MArket updatE: meeting the challenges of high-volume holiday travel

Over the past few months, Magellan Jets has been committed to providing all our guests with insights and updates on what we’re seeing in the private aviation sphere. Today, we want to inform you about the following program changes, which are a result of the world-wide supply chain crisis and necessary to maintain your safety and the quality of service you’ve come to expect from us:

• International flights will temporarily be subject to on-demand market rates
• Daily flight hour minimums are increasing for customers joining or renewing a program
• Program rates and guarantees for new customers will begin January 5

Read on to learn more about these changes and the reasons they’re being implemented—along with an important note on winter travel operations.

PROGRAM CHANGES REGARDING INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS

By now, you’ve surely felt the effects of the global supply chain crisis in how you do business and across other facets of your personal life. As we communicated to you last month, these same supply chain and labor issues are also impacting aviation, both on the commercial and private segments. Common symptoms arising from this are clearly the scheduling of aircraft and flight crews as backordered parts and backlogged maintenance mean more aircraft out of commission for longer periods of time.

While this is creating a challenge domestically, the degree of difficulty is escalated within international destinations. To minimize the risk of having planes offline for maintenance and waiting for parts for prolonged periods of time outside of the US, some partners are temporarily restricting international flight segments. This situation has led to a significant decrease in the number of aircraft currently operating outside of the United States and is further reducing the number of aircraft and crews available for our flights that meet our standards for safety and service.

As a result, all flights outside of the US not currently scheduled are temporarily subject to on-demand market rates from the available aircraft within Magellan Jets Preferred Network. As Safety remains our number-one priority, only approved partners and flight crews are used for all flights. Our Jet card owners may still use their hours when flying internationally, and this situation will be handled similarly to when an aircraft is needed outside of their program’s booking window.

DAILY FLIGHT HOUR MINIMUMS

We’ve previously mentioned the challenges we have encountered regarding aircraft and crew availability when scheduling shorter trips. To meet those challenges, new customers joining or renewing a program will have a 2-hour daily flight hour minimum for light and mid-size cabin, and a 3-hour minimum when utilizing super-mid and heavy-cabin aircraft. These changes do not apply to existing jet card owners or members. The reason the industry is shifting to similar changes is due to the numbers of landings and the increased stress these shorter flights put on the aircraft, which results in scheduled maintenance events being required sooner. To shed some further light on the situation, aircraft tires are in high demand, and a replacement that would regularly have taken anywhere from a few hours to one day can now take four to six weeks. Again, this is part of the issue of aircraft being out of commission for extended periods of time, and is yet another ripple effect of the global supply crisis.

New Program Customers’ Rates Begin January 5

As we prepare to provide full attention to the holiday flights this coming season, our focus will be on our existing customers’ flight needs. As operations will hit capacity level with our current customer base, new program purchases will begin their program rates and guarantees beginning on January 5, 2022. In the meantime, we do invite you to lock in our current rates and utilize Magellan’s on-demand market rates, always sourced from within the Magellan Jets Preferred Network of aircraft and flight crews.

A Note On Winter Operations

Finally, we must mention winter weather preparedness. Winter storm season brings with it aircraft de-icing, an especially important and necessary safety precaution that brings with it additional costs and delays. We do expect this to potentially add to delays, given supply and labor issues combining with the increase in flight activity that is expected this coming holiday season. If you are traveling to or from an area of the country that typically sees snowfall during the winter months, expect de-icing to figure into your travel and plan your departure time accordingly.

• Podcast: Private Jet Winter Operations 101: What To Know

Magellan Jets works to mitigate de-icing delays and costs by placing your aircraft in hangars whenever possible, and by pre-positioning your aircraft outside of snow events. When flying this winter, be sure to discuss your options with your Private Aviation Consultant or with a member of our Flight Support Team.

Our Aviation Experts Are Here To help NAVIGATE THESE unprecedented times in private travel

As always, our teams are working relentlessly to accommodate requested dates and times, and we ask for your patience should you experience a deviation. We are committed to communicating with you as proactively as possible and will always provide solutions and clear communication. If you have any questions regarding program changes or winter operations, be sure to contact your personal aviation consultant or call us at 877-550-5387.