Jet Charter Flights to Sporting Events

As we head into the month of November, now is the time to start planning your jet charter flights to all your favorite sporting events this season. If you’re as big of a “sports nut” as everyone here is at Stratos Jet Charters, you’re probably planning on chartering a private jet to several sporting events this year.

At Stratos Jet Charters, we are more than happy to assist you with arranging the safest and most luxurious private jet charter flights to your favorite sporting events. However, we would also like to take this opportunity to inform you about a few things that could affect your experience at the game. For added convenience, we’ve compiled a list of the top three things you need to know before chartering a private jet to a sporting event.

1. Repositioning Fees

If you are planning your next charter flight to a college sports game, keep in mind that many college football and basketball games are located in small towns and rural areas. Although small towns and cities are home to several of the finest college teams in America, they are not home to a large number of private charter aircraft. For example, University of Alabama’s Crimson Tides games are located in the small town of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where very few private aircraft are located.

This means that a private aircraft may have to move, or “reposition” from its home base to the location of your destination in order to conduct your charter flight. Should this occur, you may see an increase in cost for your charter flight due to additional repositioning fees. The best way to avoid costly repositioning fees is to work with Stratos Jet Charters private flight advisors who can find all the relevant aircraft in your area that can accommodate your charter flight request.

2. Pilot Duty Restrictions

If you plan on flying to a sporting event and returning home on the same day, you need to understand how charter pilot duty restrictions can affect your charter flight. The Federal Aviation Administration imposes certain rest restrictions on pilots to keep them fully awake and alert during flight. These restrictions were implemented by the FAA to ensure your safety on every corporate charter flight.

These requirements, referred to as “pilot duty restrictions,” restrict the number of hours a pilot can fly during a 14-hour work period, called a “duty day.” Currently, air charter pilots can fly 10 consecutive hours without a rest period on any given duty day. Duty day begins one hour before departure and ends one hour after pilots land at their final destination.

It’s important to understand that charter pilots must conduct all pre-flight and post-flight operations operations in addition to any repositioning during the 14-hour period. Pre-flight and post-flight operations usually take about an hour and a half to complete, which can become a time issue for your, should your game go into overtime.

Repositioning can also limit the amount of time you have at a game. Let’s say your three-hour charter flight is scheduled to leave at 1 p.m., but your pilots repositioned for one hour to your airport. The pilots duty day would have actually begin at 11 a.m., meaning you need to return to the airport before 9 p.m. in order to meet with your pilots duty restrictions.

To avoid leaving the game early, you can always plan on staying overnight at the game. Many private jet travelers feel that staying at the game longer is worth the additional cost of overnighting the aircraft.

3. Aircraft Availability

As a dedicated sports fan, you know that conference championship games, bowl games and playoffs are highly-attended sporting events. If you plan on attending one of these games this year, we highly recommend that you book your private jet charter flight at least one week in advance, to secure your aircraft. Major sporting events, such as the NCAA March Madness playoffs and Superbowl Sunday, are “peak travel periods” for private charter flights. This means that hundreds of jet charter buyers will travel to one destination at the same time, which reduces the number of private aircraft available for last-minute charter flight bookings. The high demand for jet charter flights can also dramatically inflate the price of your charter flight. By booking early, you can avoid higher prices and reserve the best aircraft for your individual charter flight. Another advantage of booking early is that you can avoid inflated, last-minute ground transfer fees (as high as $1,500 in some cases) for luxury ground transportation services from the airport to the stadium.