It’s now been over a year since the World Health Organization officially declared the COVID-19 pandemic, and the private aviation industry has undergone many changes to help ensure passengers’ safety and well-being. Those looking into private flights now have a whole host of additional questions and concerns brought on by the pandemic. If you’re interested in traveling by private jet during COVID, here are six things you should know.
Private Jet Companies Have Evolved Their Approach To Safety
The good news is that as the world changed, private aviation changed along with it. There has been an industry-wide approach to updating the ways private aviation works to keep passengers and crew safe, with companies strengthening their health and safety standards and implementing new procedures. If you’re interested in flying private, look into the ways different providers have risen to meet the challenge of COVID.
Magellan Jets has kept our guests updated on the changing situation around COVID since the start of the pandemic. We established a COVID-19 task force, focused 24/7 on guest health and well-being. We made changes to our Service and Safety Management System to add additional layers of safety. We’ve provided a Healthy Travel Toolkit to further educate our clients and members. And, we introduced our 5 x 5 PureSky Safety Standard, a multilayered approach to safety that has ensured that no passengers, pilots, or crew to date have been infected with COVID as a result of a trip we’ve arranged.
Sanitation Is A Top priority
Aviation market research, strategy, and forecasting service JETNET iQ found in a recent survey that cleaning between flights is a top concern among private jet passengers, a variable that creator Rollie Vincent said “would not have been on the screen a year ago.” If you count yourself among those worried about aircraft sanitation, you can rest assured that the CDC and FAA guidelines adhered to by private jet companies feature enhanced cleaning procedures.
All of the aircraft Magellan Jets uses are thoroughly cleaned between each flight; for more detail on how we sanitize jets according to FAA and CDC guidelines, click here. If any passenger on a flight shows COVID symptoms, then that aircraft is taken out of service to be decontaminated. In addition, on-board catering comes individually wrapped, and standard stock is refreshed between flights.
FLYING PRIVATE is safer than COMMERCIAL
Private jets are the safer option compared to flying commercial, primarily because with private, you have less risk of being exposed to ill passengers. When you fly private, you’ll be using private terminals or fixed-base operators that see far fewer guests than commercial airports; consulting firm McKinsey estimates that, while private flights have around 20-30 points of contact with other people or objects, commercial flights have around 700.
With a smaller, private aircraft, you’ll significantly shrink the number of your fellow passengers—and you’ll know who each of them are. You’ll have control of the cabin environment, with filtration systems that refresh cabin air every two minutes, and the ability to optimize temperature, pressure, and humidity to your preference. With Magellan Jets, you’ll also be able to know the histories of your pilots and flight attendants.
THE CDC REQUIRES PASSENGERS ON ALL Private FLIGHTS TO WEAR A MASK
Early in 2021, the CDC announced new regulations that require anyone traveling into or within the United States to wear a face mask for their entire flight—even if they recovered from COVID-19 and/or are vaccinated. Even on a private jet, wearing a mask is now federal law. Private jet passengers must be masked before boarding, while onboard, and while disembarking, as well as while they are on the premises of transportation hubs including fixed-base operators.
In keeping with our focus on elevated safety standards, Magellan Jets has been recommending these mask procedures since early in the pandemic, and later incorporated them into our 5 x 5 PureSky Safety Standard.
TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS AND REQUIREMENTS CHANGE FREQUENTLY
If you have a destination in mind, you’ll need to make sure you know the current rules for entry. For domestic flight, you’ll need to do your research on the local or state testing and quarantine requirements. Now that more and more people are getting vaccinated, you can expect some restrictions to be repealed, too. For example, in early March, the state of New York announced they were allowing vaccinated visitors to skip COVID quarantine and testing requirements.
International restrictions and requirements can change daily, too. You can use tools like Covid Controls to monitor changes in real time—and you can trust the experts in the Magellan Jets Flight Support department to help you keep track of the requirements when planning your trip.
SAFETY-MINDED FIRST-TIME FLYERS ARE DRIVING A PRIVATE AVIATION BOOM
If you’ve never flown private before, now is the time to consider. While the commercial flight industry’s recovery lags behind, the private aviation business is booming, largely driven by pandemic-minded passengers flying private for the first time for safety reasons.
But with demand increasing, the market may become saturated with requests, so you might want to book your travel early—or look into options beyond charter if you want to ensure flexibility and access to the aircraft you want. Explore the many ways to fly private in order to find the option that fits your needs.
Magellan Jets offers pay-as-you-go membership and jet card ownership in addition to on-demand charter. Click here to explore the different ways to fly, and find out more about our relentless commitment to ensuring your safety and peace of mind.
