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Comment by jcampbell1 | Hacker News Reader

NetJets already exists, but it is different. It is more like owning without the headache and they also offer fractional ownership. It is damn near impossible to beat NetJets on pricing because they can finance the aircraft via Berkshire Hathaway's AAA.

This seems like a different market. I am not quite sure I understand it. It looks like it is flying private rather than first class on standard routes. The advantage to charters is that you don't have to go through security, and you can fly from nowhere to nowhere direct. I don't understand this business model. It seems like they are flying standard routes.

New York to LA on a private jet is worse than commercial because you are stuck in a 6 foot diameter pipe for 4.5 hours, rather than a first class seat on a normal airplane.

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I was thinking the same thing, there are fractional ownership deals [1], charter airline brokers [2], and of course air taxis [3] (which are not often jets but what ever).

I realized this evening when slogging southbound on Highway 101 in the Bay Area what I really want is something that attaches to my car roof with a big NASA approved docking connector on it (aerodynamic though) which when I call up the app schedules a Sikorsky Sky Crane to fly by pick me up out of traffic and take me to my destination.

[1] http://www.netjets.com

[2] http://www.rsvpair.com/

[3] http://www.garyair.us/

I want to upvote this ten times just because of the Sikorsky Sky Crane comment, but I also am voting because it's just a good comment.

I don't know if that would be more awesome or terrifying, especially once you've removed the pilot: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaman_K-MAX#Unmanned_remote_con...

> "New York to LA on a private jet is worse than commercial because you are stuck in a 6 foot diameter pipe for 4.5 hours, rather than a first class seat on a normal airplane."

I have not had the opportunity to compare commercial first class travel to private jets, but my hunch is that 9/10 people would prefer a private jet, even ignoring the convenience factor of skipping the TSA and flying on your own schedule. In first class you get a seat. In a private jet, you get the jet.

I think you underestimate the importance of moving around. Private jets are really really tiny! Cabin size is like a "stretch" prop plane more than a private airline

That's possible. I don't usually move around during flights. I went LAX - HNL and back without leaving my seat. For my purposes, I would prefer a shared private jet over first class.

It sounds like you just get a seat.

> BlackJet seeks to partner with charter jet services to help them fill space on flights

If they are doings set routes like it sounds, that makes sense. If you have the whole plane you should be able to go where you want. But then you have NetJets.

The article says people will take one way private jet flights and the jet will fly back empty. Perhaps by 'fill space on flights' they mean legs where the jet would otherwise be empty.

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