Thread: Flying Private?

Originally Posted by FalconFlyer

There are lots of examples. A few years back a chartered Challenger took off with ice on the wings because the company put pressure on the pilots not to spend money on deicing the aircraft (deicing fluid is very expensive). The result, the aircraft stalled right after takeoff, rolled to the right and burst into flames. The son of a broadcasting executive was killed.... Again, there are different levels of safety... and you tend to get what you pay for in my opinion.

Could you point me to a good operator?

I wish I could... however I am not sure if I can do that on this forum without breaking some of the rules (you can pm me if you wish). However, really it comes down to price. As the company that I work for used to put in their ads, we spend what ever it takes to be safe, and continue spending whatever it takes to keep you safe. Safety unfortunately costs a lot of money, and rarely in aviation is it black and white when it comes to safety... rather lots of colors of grey.

I worked at Cessna Service Center in Mesa, AZ for a little while and got to see most of all there models and they were fantastic, the seats were comfortable, the service of the pilots were top notch, and they were at the beck and call of the passengers, be it the owners or people chartering it. I had the pleasure to fly a CJ3 once, right seat time was the one of the most memorable experience i had ever had!!! And yes since that flight going commercial has never been the same, even working at Cessna made going commercial such a drab experience. But i cannot afford the 2K+ and hr at this point. But i will, oh yes i will!!