Schultz figures the shuttle service saves the company “a significant amount annually” in terms of direct dollar-to-dollar costs, and as much as 30,000 man hours annually. “The other runs average a little less–maybe 60- to 65-percent capacity.” and Wilmington, N.C.īill Schultz, director of aircraft operations, said the Newark service operates at 70- to 75-percent passenger capacity. Monday through Friday, a company aircraft makes a morning and afternoon run between Elmira and Newark, N.J., and twice a week a 328 provides scheduled service to Wilmington, N.C., Blacksburg, Va., Hickory, N.C., Lexington, Ky. The airplane was equipped to meet Part 121 requirements, with the idea that it could be easily converted back to its airline configuration and thereby maintain its residual value.Įlmira, N.Y.-based Corning has been operating two Dornier 328 turboprop twins in a shuttle service for a decade. The Waterford, Mich., company operates the 42-seat twinjet as a corporate shuttle for Penske Racing, carrying Penske teams across the country for the motor racing Indy Racing League and Nascar Nextel Cup Series. Penske Jet, a subsidiary of Penske Corp., took delivery earlier this year of a Challenger 800. The shuttle averages about 20 passengers per flight, and according to a spokesman, “If I talk to you a year from now, it’ll probably be closer to 25 passengers per flight.” Approximately 10 percent of the flights are full, and the dispatch reliability is better than 99 percent, he added. The passenger load is typically 85 percent.Ī major East Coast company operates two Brazilian-built Embraer EMB-135s configured for 37-passenger corporate shuttle use, primarily to Eastern and Midwestern cities. The 44-passenger ACJ is owned by DaimlerChrysler but operated by Lufthansa Airlines.
Today, the company’s Airbus ACJ in shuttle configuration flies five days a week between Stuttgart, Germany, and Oakland County International Airport in Pontiac, Mich. Outside the U.S., DaimlerChrysler launched a long-distance, corporate shuttle five years ago to link its German-based interests with those in Detroit. However, he added, “As the economy rights itself and those restraints are relaxed, these companies and others are going to seriously consider the corporate shuttle.”Īnd there are more than a few examples for them to emulate. But at that point they were encumbered by fiscal restraints, said George Reich, a Chicago-based independent consultant to corporate aviation. In this environment, business aviation industry observers speculate that as the economy improves and the need for business-related travel grows, companies are going to look more seriously than ever at the corporate shuttle as a means of moving groups of employees around the country on a regularly scheduled service.Īt a seminar last year at the NBAA Convention, a lot of companies expressed an interest in a shuttle operation. The DOT is already reporting that in 2004, one in five flights arrived at its destination 15 minutes or more behind schedule, and that a quarter of all late flights were more than an hour behind schedule. As the number of travelers increases, airports will become more crowded and airlines, clinging to the hub-and-spoke concept, will increase service, creating more and longer delays. And the lengthy lines at airport security chokepoints will only grow longer.Īnalysts believe the number of travelers this year will exceed pre-2001 levels. The latter prompted the airlines to reduce or cancel service to destinations producing marginal profit.Īs the economy continues its slow recovery, the airlines are beginning to add aircraft and city pairs, but business travelers are unlikely to see much of an improvement in service. The former created longer lines and lengthy waits as airport security measures became more pronounced. But there is little doubt that the number is substantial and growing.Īmong reasons for the growth of the corporate shuttle are the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and a sagging U.S. Even NBAA, which defines the corporate shuttle as “a scheduled rather than on-demand service,” is unwilling to hazard a guess. There are no reliable estimates of the number of traditional corporate shuttle aircraft in service. and Chicago in the mid-1920s, flying mail and parts in a Ford-powered Stout trimotor. And that, in essence, is what the corporate shuttle aircraft does.īut nothing is as simple as it sounds, and the concept of the corporate shuttle has evolved considerably since Ford began regular operations between Dearborn, Mich.
Not unlike a weaver’s “shuttle,” efficiently pulling the thread back and forth to create a work worthy of the weaver’s craft. It starts “here,” goes “there” and comes back again on a regular schedule.
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