Written by Keturah King
Photographs by JL Cederblom
FOR connoisseurs of The Arts; whether that takes the form of admirers of Art Deco Architecture or paramours of The Classics such as Pride and Prejudice and mouth-wateringly exquisite Michelin starred cuisine, Luxury Travel is not neoteric. But as the world we were accustomed to writhed, sputtered and collapsed before our very eyes, travel - whether luxe or otherwise, came to a terrifying halt. The zealous travelers amongst us spent the better part of 2020 gazing forlornly out of our windows on terra firma, earnestly wishing for the day we would once more view the clouds from above.
If wishes were horses…or perhaps Private Jets?
Cue the rise of the Private Jet Club Experience and Set Jet.
The barrier to entry for ‘flying private’ has customarily been sky high. If one isn't flying in excess of 250 hours a year or worth towards $30 million in assets (UHNWI), there is no logical nor fiscal benefit in purchasing a private jet for one’s sole use.
2021 has seen an influx of would-be passengers with COVID related anxiety who possess the need and/or desire to travel but would rather not deal with the health and safety threat of a commercial flight.
"I was very familiar with
and lucky to have been
exposed to aviation
at a very young age."
With the birth of membership based private jet charter companies, luxury travelers now have an alternative mode of transportation in these trying times that won’t break the bank but will guarantee them a seamlessly sybaritic door-to-door experience while also minimizing potential exposure to health risks.
Set Jet aims to democratize business jet travel by offering competitive pricing, thereby ensuring private flights are made more accessible to a wider audience. Based in Scottsdale, Arizona and co-founded in 2010 by CEO Tom Smith, the company was one of the nation’s first carriers to be operated on a membership basis.
The idea for the company was borne out of Smith’s passion for aviation. “I have always had a fascination with flying. I enjoy the operational aspect of it. The fact that I can pick a point hundreds, if not thousands of miles away and go through the planning of looking at the actual conduct of taking the machine that we're going to put at very high speed in the air; travel from point A to B, and execute that flight plan with the fuel & the weather & all the factors that go into it...that just fascinates me!” He gushes enthusiastically.
“I was very familiar with and lucky to have been exposed to aviation at a very young age. After which, I discovered an aviation school that had these little two-seater airplanes, at a small airport near where I lived. It was $20 or $25 to go up for 30 minutes. And I did that and [thought] ‘oh my god, this is for me!’ And as I'm flying, I’m not looking out of the side of the window, I'm looking out of the front of the plane, so I got to see everything. I was in total control of where I was going.”
Smith received his pilot's license in 1985, yet pivoted to have an incredibly successful 18-year career as the Chairman and Co-Founder of TASER® International. Within this capacity, he built the business from start-up to publicly traded company - with $100 Million in gross sales and a then $2Bn, now $10 billion market value. “[Piloting] was one of those things that I wanted to do before I went off to college. It’s not an inexpensive form of travel, but it’s certainly the most convenient. Especially in this day and age where it's just not fun to travel commercially anymore. I was trying to look at ways to make travel more affordable. We took the time to come up with the membership, to offset some of the cost of travel, thereby making it affordable for everybody, like a gym membership.”
With membership starting at $99.95 a month for regional private jet charters within the American South-West and over 2000 flights executed till date, Set Jet is already miles above the competition.
Set Jet offers its members a veritable cornucopia of benefits at minimal cost. The service facilitates VIP private jet charters to six of the most frequently traveled destinations on the WestCoast: Scottsdale, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego and San Francisco. Members can also access coast-to-coast flights between Los Angeles and New York City. Additionally, they can also participate in seasonal private jet charter flights between LA/Scottsdale and Cabo San Lucas, as well as between LA and Aspen.
Future routes members can look forward to include Salt Lake City, Dallas, Austin, Houston, West Palm Beach and Miami amongst other business and tourism hubs.
For the less than frequent flyer, enrolling in a charter-membership program arguably provides the best value for money and lowest barrier to entry, as it doesn’t require a large, upfront investment or long-term financial commitment, as is often the case with aircraft-leasing or fractional-share programs.
And if that’s not enough to convince you - perhaps consider the time vs money conundrum that plagues most, if not all businesspeople. With Set Jet, gone are the days of cash-rich, time-poor executives and entrepreneurs having to waste their most valuable asset sitting in traffic en route to congested public airport terminals; paying price premiums for last minute travel; having to “excuse me” one’s way to the source of stalled security lines in order to make one’s flight; parking expenses; and even check-in requirements. Now, pre-cleared travelers are able to call the charter company ahead and arrive just minutes before their flight for a one-way price of under $500 on their fleet of Challenger 850 jets. Set Jets seat between 13-20 passengers and are outfitted with incredible interiors, ample space & amenities such as plush reclining chairs, sofas and conference tables.
The uniformity of Set Jet’s Bombardiers not only speaks to their level of consistency in brand identity and service, but also reduces training costs for crew and maintenance expenses.
Should you need to travel even further still afield, Set Jet will soon launch their longer haul flights (LA-Hawaii / New York-London, 3 / 4 hours point to point respectively). The company will be adding 2 Aerion AS2® Mach 1.4 business jets, later this decade, which will further enable them to provide their members with supersonic five-star luxury travel experiences. The model goes into production in 2023. This gargantuan feat will serve to make Set Jet the first Private Jet Charter Service to provide environmentally responsible, expeditious private jet charters on these international routes.
Even executives from Wall Street’s East Coast to Hollywood’s West Coast have recognized the convenience Set Jet affords its members and the cost effectiveness of the company’s approach. Consequently, Set Jet has partnered with Hollywood studios Paramount & CBS Viacom, successfully eking a niche for themselves within their rather large share of the market.
Set Jet’s success is due, in part, to their brilliant business model - but more so due to the unconditional love and unbridled passion that Smith has for what he does. “To me it's not work. This is what I love to do and the fact that I get paid to do it is just the icing on the cake. There are so many people out there that are doing something they don't enjoy every day and I just can't imagine doing that. You spend [a lot of] hours at work to earn a living...I choose to provide members with an experience that puts smiles on their faces. And bringing something that was only available to the few, to the many is just an incredible feeling.”
Certain experts are of the school of thought that the aviation industry will see more services being offered by these innovative smaller airlines, “catering to people who are not necessarily price-sensitive but more service sensitive,” interjects business professor, Bijan Vasigh, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida.
But Smith has no fear of the adjusting economic altitude. Afterall, we are speaking with the man who has successfully improved the world we inhabit once before alongside his brother Rick, with whom he founded Taser. “Not many people can say that they changed the world. And I took that product and that company with my brother and created a global brand. People around the world know Taser and know that we've changed people having to use lethal force. With aviation, I think this is a chance to change this particular world...and I think that's super exciting. The convenience of [Set Jet] is the fact that people are coming to rely on us. They can take their dogs on board, their kids on board, they schedule when they want to go. I love startup companies. I love being entrepreneurial. I love doing things that somebody says can't be done and then you go out there and you do it. It’s an incredible feeling and I've gotten to do it, literally, saving people's lives with Taser and [with Set Jet] making it fun to travel again.
“People are going to tell you it can't be done, or couldn't be done, or shouldn't be done. But, it's in the drive you have to just go out there and believe in your passion and keep pushing forward to do it and to make it. Not all of my things have been successful, certainly. But, that’s when you fall down, get back up, dust yourself off and keep going. That's life.” -