
Uber Co-Founder Garrett Camp Launches BlackJet, The "Uber For Private Jets" - kloncks
http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/26/blackjet
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jcampbell1
NetJets already exists, but it is different. It is more like owning without
the headache and they also offer fractional ownership. It is damn near
impossible to beat NetJets on pricing because they can finance the aircraft
via Berkshire Hathaway's AAA.

This seems like a different market. I am not quite sure I understand it. It
looks like it is flying private rather than first class on standard routes.
The advantage to charters is that you don't have to go through security, and
you can fly from nowhere to nowhere direct. I don't understand this business
model. It seems like they are flying standard routes.

New York to LA on a private jet is worse than commercial because you are stuck
in a 6 foot diameter pipe for 4.5 hours, rather than a first class seat on a
normal airplane.

~~~
ChuckMcM
I was thinking the same thing, there are fractional ownership deals [1],
charter airline brokers [2], and of course air taxis [3] (which are not often
jets but what ever).

I realized this evening when slogging southbound on Highway 101 in the Bay
Area what I really want is something that attaches to my car roof with a big
NASA approved docking connector on it (aerodynamic though) which when I call
up the app schedules a Sikorsky Sky Crane to fly by pick me up out of traffic
and take me to my destination.

[1] <http://www.netjets.com>

[2] <http://www.rsvpair.com/>

[3] <http://www.garyair.us/>

~~~
blaines
I want to upvote this ten times just because of the Sikorsky Sky Crane
comment, but I also am voting because it's just a good comment.

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jacques_chester
This strikes me as a good idea, on paper.

If I may play the traditional role of first-comment-is-negative however:

1\. NetJets are a fractional ownership company who are probably going to
remain more popular at this level of society because they're a full service
outfit;

2\. Charter companies already run their planes efficiently, so they may be in
a position to match on price on some routes;

3\. I suspect that for a lot of really _really_ rich people, owning a plane is
not a purely financial decision. It's a status signal.

All that being said ... it might just work by creating a new market segment --
people who can afford business or first class but can't quite justify private
charters.

I think people on HN sometimes underestimate the importance of the middleman
in economic life. You don't have to be B2C or B2B with a direct product or
service. Often the most profitable position is as the switchboard.

~~~
toomuchtodo
_I think people on HN sometimes underestimate the importance of the middleman
in economic life. You don't have to be B2C or B2B with a direct product or
service. Often the most profitable position is as the switchboard._

www.airbnb.com

www.taskrabbit.com

www.twilio.com

I think we understand _very well_ that running the marketplace is where its
at. Remember, we're trying to _be_ the middleman, just much more efficient
than the incumbents.

~~~
jser
Can you elaborate on how market inefficiency is the issue? It seems others
have tried similar schemes (Virgin America ran a private jet website with the
same intentions), or attempted to open the market through smaller "taxi"
planes (Embraer Phenom) or wholly regional airlines (Independence Air), but
the cost of fuel and labor prevented increased adoption.

The private jet market is scheduled at the last minute and filling unused
seats (or return segments) seems to be quite challenging, even if offered as
one way last minute deals to consumers. Is the goal to have a Southwest like
"Ding" fare alert for subscribers?

~~~
toomuchtodo
Unused capacity is a market inefficiency. If you've got a jet deadheading
somewhere empty, or have extra seats when someone hasn't bought out the whole
cabin, that's an opportunity to offset your costs or even profit depending on
the situation.

If your app knows where people want to go to, knows their location, knows
their spend willingness, etc, you can capture that additional revenue you
might've never known about.

~~~
jacques_chester
Yep. Selling unused capacity, even at low prices, represents pure profit when
your variable costs have already been met.

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gadders
Slightly offtopic:

What I found out the other day is that Jesse Jaymes [1] who sang the song
"College Girls are Easy" founded Marquis Jets, a similar-ish service.

He's also married to the billionaire founder of Spanx. Extraordinary career
trajectory.

[1] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Itzler>

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wpietri
Uber for private jets? No idea how they're going to land the plane out front
of my house, but I'll definitely download the app and give it a try.

~~~
mayneack
They'll get a private fleet of black Ospreys

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Boeing_V-22_Osprey>

~~~
wmf
"Noise ordinances? Can't you see I'm disrupting here?"

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mhartl
I can already see it: funds permitting, we'll take Uber cars to the airport
and then catch a BlackJet to our final destination.

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sgold1
i thought the point of a private jet, was so that you did not have to share
with anyone else

~~~
johncarpinelli
I think the point is to ride in a limousine across the tarmac and then step
directly onto your jet without any hassles. Direct point-to-point travel to
any airport is convenient too. The Citation X can fly coast-to-coast in under
four hours.

~~~
sokoloff
Correct, of course. The key unstated requirement is that it's exactly on your
schedule and catered to your tastes.

The issue with this idea, at least as I understand it, is that they're
generating higher utilization by sharing and perhaps selling deadhead legs.
Any of those things (and anything I can think of that drives utilization
meaningfully higher) gives up a lot of the flexibility and precision
adaptation to the guy-in-back's ever-changing schedule.

I fly my family in our (piston) airplane for most of our travel east of the
Mississippi. Even at piston costs and speeds (both way lower than jets), I can
usually beat them door-to-door out to 800 miles and I smoke them door to door
for everything under 500 miles. Plus, I'm never waiting for my inbound
aircraft, getting the free opt-out feelup by TSA, sweating connections or
waiting for my bags.

UberJet can deliver on some of those things, but the closer they drive it to
part 121 (air carrier) to make it cheaper, the more they'll give up on the
advantage side. I suspect they'll give up a lot of advantages and still not
have a cost-competitive product. No one will complain about riding x-country
in a Citation X, but they may balk at the $7500/hr operating cost.

