BJTonline: Business Jet Traveler

The Bell 407 reminds me of a Mercedes Sprinter van. It's a vehicle with amazing versatility that can be used for virtually any mission: ambulance, cargo, law enforcement, firefighting, military scout and gunship, offshore oil support, utility and, of course, executive transport. And it does it all with legendary durability and good economy, characteristics generally not associated with things with rotor blades that fly.

The threat of "carmageddon" gridlock during Los Angeles' freeway closure this past summer drew media attention to helicopter charter, as some locals forsook the road for rotor to reach the airport. The coverage likely gave the uninitiated an unrealistic impression of helicopter charter costs, as we'll see, but it also introduced many travelers to this form of air charter, which is an unbeatable option for some missions. Helicopters, after all, can get in and out of places you can't get to any other way.

The last few years haven't held much in the way of surprises for the used-jet market and I suspect 2012 won't, either.

The slope on which all aircraft prices slid followed different paths for different models. The long-range, large-cabin segment seemed to take the equivalent of double black diamond ski trails to reach its price bottom. Values in this group descended rapidly, but in the process were positioned to board the next lift up. Other market segments seem to still be meandering along the blue circles, an excruciatingly slow and deliberate path to a price basement.

Considering what 2011 served up in terms of worldwide calamity–from government overthrows to devastating natural disasters to a global debt crisis–it's a wonder anyone had the confidence and wherewithal to buy a corporate jet. Yet the year saw a continuation of 2010's resurgence of buyer activity. This mild but sustained trend is providing a sense of relief for many sellers.

Phil Mathews wanted to be a pilot since childhood, but bad eyesight precluded that dream. Instead, after graduating from England's University of Buckingham in 1989, he began a job as a check-in agent at London's Gatwick Airport. He was hired just for summer vacation, but he wound up being promoted to flight dispatcher and manager of general operations and spending four years there. Then, in 1997, he became vice ­president of U.S. air-charter broker FlightTime, for which he opened a London subsidiary.

Although he has experienced low points as well as triumphs during his golfing career, Sergio Garcia has earned more than $27 million since going professional in 1999 and has regularly placed in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings.

Bruges, Belgium, was but a blip on the tourist map until the movie In Bruges hit theaters in 2008. The dark comedy, featuring a duo of Laurel-and-Hardy-type hit men, resonated with audiences that were intrigued by its twisted plot, but also by its deliberate obeisance to a city that had managed to elude most American tourists.

I've hunted wild ducks, grouse, pheasants and other game birds with varying levels of enthusiasm for 40 years. But I had never seen anything like this: two resplendent four-foot-tall adult male wild turkeys, all bronze and black and iridescent, galloping on stilt-like legs across a cattle pasture the size of two football fields. And on this sparkling spring afternoon, they were racing right toward me!

Magellan Jets has launched what it calls the Business Travel Jet Card. Aimed at fliers in the Northeast, it covers 10 hours aboard an Eclipse 500 and costs $34,950 with no blackout dates, daily minimums or fuel surcharge. The offer currently has no expiration date.

“While the preowned business aircraft market continues to show improvements, all indicators have been slow to recover in the first nine months of 2011,” according to the latest report from industry research firm JetNet. “These figures are, however, much improved compared to the lows recorded over the past two years, as the for-sale inventories have declined and full-sale transactions have improved.” Preowned business jets for sale at the end of September represented 13.8 percent of the in-service fleet, down from 15.1 percent a year ago.