Blue Star Jets:
A DIFFERENT WAY TO FLY

CEO. Magazine.

Another company offering flights for executives is Blue Star Jets. The company believes that rather than own any fraction of a jet, or have to own a charter plane, it allows for competitive travel while seeking the best airplane option for its customers. They apply FAA regulations and get outside sources to screen both the pilots they hire, as well as the planes they use. Blue Star Jets does not privide management or operate aircraft, but instead finds the services or people that will supply the customer with the plane they need. They work as brokers for all their customers, says Marco Larsen, vice. president of publicity.

The method Blue Star Jets uses does not require the splitting of costs on a flight. If for any reason a person wants to fly, a jet can be found for them depending on their needs. As with other charter and fractional services, Blue Star also offers a four to five hour lead time before a person needs to fly. "Owning a jet is very expensive, and even in the fractional program you may have a $20,000 or $30,00 bill per month even if you're flying or not," says Larsen. "[It} is very expensive. The other issue is convenience and flexibility. If you have a share in a Gulfstream heavy jet, it's not very cost effective to take you and the wife, or you and a client from Indianapolis to Chicago. It's rough on the engines and its costly. So what we wanted to do is tailor a jet for every trip that you have because every trip is different."

The company operates on a system called SkyCard that offers a range of services starting at $50,000. It works as a debit card and costs are deducted from the balance on the card depending on the flight. Blue Star charges for the amount of time the customer flies. Also, if the customer flies often enough, they can benefit from the newly implemented rewards program. "Based on the number of miles you fly, you can redeem these points, it's something like 5 points per dollar and you can redeem them online for major luxury goods: diamond jewelry, Coach bags, maybe even a Rolls Royce, great vacation space," says Larsen. "People who are flying privately pay a ton of money, and we wanted to have a commensurate to reward them for being our client."

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