which places Stratos above the 75th percentile in PAYDEX ranking.

Our Dun & Bradstreet rating is just another of the many reasons why you can travel with confidence when you choose Stratos Jet Charters as your agent, and partner, for your next flight.

We believe that enduring client relationships are created by providing both great travel experiences and the best charter pricing possible on every flight. With every client interaction and customer service opportunity we are presented with at Stratos Jet Charters, our goal is to create long-term, repeat business relationships with our clients.

With Stratos Jet Charters you will always have the Right Plane, for the Right Trip, and at the Best Price.

Thanks,

Joel Thomas – President, Stratos Jet Charters

Differentiating Beyond Price – Your Tool Kit For Making Intelligent Jet Charter Decisions Part 1: Insurance Verification

Part 1 – Insurance Verification and Your Safety on Jet Charter Flights

In highly competitive markets, many smaller companies seeking to compete will cut corners to offer the lowest price. But cutting corners in aviation could mean the difference in arriving safely, or not. So how does one seeking to charter an aircraft differentiate beyond just price?

Our role as your air charter agent is to identify all relevant aircraft, ensure the proper certification, maintenance and safety of each plane and to create a competitive market for the proposed routing. Which is why as your trusted agent, Stratos Jets has created an educational series, a “tool kit” of information so that you – our deeply valued clients – can possess the means to make the best, most educated decisions when you are chartering your next flight. Our first topic centers on the subject of insurance verification.

Often times you will find that some our competitors are chartering flights that are NOT inclusive of the recommended or required insurance policies necessary. And when you book an aircraft for your customers, boss, or you and your family, don’t you need to be 100% sure that the flight meets your safety standards?

That’s why before every flight, you should demand to see the insurance policy that will be covering your trip. You should also be looking for a minimum of $20 million in coverage for turbo props, and at least $25 million in coverage for jets.

In this way, you can vet the companies and operators you are working with; to ensure that they have the proper insurance required to protect you and your passengers’ well being in every way possible. If they cannot produce this document, that’s your first sign, sadly, that your safety is NOT a top priority to the broker in question!

Stratos Jet Charters requires all flights are ARGUS or WYVERN certified and that the pilots, aircraft and charter operators meet or exceed all FAA requirements. Every one of our flights are operated by Part 135 carriers with exceptional safety records (including no safety breaches in the last 10 years), have pilots with the proper certifications, and the most hours on your specific aircraft and exemplary safety records, and our operators carry reliable and appropriate insurance policies, suitable for the importance of our clients.

At Stratos Jets, our top priority is to ensure your flight is the safest it can be. You won’t find another company more committed to your safety and your security. You should not settle for anything less!

Joel Thomas – President, Stratos Jet Charters

Honoring Those Who Have Served America

As we observe and celebrate Memorial Day 2009, I thought this would be a nice time to send our best wishes and support from all of us here at Stratos Jet Charters to our many military men and women currently serving around the globe.

The numbers have fluctuated over the years - as the needs of our military have changed - but a great many of the fine commercial and private pilots that serve the jet charter industry earned their stripes in our Armed Forces. And quite a few have become trusted advisors, professional partners and good friends to us at Stratos Jets.

We salute each of you, and your contributions to our nation!

And as everyone across this great country enjoys the holiday weekend, we at Stratos Jets would just like to remind you that we’ll always be here to serve you and your travel needs, too.

For more information, give us a call at 888 472-7286 or visit www.stratosjets.com to find out more about your many options and our services here at Stratos Jet Charters. We would love the opportunity to help arrange your next charter flight!

Thanks,

Joel A. Thomas, Owner – Stratos Jet Charters
888 478-7286
joel@stratosjets.com

Why Use A Jet Charter Broker?

March 9, 2009 - Orlando, FL

We are sometimes asked by customers and clients “Why use a broker when I can find an owner or operator on my own”? The reasons are really quite simple.

Air charter brokers have an expert knowledge of the jet charter industry. Stratos Jet Charters has developed proprietary software and research techniques that allow our jet charter brokers to quickly identify all of the aircrafts that are relevant to a given itinerary. By understanding flight patterns and aircraft routing trends, air charter brokers can take advantage of transient aircrafts that may be in the area or aircrafts that may be traveling empty.

When dealing with individual operators you have very limited aircraft availability, as that operator is limited to just the aircrafts in their fleet. In contrast, a charter broker typically has access to a virtually unlimited number of available aircraft and travel options. This enables Stratos to provide the appropriate aircraft; turboprop or jet (light, mid or heavy) for every flight.

Because of extensive relationships with owners and operators around the country, a broker can use their buying power to assist you no matter where you are. At Stratos, we provide you with not only the best available option, but at the best price too.

Finally, your broker has an intimate knowledge of each aircraft operator’s maintenance standards and can provide representation, and more importantly - solutions, for you during your trip if the aircraft has a mechanical or if things do happen to go wrong, so you and your passengers won’t be left stranded.

All in all, working with a jet charter broker, such as Stratos, is the safest and most efficient way to book your next private flight, for business or pleasure.

For more information, call Stratos Jet Charters at 888 472-7286 or visit www.stratosjets.com, and find out more about how we can help you find the solutions to your next charter.

Please allow Stratos the opportunity to assist you in arranging your next flight.

Joel A. Thomas
888 478-7286
www.stratosjets.com