Public Charter Flights

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Weird and crowded world of really small airlines

Ed Perkins, a state-approved journalist, novelist and lawyer, concentrates on how travellers can find the best offers and prevent fraud. In 2000 he wrote "Online Travel" and "Business Travel: As It' s Your Money" (2004), the first step-by-step tutorial specifically designed for small businesses and self-employed people.

It was also co-author of the Consumers Union's yearly " Best Travelling Deal " campaign. At MyBusinessTravel.com, Perkins' corporate traveller tips are a website that helps small businesses and self-employed professionals find the best value for their corporate travellers. Mr. Kerkins was a charter publisher of Consumer Reports' Travel Letter, one of the country's most authoritative travel magazines, which he stepped down from in 1998.

Also wrote for Business Traveller magazines (London). Perkin's travelling experience has resulted in a number of TV shows such as ABC's "Good Morning America" and "This Week with David Brinkley", "The CBS Evening News with Dan Rather", CNN and a number of TV and Radios. Prior to writing Consumer Reports Travel Letter, Mr. Perkin worked in research and consultancy on travels for 25 years, with responsibilities that ranged from developing domestic tourist strategy to developing computer-based tourist business plans.

Perkins was a native of Evanston, Illinois and he and his spouse live in Ashland, Oregon. The six companies are all public charter carriers, i.e. they are carriers that handle timetables and commercial affairs but delegate the operation to carriers specialising in air charter. However, you may be interested in two crucial aspects of the public charter:

Carriers may terminate a trip up to 10 business days prior to scheduled date of travel for any cause. However, within 10 working day the carrier can only terminate the contract if he is unable to fly the aircraft. In addition, a charter must be more than 48hrs late before you are entitled to a full refund. Please note that this is not the case for charter flights.

In spite of these possible traps, some fairly large airlines have at least begun as public charter companies. The largest aircraft is a 30-seater Saab 340 turbo prop; some flights take place in 19- and 10-seater aircraft. Examples of single fares: $125 San Juan-St. Maarten, $125 San Juan-St. Thomas. The Lakeshore Express operates between Chicago/Midway and Pellston, Michigan, Michigan, and serves Little Traverse Bay and Petoskey Area.

The flights take place three times a day a week, starting at $300 return. The flights are operated with 30-seater Saab 340 turbo-props. Airlines say the one-hour ticket will avoid a six-hour journey - probably an exact one. The flights are on Sun Country 737s. February samples are $220 per range. From Chicago/Midway, public charters offers flights to Manistee Michigan, on the eastern shores of Lake Michigan, just off the Grand Rapids.

The excursions take place four and a half days a week. Even though the website does not contain any information, the flights will probably be operated with the 30-head Dornier 328 turbo-props. Furthermore, the website will list Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Oakland and San Antonio travel to Mazatlan, but will not allow you to book on-line or show tariffs. This website also shows flights operated by the Ultimate Air Shuttle (see next listing).

The Ultimate Air Shuttle runs non-stop from Cincinnati/Lunken Field to Charlotte, Chicago/Midway and Morristown, New Jersey for the New York City area and between Columbus, Indiana and Detroit/Willow Run (Ypsalanti). Dornier turbo-props with 30 passengers are used for the journeys. The flights take place four and a half times aweek on Charlotte, Chicago and Morristown and twice a week on the Columbus Detroit tours.

Prices are high for this type of travel with $695 return between Cincinnati and Morristown, plus free car parks for all meals. Minor public charter programmes are capable of having a faster half-life than major routes, and they also have a tendency to enter and exit regular services, either seasonal or due to different requirements.

It was discontinued in August last year, with no information available on flights or tariffs in 2013. The Bahamas Express publishes a website with many flights from Florida towns to various Bahamas locations, but the carrier has currently discontinued regular services. Some of the carriers included in the recent executive summaries of the government's public charter have already left, in particular Streamline Air, which linked Bedford, Massachusetts (for Boston) with Trenton/Mercer Airport in New Jersey.

Public listings also include a number of public charter companies that offer large travel packages: From Chicago and other MIDWESTER points, Apple Vacations and FunJet Vacations run literally thousands of charter airline holiday packs to a variety of beaches in the Caribbean and Mexico. There are a few specialised providers listed with large parcels to Cuba - mainly Florida to Havana - which are not open to normal holidaymakers.

The flights take place in Embraer Brasilia Turbo Props with 30 passengers. All in all, these very small public charter flights seem to be somewhat more difficult than normal air travel. A lot of people also perform surgery outside of stationary operating panels and not from large panels, which means that there are almost no routes, no problems and often simple car parks right next to the gates.