JetSmarter, a Fort Lauderdale-based technology company that facilitates semiprivate flying at relatively affordable prices, has expanded its network of scheduled routes from 17 at the start of 2016 to 46 as of the second week of January.
Armed with a $105 million capital infusion announced by the company in December, CEO Sergey Petrossov is working toward making JetSmarter as much a travel-and-lifestyle club as it is a provider of air services.
Sergey Petrossov
"Really, what we like to say is that we are Country Club 2.0," Petrossov said during a recent phone interview from Sanya, China, where he said he was exploring business opportunities.
JetSmarter is one of several airlines and charter companies that have begun bridging the gap between the exceptionally high price of private flights and the inconvenience of commercial air travel. Other companies — including Surf Air and JetSuiteX in California, Ultimate Air Shuttle in the Midwest and Tradewind Aviation and Wheels Up in the Northeast — offer at least some regularly scheduled flights of 30 seats or less out of general aviation airports.
The specifics of their business models vary. For example, some of the services require a membership while others don't, and some of the companies operate their flights while others merely schedule and facilitate them as a charter operator. Price models also vary sharply, but they all promise a flying experience that is more comfortable with far less hassle than the typical commercial services.
JetSmarter runs on a membership model, charging $12,000 annually along with an initiation fee of $3,000. For that price, members can fly on regularly schedule routes between 46 city pairs, but such flights are only operated once a week, or in some markets a few times a week. Members can also pay to share on-demand flights that are typically between six and 15 passengers. Such a flight, from New York to South Florida, for example, would usually cost approximately $1,900 one way. All flights are booked directly through the JetSmarter app, which is similar to booking with Uber or Lyft.
The company operates by prepurchasing flight time on private aircraft, based upon a predictive algorithm of demand for its various markets. As more members fly more often in various markets, more charters become available for booking on top of the regularly scheduled flights that JetSmarter uses to anchor itself on each route.
All JetSmarter flights are booked directly through its company app.
The formula seems to be working. JetSmarter's scheduled flights as of early January included its first transcontinental route, a weekly New York-London charter that launched in September, as well as London-Dubai service, which launched in late December. It offered 14 routes within Europe and four within the Middle East, and it facilitated service to 15 cities on a variety of transcontinental and regional routes within the U.S. JetSmarter also flies from South Florida to the Bahamas.
Membership, Petrossov said, grew in 2016 from a bit more than 1,000 to slightly more than 7,000.
But JetSmarter's CEO remains ambitious. He is aiming to triple the company's route map this year, with moves into China and India, among other places.
He's also planning to make JetSmarter more than just a provider of global, small-craft charter flights.
JetSmarter already offers on-the-ground concierge services to members. The company will deliver food, beverages or other requested items to members at a hotel or home, suggest and book entertainment and even provide dog-walking services.
But armed with its recent infusion of capital, Petrossov is now working to develop curated club experiences with partner restaurants, hotels and nightclubs at the cities JetSmarter services around the world.
For example, he said, a member would go to a partner restaurant and be greeted with a customized JetSmarter menu.
Payment of the meal would be handled without cash or credit cards through the app, adding to the feeling of having a club dining experience.
"This is an immersed, digital experience," Petrossov said.
He said that JetSmarter is currently in the research and development phase of its Country Club 2.0 concept. A five-city launch is expected to begin in March.
Correction: JetSmarter runs on a membership model, charging $12,000 annually along with an initiation fee of $3,000; a previous version of this article stated the annual charge was $11,500 after an initial fee of $3,500.