15 ms·

Show HN: Monthly subscription airline with SFO-LAX flights starting at $78

168 points by dannyminutillo 9y ago

tlb 9y ago
Maybe a good idea, but the site does a bad job of selling it. The front page starts with a big rant about how bad existing airlines are. That's not how you sell things. You should focus on what you do, which is SFO-LAX flights through private terminals on a monthly subscription. The private terminal is a huge win -- it saves a good hour on travel. But that's buried in the FAQ. You should redesign so that all of the following are on above the fold on the home page: - SFO-LAX - Monthly subscription $79/6 flights - Private terminal - Book online last minute Don't pretend to be a full-service airline except in the fine print it says only SFO-LAX. SFO-LAX is exactly what thousands of people need. For people who need something else, you shouldn't lead them on (but you should let them give you their email address and desired routes so you can let them know when you add them.)
- dannyminutillo 9y ago
  Thanks for the great feedback. This was our site's first draft so we really appreciate your comments. We'll definitely update it and keep your points above the fold on the homepage. We weren't aware that the private terminals are such an appealing feature to people, but that aspect has been a feature that we've been receiving a lot of positive feedback about so we appreciate you pointing it out. Thank you again and we'll make those changes by tomorrow.
  - jedanbik 9y ago
    Blog link is dead.
    - dannyminutillo 9y ago
      Sorry about that, we're in the process of fixing the site now.
  - downandout 9y ago
    Also the site is effectively broken on iPad, in both landscape and portrait. Something funky with your layout makes most of the objects appear half offscreen to the sides.
    - dannyminutillo 9y ago
      Sorry about that, we're working on fixing the site now.
  - muninn_ 9y ago
    It not only saves time, but it conveys importance and eliteness - access and precious time. I don't mean that in a bad way, I think it's a good thing.
  - hirsin 9y ago
    Minor optimization for the phone image? Have it show the next flight that could reasonably be booked if I had the app installed, rather than one from 2017. As in, if you had this app, you could be on the (it's 2.05 right now) 2:30 pm flight, just press this button. Helps drive the immediacy and ease home.
    - dannyminutillo 9y ago
      Yep, great idea. We were actually thinking about an interface like that. Thanks for the feedback
  - hedgehog 9y ago
    Can you do BFI<->SFO?
    - desdiv 9y ago
      To save you guys a Google: >Boeing Field, officially King County International Airport (IATA: BFI), is a public airport owned and operated by King County, five miles south of downtown Seattle, Washington.
  - ghufran_syed 9y ago
    Maybe have a calculator on the website that lets you put in the start and end of your journey, tweak things like how far in advance you want to arrive at the airport with some set minimum (e.g. need to arrive at sfo at least 1 hours before), then can compare your offering vs the standard home-sfo-lax-end destination. it's the kind of info most people would have to piece together with Google maps, having it in the site would be pretty easy to do, and where there is a big time saving, becomes a pretty strong motivator to "sign up now"
- zachlatta 9y ago
  Wow, I was super confused until I read this comment. I also didn't realize this included a private terminal. I thought this was just a way to book last minute fares without surprises, which didn't really make sense because I just checked and it's cheaper to book a round trip from SFO - LAX leaving any time this week with the airline ($117 on United vs. $156 w/ you).
  - dannyminutillo 9y ago
    The private terminal aspect is why we charge a little more than other airlines' lowest fares. It looks like we need to do a better job of highlighting the private terminal feature on our site. Thanks for the great feedback.
    - jmishler 9y ago
      looks like you guys are working on some improvements for this great idea. what platform are you using to manage the recurring billing part?
      - dannyminutillo 9y ago
        We're using stripe
    - walshemj 9y ago
      but presumably with much less waiting around?
      - dannyminutillo 9y ago
        Yes, exactly. Just arrive 15 minutes before departure time.
        walshemj 9y ago
        Ah just like the good old days on the BA LHR to EDI route run up to the counter whack the card down and wait less than 30 mins for the next flight. Just time for a cheeky pint as the lounge next to the boarding way had a bar.- the afternoon cream teas where nice as well.
- jtchang 9y ago
  100% agree on the messaging here. Is it use it or lose it type flights? I didn't even notice the private terminal stuff (didn't get that far). I thought it was some type of group buying thing on big carriers like Delta, etc. Private terminal is a huge win. I know some friends who want to live in LA but work remotely in SF. 1-2 flights a month in a private terminal for this pricing seems like a steal especially when you can shave off terminal/travel time at big airports. This could be awesome for companies and employees. I could see a company having a remote employee in LA but wanting have a face to face meeting in the next 24 hours. Tickets would be super expensive but if you had a plan like this you could just fly them in fast. And if you needed more flights you could always book commercial.
  - fludlight 9y ago
    A corporate plan for x flights per month without a named passenger would be interesting, too. This would be useful for companies with employees in both cities who occasionally need to meet face to face with the other team. It would certainly be easier, faster, and probably cheaper than the cluster that arranging corporate travel currently is.
    - dannyminutillo 9y ago
      We're currently speaking with companies about something similar to this.
      - fludlight 9y ago
        I noticed in your FAQ that you are flying Bombardier regional jets, which "are the same planes that are used by United Express, Delta Connection, and American Airlines". There was a big stink* a few years ago about the big airlines using new pilots on regional routes and paying them so little that many were on food stamps. I don't want to put my life in the hands of someone who is worried about where their kids' next meal will come from. What is the starting salary for your pilots? * https://www.wimp.com/michael-moore-pilots-on-food-stamps/ https://www.wimp.com/michael-moore-pilots-on-food-stamps/ https://www.reddit.com/r/flying/comments/1wxkki/pilots_on_food_stamps/ https://www.reddit.com/r/flying/comments/1wxkki/pilots_on_fo... https://blogs.wsj.com/corporate-intelligence/2014/02/12/flying-your-plane-living-on-food-stamps/ https://blogs.wsj.com/corporate-intelligence/2014/02/12/flyi... https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23265283-pilots-on-food-stamps https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23265283-pilots-on-food-...
- nolok 9y ago
  What does a "private terminal" mean ? Or rather, in what precise way is it better ? I have a vague idea of what it can provide but I'm not sure how it can shed up to an hour of time. Does it include a dedicated secrity and immigration service (so no gigantic lines) ?
  - dsr_ 9y ago
    No TSA security. No big-airline check-in lines. Immigration doesn't apply on domestic flights anyway.
    - iancarroll 9y ago
      The site says the terminal still has TSA security, which makes sense, these aren’t exactly private jets.
      - StillBored 9y ago
        Which is a bit curious as it sounds like a GA terminal, which generally just have a guard who keeps random people from walking around on the tarmac. But i'm guessing they are trying to be in the grey area between being a charter and being a full blown commercial airline service with a regular schedule, requiring them to use the normal passenger terminals (and lease/buy gate space/etc).
  - dannyminutillo 9y ago
    A private terminal is a smaller terminal in a different location than the main terminal. The private terminals are used for private planes. We don't fly private planes. We fly regional planes, however, they still meet the size requirements to take off and land at private terminals. There are never any lines and they have their own security system. So you can show up 15 minutes before the flight and still make it.
    - gaadd33 9y ago
      Is this the Private Suite at LAX?
- nightbrawler 9y ago
  Looks like some older iteration located here which does a better job presenting what they are trying to sell and how it's better https://www.jumpdrive.io/index.html https://www.jumpdrive.io/index.html
  - dannyminutillo 9y ago
    Yep, we have two different landing pages live. Trying to get our copy right
- siddharthdeswal 9y ago
  Reiterating problems in the existing way of doing things is a fairly well known method of getting interest and buy-in from prospective customers, so I think the initial rant might actually be connecting with people.
  - dannyminutillo 9y ago
    We just wanted to highlight the way the airline industry currently operates and how bad things are.
- fiatjaf 9y ago
  I disagree about the rant. I like when sites explain how and why they're different and better than the traditional services.
carbongixxer 9y ago
It doesn't say what type of aircraft guests would fly on.
- joshuatalb 9y ago
  It does, but it's hidden at the bottom of the FAQ [1] page. I agree with the other comments about how they could do a better job of surfacing this kind of information. > We fly the beautiful Bombardier CRJ Series and Embraer ERJ Series. These are regional planes with 50 to 100 passenger seats. These planes are the same planes that are used by United Express, Delta Connection, and American Airlines. [1] - https://www.jumpdriveair.com/faq-1 https://www.jumpdriveair.com/faq-1
  - aardvark291 9y ago
    Adding a photo of the actual aircraft would also be nice. From the website it's hard to tell whether this is a real business that's currently in operation, or just a site mock-up. Have you actually started flying yet? I can't tell.
    - dingaling 9y ago
      And they should just come straight out and explain how the flights are operated. Sublease of the aircraft? Block-booking of seats on scheduled commercial services? Commercial charters? The more they hide the less confidence people will have in them. The contact name in the WHOIS appears to be an attorney. I don't see any entry for JumpDriveAir or variations thereof in the ICAO operating agency list ( Doc 8585 ) so I assume they're not the carrier themselves.
      - dannyminutillo 9y ago
        We partner with Part 121 regional airline operators that operate our flights. We give them the schedule and they operate the flights on our behalf. We'll adjust the site so we do a better job of explaining how flights are operated. Thanks for the feedback.
arximboldi 9y ago
This is sad. Flight is the most contaminating form of transportation.
- rconti 9y ago
  Enjoy your 12 hour train ride.
  - namibj 9y ago
    You can get a ride with under 2 hours, if you do an actual express train.... see the ICE Sprinter Berlin-Munich, which has more stops than necessary, and does not even drive at the seed we have the technology for.
    - rconti 9y ago
      I'm familiar with trains, I'm just saying the option between SF and LA is... not really any option.
      - arximboldi 9y ago
        Well sure, but a high speed train could be built, right? In Spain (not really a high-tech country overall) there are trains connecting the country corner to corner with trains that go at like 300 KM/Hour average. Considering that train stations are central, plus there is no need to be there like 2 hours before, plus you can easily work there, etc. it is way faster and more convenient than flight, and of course way more ecological. I'm sure a little of all that VC money can be used to build such infrastructure... I got lots of downvotes for my original comment, but really, the amount of CO2 emitted by air travel is appalling. I understand it is hard to avoid in many situations, but at least let me feel sad about it.
        golem14 9y ago
        That's generally my experience in Germany and Switzerland as well. Unless there are multiple hops involved e.g. Zurich-Würzburg with long waits in places like Stuttgart. If you have a non-stop connection it's great to work on a modern ice train with internet access.
amorphid 9y ago
Do unused flight credits roll over?
- dannyminutillo 9y ago
  Hi, they don't roll over. But we're working on a feature where users can transfer unused flight credits to family and friends.
  - ertand 9y ago
    That's a major win against traditional airlines if you could transfer your flights to someone else. I think you wanted to make sure the best price option is in the middle but it threw me off a bit. Consider putting them left to right, from worst deal to best? Also, consider using numbers instead of words: 2 flights, 4 flights, 6 flights?
- averagewall 9y ago
  They probably make their money from people who don't use all the flights they booked. Personally, I find that business model horrible and it's what you get with race-to-the-bottom markets like cellphone plans, electricity and credit cards. It screws over people who misjudge their own future usage but give hope that you'll save money if you get it right. I suppose it's still a good option to have since customers are effectively being paid to do the work of planning their use in advance which no doubt reduces costs for the airline.
koolba 9y ago
This looks pretty cool. If I was foolish enough to live in the Bay area and had reason to visit family in the LA area I might sign up for this. If you have more than two weeks notice you can do better with Southwest though. They've got OAK-to-BUR (and vice versa) at $55-$67 depending on the day of the week. That said, why LAX and SFO? Why not pick cheaper airports like OAK and BUR? I'd imagine the runway fees would be less too. Plus just driving out of LAX at a reasonable time of day adds an hour to any itinerary. EDIT: After reading other comments and skimming through the FAQ I think this website needs to be re-done. The landing page should say in bold letters "Last minute. Private terminal. Zero lines!". Other airlines might match you on price if booked in advance but they can't win on intangibles like skipping the sardine line and government mandated TSA massage.
- rconti 9y ago
  I'm constantly tempted by Surf Air as I've lived as close as 2mi from San Carlos airport (KSQL!) and now live 6mi from it, and my parents live 2 miles from Palomar Airport (KCRQ) which is a good 30 minute drive (in GOOD traffic; their commute traffic often puts the Bay Area to shame). Even with the slower flying time it would save me hours. Unfortunately, I don't "commute", so it's hard to justify a price nearing $2k a month. I like that these options exist, though, in case (god forbid) we find ourselves in a family health situation where regular trips become required.
  - chrisper 9y ago
    The ICAO code is KSQL!
    - rconti 9y ago
      typo, thx.
  - technofiend 9y ago
    You could get into partial plane ownership and fly yourself for far less than their $1,950/mo fee. The upfront investment is higher since you'll need a pilot's license. :-)
yousifa 9y ago
It doesn't show a sample flight schedule. I want to sign up, but want to know what times/days flights usually are.
- dannyminutillo 9y ago
  We're planning on flying Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. And we'll have about 6 flights a day departing from each location. This is just the schedule we'll start out with and we'll add more days and times as we grow.
  - Cd00d 9y ago
    I think a lot of commuter workers tend to fly Thursdays and work remote on Fridays. I'm surprised that's not a higher value day than one of the weekend days for your target.
    - dannyminutillo 9y ago
      Friday is actually the day most business travelers fly. Thursday evening has demand as well so we're looking into possibly offering some times Thursday evening too. Thanks for your feedback.
      - dmode 9y ago
        I was a consultant who flew every week for 3 years. All consultants fly out on Thursday late afternoons and early evenings. If you want to attract those travelers, you need to fly out on Thursdays.
      - dx034 9y ago
        I doubt that. Thursday afternoon/evening tends to be busiest for business travellers, Friday is more leasure.
matt4077 9y ago
I applaud the audacity of starting an airline from scratch, considering it's way up there in terms of capital requirements and regulatory burden, and the industry has been losing money in the US, collectively, since the Carter administration. But it needs to be said that SFO<->LAX is, at just 300 miles, and with the high demand shown by such startups, a perfect example of everything that is wrong with transportation in the US. Compare Berlin<->Munich which happens to be almost exactly the same distance: even with some political compromises requiring the trains to stop in towns along the route that planners would rather have avoided, total travel time is only 3 1/2 hours. Train stations are also in the middle of each city, saving you about an hour of time on each end. And you can just hop onto any train without booking in advance, without going through security, without discarding your bottle of water, without the yoga-like contortions of economy class, and without the existential threat of not having internet for two hours. That even an environmentally friendly US state such as California can't get its act together, and instead "solves" its traffic needs in the most resource-intensive ways available, is a scathing indictment of the US' lost faith in the power of government to solve collective action problems.
- ovao 9y ago
  This is a private company attempting to solve a cost and convenience issue, not the State of California attempting to solve a travel-related environmental issue. There are other industries attempting to solve transportation and environmental problems in more general ways.
- dhzjxnbzn 9y ago
  I'm a fan of rail in general, and the German system is fantastic. But the LA and SF Bay Areas consist mostly of sprawl and don't have good transit to begin with. You need to drive to get somewhere fast. In those circumstances, taking off from the burbs is a feature, not a bug.
  - dx034 9y ago
    But this service wants to fly from LAX which is not really in the suburbs and not always easy to get to.
geofft 9y ago
Who flies the planes themselves - do you contract with the same airlines who run regional flights for the national carriers? (What's the planes' livery?) Part of why I'm curious is that I've noticed that the national carriers in the US have an extremely safe record of late - I believe there has been one death from 2002-present from the national carriers (Southwest 1248 slid off a snowy runway in Chicago, hit two cars, and killed one child), but there have been a many fatal accidents with regional or private carriers, so I'd like to know who the actual operating carrier is and what their safety record is.
- dannyminutillo 9y ago
  Yes, we contract with regional part 121 airlines that fly and operate the flights. Skywest, Express Jet, etc. These are the same airlines that partner with Delta, United, and American Airlines to run their regional routes.
ksherlock 9y ago
It's nice to see an aviation startup that's not just Uber For Airplanes.
- dannyminutillo 9y ago
  Uber for planes seems pretty impossible :)
  - Isomatik 9y ago
    Depends on how comfortable it needs to be. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulton_surface-to-air_recovery_system https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulton_surface-to-air_recovery...
    - dannyminutillo 9y ago
      Hahaha
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - CPLX 9y ago
    Jetsmarter has been sort of trying, for what it's worth.
awad 9y ago
I applaud anyone trying to enter the market but the site as-is leaves a lot of questions open to a first time visitor. At first I assumed this was some kind of discounting system on top of the commercial operators. Reading through the comments here it seems they are flying their own planes. Given that they're a company I've never heard of, and flying their own planes, it would be nice to at least see the planes in their livery. The landing page featuring minimalist text with lots of whitespace might be the popular thing to do for upstart software companies but a company in the business of physically moving people with their own planes shouldn't appear so sterile, IMO. JetSuiteX (https://www.jetsuitex.com https://www.jetsuitex.com) and SurfAir (https://www.surfair.com/ https://www.surfair.com/) are in more or less the same market and make me feel much more comfortable about considering their services.
- dannyminutillo 9y ago
  Thanks for the feedback. We're in the process of redesigning the site. Lots of people have pointed this out, so we appreciate the comments.
  - awad 9y ago
    You betcha, sure thing. Like I said, I'm happy to see new entrants into the market and wish you the best of luck!
    - dannyminutillo 9y ago
      Thanks!
gok 9y ago
The screenshot shows 55 minute travel times, is that real? Current airlines generally schedule 1h25 to 1h45.
- FireBeyond 9y ago
  While a 737 cruises at 340 knots CAS (calibrated air speed), an ERJ 145 has a high speed cruising speed of 450 knots. Add to that less leeway for some of the delays inherent to gates, and I could see that being the case.
  - dx034 9y ago
    You'll still lose time taxiing, waiting for take off and after landing, especially during busy times. I doubt they can make it in <1h block time.
- dannyminutillo 9y ago
  Yes, that's real. SFO to LAX takes about 55 minutes in the air. We have faster turn around than major airlines when we're on the ground because of the private terminals
  - gok 9y ago
    So the times are from takeoff to landing, not door closing to door opening? And where is there space at SFO for a new private terminal? :) Edit: Ohh I didn't realize that Delta just stopped their shuttle [1] ... are you just using those gates? [1] https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/Routes-End-of-Delta-West-Coast-shuttles-12460635.php https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/Routes-End-of-Delta-We...
ringaroundthetx 9y ago
lol SFO - LAX flights are OFTEN cheaper than that or as cheap. Unless.... are these roundtrips? I want to assume so but that would be a bad assumption to get wrong! Fix the site.
- dannyminutillo 9y ago
  These are one-way flights. Flights between SFO-LAX are sometimes cheaper if you book weeks in advance. The point of Jumpdrive is you still get a cheap fare without booking weeks in advance. We're working on redoing the site.
  - ringaroundthetx 9y ago
    The flight tomorrow is $59. January 11th. I only looked because the entire spiel ran counter to my prior experiences. Direct on Delta, Virgin America, Alaska, etc. Oh wow the same day ones later today are the same price! I know we are splitting hairs because this isn't always the case, and what you offer is intended to always be the case along with being possibly shorter flights with quicker checkins. I just think the messaging is a little off because the way it is described doesn't really solve people's problems, especially when they will be so often debunked.
    - dmode 9y ago
      I just counted the number of one way flights this Friday between SFO-LAX. There are 57 non stop flights on that day. And this doesn't even include OAK, SJC as well as BUR, LGB, and Orange County in So Cal. Fares start at $49. This will be a hard market to compete.
      - el_benhameen 9y ago
        I'm not sure. Waiting in line at security and then again at the gate sucks, and I fly maybe once every six weeks. If I flew four times a month for business, I could see a private gate with no wait being worth some money. You're saving time, too, which I assume is worth a fair amount of money to the type of person who flies that often.
davidjeet 9y ago
I could see Aviato moving into this space...
- dannyminutillo 9y ago
  lol
repiret 9y ago
So its Part 121, but with private TSA screening and boarding on the General Aviation side of the airports? Are you operating the planes, or is SkyWest of someone like them operating the planes?
- dannyminutillo 9y ago
  Yes, that's correct. We're not operating the planes. We have part 121 regional airline partners that are operating the planes. We're providing them with the schedule and they operate the flights. We act as an agent for the passengers.
  - repiret 9y ago
    Do the planes have your own livery, or that of your regional partners?
mikejmorgan 9y ago
You want to change the airline industry? Let's talk. That's my plan.
shalmanese 9y ago
Why would you not offer an 8 flights per month plan? I imagine the most popular use case is people who need to fly in Monday morning and out Friday evening.
- dannyminutillo 9y ago
  That's correct about the use case. We're thinking about offering 8 flights/month but didn't think there would be that much demand for that option. Could be wrong though
disappoint3d 9y ago
It blows my mind that there's market for this kind of frequent air travel when we have such a climate crisis on our hands.
- TheSmiddy 9y ago
  ALL transport accounts for only 14% of emissions; beef and electricity generation are where the big gains are. We already have the technology to produce electricity without greenhouse gasses, we do not have the technology to physically move as fast and as far as airplanes without burning fossil fuels. People can choose to take some personal responsibility and sacrifice air travel (and more importantly beef!) for the sake of the environment but we have so much ground to gain at a systematic level that I don't think we need to be too overzealous about behavior change at this stage in the problem. Voting for politicians that will speed up the transition away from coal to renewables will have a far greater impact on the environment than personal lifestyle choices ever will. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emiss...
goodoldboys 9y ago
Looks cool - I'd probably use this if I still lived in LA. Found a typo on your FAQ: "Our fares our much lower than a private plane service." - that second "our" should be an "are"
whyaduck 9y ago
Will your schedule support working day trips? Meaning, a flight leaving early enough to be wheels down by 9 AM at the destination, then a flight out around 4-5 PM on the same day? Do you have plans for working with a rental car service at the private terminal?
RJIb8RBYxzAMX9u 9y ago
Any plans on allowing "plus one" guests? For example, a subscriber may use the service for $WORK most of the time, but occasionally the SO may tag along by paying a one-time ticket, perhaps at a slight premium.
j45 9y ago
This could be a nice way for a parked plane to help pay for itself in part.
sandover 9y ago
Question in my mind as a user of LAX: WHERE is the private terminal and does it get me out of the nightmare of LAX evening traffic? That would be a strong point in your favor. And also, does rideshare pick up there smoothly? Will you be working with Uber/Lyft to make sure that they are fully aware of the location? What about rental car services, are any accessible from the private terminal?
dawnerd 9y ago
I'd love a service like this if it came up to pdx. Quite a few lax-pdx flights every day so there should be demand too. Probably only a fraction of sfo-lax but if you add in seattle there's quite a bunch I'd imagine.
ohazi 9y ago
Does this actually exist, or are you gauging interest? Don't mean to rain on the parade, but you were basically asking if anyone on HN was interested in helping you build this a month or two ago. [0, 1] It doesn't seem plausible that you'd be able to arrange terminal space, airplanes, pilots, insurance, etc. so quickly. Would be happy to be wrong though, as I fly this route several times per year. Maybe I'm missing something about how this is all organized. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15927182 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15927182 [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15785691 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15785691
- gamblor956 9y ago
  Going to second this comment. I can't find any signs that this company has even been incorporated, which would be necessary for them to sign the contracts related to arranging terminal space, airplanes, etc. Also of note: the first private terminal in the US opened at LAX in May 2017 and charges $2200/month for membership. The LAX regional terminal is AA only...There are a number of small terminals for regional airlines south of the main terminal which are already fully occupied for exclusive use of the renting regional airline. [edit: Imperial Terminal is available for this type of GA usage. It has no seats and is basically a hangar with space for portable chairs, and does not provide a TSA checkpoint.]. Looks like this is just intended to drum up interest.
- mbesto 9y ago
  Agreed - I've flagged since it doesn't appear to exist yet.
- mikestew 9y ago
  One the one hand you are asked to sign up for “early access”. On the other hand the site mentions that “we’ve seen people use the app for business, ...”, implying that it is up, running, and people are using it. But in the end it can’t be up and running. Go try and book a flight. The app isn’t in the App Store AFAICT, and the only action items on the whole site are to get “early access”. It would be nice if the site just came out and said, “we’ll be running flights starting February 2nd”, or whatever, instead of making me guess.
StillBored 9y ago
Hmmm, so after reading the FAQ and the comments, I don't really see what the advantage here is over just flying one of the major carriers. Changing the pricing model is useful, but only really for people who cannot predict their schedule enough to get the lower rates from the commercial carriers. It seems to me that people who fall into that class, and yet are willing to subscribe to a few flights a month might not be super common. Particularly once the service starts to fill up, and you can't guarantee a seat at the last minute. The private terminal thing might be helpful, but frequent travelers are going to have already bribed the government to skip the full security line. Last time I was in SFO the precheck line only took me about 2 minutes. If I had checked in early, and only had carry on luggage, I could probably have gotten to the airport when boarding started and still made my flight (haven't went through LAX security in a few years can't comment there). So, while the GA/private terminal would be enticing if it were operated like a charter plane (aka no TSA to worry about at all), and the flights were small enough they would be willing to hold it if I was running 5 mins late, but it doesn't appear to be the case. The regional jets are much to large for that kind of behavior, and given that its not a business jet, the seating is going to be as miserable as it is on the larger carriers. To me it sounds like they are trying to reinvent the SW airlines of the 1970's which operated more like a traditional bus service (lots of frequent flights, last minute ticketing, etc) but without the huge profit margins on tickets that SW was competing against. So I would expect that to really lure people they need something closer to the full charter experience (business class seating at a minimum). For that, I suspect people might be willing to spring for a few extra dollars (bus class tickets are probably easier to compete with given they still tend to have larger margins). Large corps that like to fly their plebs in economy seats probably aren't going to spring for the extra ticket price (besides getting into the booking system might be challenging). Anyway, good luck...
gamblor956 9y ago
I can't tell if this is a real business or not.[1] The website appears to be a placeholder intended to test the market demand for their product. [1] Jumpdrive doesn't appear to be incorporated or organized in California or Delaware, which is a necessary predicate of them having signed contracts with regional airlines or with LAX/SFO for private terminal space.
iaw 9y ago
Could we get a title on this that's a little more accurate? It doesn't appear like this is an actual service but an effort to gauge interest which makes the title fraudulent.
1k 9y ago
I imagine balance will be tricky. Too few flights and customers get frustrated because they can't get seats or decent times. Too many flights and you lose money. This is probably why other airlines have peak/offpeak pricing in the first place to solve the load problem. Whats the minimum number of months to subscribe for?
- dannyminutillo 9y ago
  Yes, balance is very tricky, which is why airlines utilize dynamic pricing. We are working on a model that balances supply/demand. No minimum number of months to subscribe for.
Sharlin 9y ago
Seriously, HN? One comment mentioning that flying might not be the form of transport we'd want to encourage in 2018, and it's downvoted to oblivion. I'm disappointed.
chirau 9y ago
The stuff on the homepage is not consumer content. That is stuff for pitch decks and Powerpoints to investors. Tell the consumer what you are offering and after digging, you guys actually seem to have a great offering.
d--b 9y ago
Meanwhile, there are 3 flights from Paris to Rome on easyjet for tomorrow all priced at 100 euros. Yeah, maybe you get some extra fees, but the subscription model is pretty constraining as well.
satanic_pope 9y ago
For folks seeking some context on why LAX-SFO route, here's a list of busiest air routes in the world based on passenger volume :- 1.Jeju-Seoul 2.Melbourne-Sydney 3.Mumbai-Delhi 4.Fukuoka-Tokyo 5.Rio de Janeiro-Sao Paulo 6.Sapporo-Tokyo 7.Los Angeles-San Francisco 8.Brisbane-Sydney LAX-SFO is the 7th most busiest. Source : https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-08/world-s-busiest-air-routes-tiny-island-beats-london-new-york https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-08/world-s-b...
- drewda 9y ago
  Interesting, I hadn't realized it's that scale. And a good reason for California to invest in high-speed rail, in my own opinion.
  - elliottcarlson 9y ago
    I took the opportunity to go from San Francisco to Los Angeles via the Coast Starlight train (and then from Los Angeles to San Diego via the Pacific Surfliner) and it was an amazing trip. I obviously could've saved so much more time flying, but I had a day to kill, and taking the train in a private sleeper roomette seemed like the best way to do it. I would definitely make that trip again (and the included meals were great).
grogenaut 9y ago
UI Design: Why is there a blog link at the top that isn't clickable?
tacon 9y ago
At first glance this sounded like the rebirth of the proposed restructuring of the commercial airline industry as covered in the book "Free Flight: Inventing the Future of Travel"[0], by James Fallows (2001). Back then the business model was to marry a fleet of very cheap passenger jets[1] with the huge number of little used airports dispersed around big cities. The book mentions two companies as leading the industry, Cirrus Design[2] and Eclipse Aviation[3]. The startup collapsed during the financial crisis. I remember reading an analysis of the difficulty of scheduling individual pickups to thousands of small airports, essentially a full blown traveling salesman problem that had to be updated in real time with each new reservation. The promise was to cut an hour or so off the total travel time by using small airports near the customer's home and destination. [0] https://www.amazon.com/Free-Flight-Inventing-Future-Travel/dp/1586481401 https://www.amazon.com/Free-Flight-Inventing-Future-Travel/d... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_light_jet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_light_jet [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirrus_Aircraft https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirrus_Aircraft [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse_Aviation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse_Aviation
tim333 9y ago
I don't really see how the economics would work out - planes have a certain cost to fly and the cost per passenger cost is that divided by the number of passengers on the flight. Discount airlines like Ryanair work by selling some seats very cheap to fill the plane and some expensive like last minute and peak time flights to make a profit. If you charge a flat lowish amount the popular times will be full and the less popular empty leading to poor utilisation and a higher average cost and you'll lose money. Dunno if I'm missing something here?

tlb 9y ago

Maybe a good idea, but the site does a bad job of selling it. The front page starts with a big rant about how bad existing airlines are. That's not how you sell things. You should focus on what you do, which is SFO-LAX flights through private terminals on a monthly subscription. The private terminal is a huge win -- it saves a good hour on travel. But that's buried in the FAQ. You should redesign so that all of the following are on above the fold on the home page: - SFO-LAX - Monthly subscription $79/6 flights - Private terminal - Book online last minute Don't pretend to be a full-service airline except in the fine print it says only SFO-LAX. SFO-LAX is exactly what thousands of people need. For people who need something else, you shouldn't lead them on (but you should let them give you their email address and desired routes so you can let them know when you add them.)

dannyminutillo 9y ago
Thanks for the great feedback. This was our site's first draft so we really appreciate your comments. We'll definitely update it and keep your points above the fold on the homepage. We weren't aware that the private terminals are such an appealing feature to people, but that aspect has been a feature that we've been receiving a lot of positive feedback about so we appreciate you pointing it out. Thank you again and we'll make those changes by tomorrow.
- jedanbik 9y ago
  Blog link is dead.
  - dannyminutillo 9y ago
    Sorry about that, we're in the process of fixing the site now.
- downandout 9y ago
  Also the site is effectively broken on iPad, in both landscape and portrait. Something funky with your layout makes most of the objects appear half offscreen to the sides.
  - dannyminutillo 9y ago
    Sorry about that, we're working on fixing the site now.
- muninn_ 9y ago
  It not only saves time, but it conveys importance and eliteness - access and precious time. I don't mean that in a bad way, I think it's a good thing.
- hirsin 9y ago
  Minor optimization for the phone image? Have it show the next flight that could reasonably be booked if I had the app installed, rather than one from 2017. As in, if you had this app, you could be on the (it's 2.05 right now) 2:30 pm flight, just press this button. Helps drive the immediacy and ease home.
  - dannyminutillo 9y ago
    Yep, great idea. We were actually thinking about an interface like that. Thanks for the feedback
- hedgehog 9y ago
  Can you do BFI<->SFO?
  - desdiv 9y ago
    To save you guys a Google: >Boeing Field, officially King County International Airport (IATA: BFI), is a public airport owned and operated by King County, five miles south of downtown Seattle, Washington.
- ghufran_syed 9y ago
  Maybe have a calculator on the website that lets you put in the start and end of your journey, tweak things like how far in advance you want to arrive at the airport with some set minimum (e.g. need to arrive at sfo at least 1 hours before), then can compare your offering vs the standard home-sfo-lax-end destination. it's the kind of info most people would have to piece together with Google maps, having it in the site would be pretty easy to do, and where there is a big time saving, becomes a pretty strong motivator to "sign up now"
zachlatta 9y ago
Wow, I was super confused until I read this comment. I also didn't realize this included a private terminal. I thought this was just a way to book last minute fares without surprises, which didn't really make sense because I just checked and it's cheaper to book a round trip from SFO - LAX leaving any time this week with the airline ($117 on United vs. $156 w/ you).
- dannyminutillo 9y ago
  The private terminal aspect is why we charge a little more than other airlines' lowest fares. It looks like we need to do a better job of highlighting the private terminal feature on our site. Thanks for the great feedback.
  - jmishler 9y ago
    looks like you guys are working on some improvements for this great idea. what platform are you using to manage the recurring billing part?
    - dannyminutillo 9y ago
      We're using stripe
  - walshemj 9y ago
    but presumably with much less waiting around?
    - dannyminutillo 9y ago
      Yes, exactly. Just arrive 15 minutes before departure time.
      - walshemj 9y ago
        Ah just like the good old days on the BA LHR to EDI route run up to the counter whack the card down and wait less than 30 mins for the next flight. Just time for a cheeky pint as the lounge next to the boarding way had a bar.- the afternoon cream teas where nice as well.
jtchang 9y ago
100% agree on the messaging here. Is it use it or lose it type flights? I didn't even notice the private terminal stuff (didn't get that far). I thought it was some type of group buying thing on big carriers like Delta, etc. Private terminal is a huge win. I know some friends who want to live in LA but work remotely in SF. 1-2 flights a month in a private terminal for this pricing seems like a steal especially when you can shave off terminal/travel time at big airports. This could be awesome for companies and employees. I could see a company having a remote employee in LA but wanting have a face to face meeting in the next 24 hours. Tickets would be super expensive but if you had a plan like this you could just fly them in fast. And if you needed more flights you could always book commercial.
- fludlight 9y ago
  A corporate plan for x flights per month without a named passenger would be interesting, too. This would be useful for companies with employees in both cities who occasionally need to meet face to face with the other team. It would certainly be easier, faster, and probably cheaper than the cluster that arranging corporate travel currently is.
  - dannyminutillo 9y ago
    We're currently speaking with companies about something similar to this.
    - fludlight 9y ago
      I noticed in your FAQ that you are flying Bombardier regional jets, which "are the same planes that are used by United Express, Delta Connection, and American Airlines". There was a big stink* a few years ago about the big airlines using new pilots on regional routes and paying them so little that many were on food stamps. I don't want to put my life in the hands of someone who is worried about where their kids' next meal will come from. What is the starting salary for your pilots? * https://www.wimp.com/michael-moore-pilots-on-food-stamps/ https://www.wimp.com/michael-moore-pilots-on-food-stamps/ https://www.reddit.com/r/flying/comments/1wxkki/pilots_on_food_stamps/ https://www.reddit.com/r/flying/comments/1wxkki/pilots_on_fo... https://blogs.wsj.com/corporate-intelligence/2014/02/12/flying-your-plane-living-on-food-stamps/ https://blogs.wsj.com/corporate-intelligence/2014/02/12/flyi... https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23265283-pilots-on-food-stamps https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23265283-pilots-on-food-...
nolok 9y ago
What does a "private terminal" mean ? Or rather, in what precise way is it better ? I have a vague idea of what it can provide but I'm not sure how it can shed up to an hour of time. Does it include a dedicated secrity and immigration service (so no gigantic lines) ?
- dsr_ 9y ago
  No TSA security. No big-airline check-in lines. Immigration doesn't apply on domestic flights anyway.
  - iancarroll 9y ago
    The site says the terminal still has TSA security, which makes sense, these aren’t exactly private jets.
    - StillBored 9y ago
      Which is a bit curious as it sounds like a GA terminal, which generally just have a guard who keeps random people from walking around on the tarmac. But i'm guessing they are trying to be in the grey area between being a charter and being a full blown commercial airline service with a regular schedule, requiring them to use the normal passenger terminals (and lease/buy gate space/etc).
- dannyminutillo 9y ago
  A private terminal is a smaller terminal in a different location than the main terminal. The private terminals are used for private planes. We don't fly private planes. We fly regional planes, however, they still meet the size requirements to take off and land at private terminals. There are never any lines and they have their own security system. So you can show up 15 minutes before the flight and still make it.
  - gaadd33 9y ago
    Is this the Private Suite at LAX?
nightbrawler 9y ago
Looks like some older iteration located here which does a better job presenting what they are trying to sell and how it's better https://www.jumpdrive.io/index.html https://www.jumpdrive.io/index.html
- dannyminutillo 9y ago
  Yep, we have two different landing pages live. Trying to get our copy right
siddharthdeswal 9y ago
Reiterating problems in the existing way of doing things is a fairly well known method of getting interest and buy-in from prospective customers, so I think the initial rant might actually be connecting with people.
- dannyminutillo 9y ago
  We just wanted to highlight the way the airline industry currently operates and how bad things are.
fiatjaf 9y ago
I disagree about the rant. I like when sites explain how and why they're different and better than the traditional services.

carbongixxer 9y ago

It doesn't say what type of aircraft guests would fly on.

joshuatalb 9y ago
It does, but it's hidden at the bottom of the FAQ [1] page. I agree with the other comments about how they could do a better job of surfacing this kind of information. > We fly the beautiful Bombardier CRJ Series and Embraer ERJ Series. These are regional planes with 50 to 100 passenger seats. These planes are the same planes that are used by United Express, Delta Connection, and American Airlines. [1] - https://www.jumpdriveair.com/faq-1 https://www.jumpdriveair.com/faq-1
- aardvark291 9y ago
  Adding a photo of the actual aircraft would also be nice. From the website it's hard to tell whether this is a real business that's currently in operation, or just a site mock-up. Have you actually started flying yet? I can't tell.
  - dingaling 9y ago
    And they should just come straight out and explain how the flights are operated. Sublease of the aircraft? Block-booking of seats on scheduled commercial services? Commercial charters? The more they hide the less confidence people will have in them. The contact name in the WHOIS appears to be an attorney. I don't see any entry for JumpDriveAir or variations thereof in the ICAO operating agency list ( Doc 8585 ) so I assume they're not the carrier themselves.
    - dannyminutillo 9y ago
      We partner with Part 121 regional airline operators that operate our flights. We give them the schedule and they operate the flights on our behalf. We'll adjust the site so we do a better job of explaining how flights are operated. Thanks for the feedback.

arximboldi 9y ago

This is sad. Flight is the most contaminating form of transportation.

rconti 9y ago
Enjoy your 12 hour train ride.
- namibj 9y ago
  You can get a ride with under 2 hours, if you do an actual express train.... see the ICE Sprinter Berlin-Munich, which has more stops than necessary, and does not even drive at the seed we have the technology for.
  - rconti 9y ago
    I'm familiar with trains, I'm just saying the option between SF and LA is... not really any option.
    - arximboldi 9y ago
      Well sure, but a high speed train could be built, right? In Spain (not really a high-tech country overall) there are trains connecting the country corner to corner with trains that go at like 300 KM/Hour average. Considering that train stations are central, plus there is no need to be there like 2 hours before, plus you can easily work there, etc. it is way faster and more convenient than flight, and of course way more ecological. I'm sure a little of all that VC money can be used to build such infrastructure... I got lots of downvotes for my original comment, but really, the amount of CO2 emitted by air travel is appalling. I understand it is hard to avoid in many situations, but at least let me feel sad about it.
      - golem14 9y ago
        That's generally my experience in Germany and Switzerland as well. Unless there are multiple hops involved e.g. Zurich-Würzburg with long waits in places like Stuttgart. If you have a non-stop connection it's great to work on a modern ice train with internet access.

amorphid 9y ago

Do unused flight credits roll over?

dannyminutillo 9y ago
Hi, they don't roll over. But we're working on a feature where users can transfer unused flight credits to family and friends.
- ertand 9y ago
  That's a major win against traditional airlines if you could transfer your flights to someone else. I think you wanted to make sure the best price option is in the middle but it threw me off a bit. Consider putting them left to right, from worst deal to best? Also, consider using numbers instead of words: 2 flights, 4 flights, 6 flights?
averagewall 9y ago
They probably make their money from people who don't use all the flights they booked. Personally, I find that business model horrible and it's what you get with race-to-the-bottom markets like cellphone plans, electricity and credit cards. It screws over people who misjudge their own future usage but give hope that you'll save money if you get it right. I suppose it's still a good option to have since customers are effectively being paid to do the work of planning their use in advance which no doubt reduces costs for the airline.

koolba 9y ago

This looks pretty cool. If I was foolish enough to live in the Bay area and had reason to visit family in the LA area I might sign up for this. If you have more than two weeks notice you can do better with Southwest though. They've got OAK-to-BUR (and vice versa) at $55-$67 depending on the day of the week. That said, why LAX and SFO? Why not pick cheaper airports like OAK and BUR? I'd imagine the runway fees would be less too. Plus just driving out of LAX at a reasonable time of day adds an hour to any itinerary. EDIT: After reading other comments and skimming through the FAQ I think this website needs to be re-done. The landing page should say in bold letters "Last minute. Private terminal. Zero lines!". Other airlines might match you on price if booked in advance but they can't win on intangibles like skipping the sardine line and government mandated TSA massage.

rconti 9y ago
I'm constantly tempted by Surf Air as I've lived as close as 2mi from San Carlos airport (KSQL!) and now live 6mi from it, and my parents live 2 miles from Palomar Airport (KCRQ) which is a good 30 minute drive (in GOOD traffic; their commute traffic often puts the Bay Area to shame). Even with the slower flying time it would save me hours. Unfortunately, I don't "commute", so it's hard to justify a price nearing $2k a month. I like that these options exist, though, in case (god forbid) we find ourselves in a family health situation where regular trips become required.
- chrisper 9y ago
  The ICAO code is KSQL!
  - rconti 9y ago
    typo, thx.
- technofiend 9y ago
  You could get into partial plane ownership and fly yourself for far less than their $1,950/mo fee. The upfront investment is higher since you'll need a pilot's license. :-)

yousifa 9y ago

It doesn't show a sample flight schedule. I want to sign up, but want to know what times/days flights usually are.

dannyminutillo 9y ago
We're planning on flying Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. And we'll have about 6 flights a day departing from each location. This is just the schedule we'll start out with and we'll add more days and times as we grow.
- Cd00d 9y ago
  I think a lot of commuter workers tend to fly Thursdays and work remote on Fridays. I'm surprised that's not a higher value day than one of the weekend days for your target.
  - dannyminutillo 9y ago
    Friday is actually the day most business travelers fly. Thursday evening has demand as well so we're looking into possibly offering some times Thursday evening too. Thanks for your feedback.
    - dmode 9y ago
      I was a consultant who flew every week for 3 years. All consultants fly out on Thursday late afternoons and early evenings. If you want to attract those travelers, you need to fly out on Thursdays.
    - dx034 9y ago
      I doubt that. Thursday afternoon/evening tends to be busiest for business travellers, Friday is more leasure.

matt4077 9y ago

I applaud the audacity of starting an airline from scratch, considering it's way up there in terms of capital requirements and regulatory burden, and the industry has been losing money in the US, collectively, since the Carter administration. But it needs to be said that SFO<->LAX is, at just 300 miles, and with the high demand shown by such startups, a perfect example of everything that is wrong with transportation in the US. Compare Berlin<->Munich which happens to be almost exactly the same distance: even with some political compromises requiring the trains to stop in towns along the route that planners would rather have avoided, total travel time is only 3 1/2 hours. Train stations are also in the middle of each city, saving you about an hour of time on each end. And you can just hop onto any train without booking in advance, without going through security, without discarding your bottle of water, without the yoga-like contortions of economy class, and without the existential threat of not having internet for two hours. That even an environmentally friendly US state such as California can't get its act together, and instead "solves" its traffic needs in the most resource-intensive ways available, is a scathing indictment of the US' lost faith in the power of government to solve collective action problems.

ovao 9y ago
This is a private company attempting to solve a cost and convenience issue, not the State of California attempting to solve a travel-related environmental issue. There are other industries attempting to solve transportation and environmental problems in more general ways.
dhzjxnbzn 9y ago
I'm a fan of rail in general, and the German system is fantastic. But the LA and SF Bay Areas consist mostly of sprawl and don't have good transit to begin with. You need to drive to get somewhere fast. In those circumstances, taking off from the burbs is a feature, not a bug.
- dx034 9y ago
  But this service wants to fly from LAX which is not really in the suburbs and not always easy to get to.

geofft 9y ago

Who flies the planes themselves - do you contract with the same airlines who run regional flights for the national carriers? (What's the planes' livery?) Part of why I'm curious is that I've noticed that the national carriers in the US have an extremely safe record of late - I believe there has been one death from 2002-present from the national carriers (Southwest 1248 slid off a snowy runway in Chicago, hit two cars, and killed one child), but there have been a many fatal accidents with regional or private carriers, so I'd like to know who the actual operating carrier is and what their safety record is.

dannyminutillo 9y ago
Yes, we contract with regional part 121 airlines that fly and operate the flights. Skywest, Express Jet, etc. These are the same airlines that partner with Delta, United, and American Airlines to run their regional routes.

ksherlock 9y ago

It's nice to see an aviation startup that's not just Uber For Airplanes.

dannyminutillo 9y ago
Uber for planes seems pretty impossible :)
- Isomatik 9y ago
  Depends on how comfortable it needs to be. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulton_surface-to-air_recovery_system https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulton_surface-to-air_recovery...
  - dannyminutillo 9y ago
    Hahaha
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- CPLX 9y ago
  Jetsmarter has been sort of trying, for what it's worth.

awad 9y ago

I applaud anyone trying to enter the market but the site as-is leaves a lot of questions open to a first time visitor. At first I assumed this was some kind of discounting system on top of the commercial operators. Reading through the comments here it seems they are flying their own planes. Given that they're a company I've never heard of, and flying their own planes, it would be nice to at least see the planes in their livery. The landing page featuring minimalist text with lots of whitespace might be the popular thing to do for upstart software companies but a company in the business of physically moving people with their own planes shouldn't appear so sterile, IMO. JetSuiteX (https://www.jetsuitex.com https://www.jetsuitex.com) and SurfAir (https://www.surfair.com/ https://www.surfair.com/) are in more or less the same market and make me feel much more comfortable about considering their services.

dannyminutillo 9y ago
Thanks for the feedback. We're in the process of redesigning the site. Lots of people have pointed this out, so we appreciate the comments.
- awad 9y ago
  You betcha, sure thing. Like I said, I'm happy to see new entrants into the market and wish you the best of luck!
  - dannyminutillo 9y ago
    Thanks!

gok 9y ago

The screenshot shows 55 minute travel times, is that real? Current airlines generally schedule 1h25 to 1h45.

FireBeyond 9y ago
While a 737 cruises at 340 knots CAS (calibrated air speed), an ERJ 145 has a high speed cruising speed of 450 knots. Add to that less leeway for some of the delays inherent to gates, and I could see that being the case.
- dx034 9y ago
  You'll still lose time taxiing, waiting for take off and after landing, especially during busy times. I doubt they can make it in <1h block time.
dannyminutillo 9y ago
Yes, that's real. SFO to LAX takes about 55 minutes in the air. We have faster turn around than major airlines when we're on the ground because of the private terminals
- gok 9y ago
  So the times are from takeoff to landing, not door closing to door opening? And where is there space at SFO for a new private terminal? :) Edit: Ohh I didn't realize that Delta just stopped their shuttle [1] ... are you just using those gates? [1] https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/Routes-End-of-Delta-West-Coast-shuttles-12460635.php https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/Routes-End-of-Delta-We...

ringaroundthetx 9y ago

lol SFO - LAX flights are OFTEN cheaper than that or as cheap. Unless.... are these roundtrips? I want to assume so but that would be a bad assumption to get wrong! Fix the site.

dannyminutillo 9y ago
These are one-way flights. Flights between SFO-LAX are sometimes cheaper if you book weeks in advance. The point of Jumpdrive is you still get a cheap fare without booking weeks in advance. We're working on redoing the site.
- ringaroundthetx 9y ago
  The flight tomorrow is $59. January 11th. I only looked because the entire spiel ran counter to my prior experiences. Direct on Delta, Virgin America, Alaska, etc. Oh wow the same day ones later today are the same price! I know we are splitting hairs because this isn't always the case, and what you offer is intended to always be the case along with being possibly shorter flights with quicker checkins. I just think the messaging is a little off because the way it is described doesn't really solve people's problems, especially when they will be so often debunked.
  - dmode 9y ago
    I just counted the number of one way flights this Friday between SFO-LAX. There are 57 non stop flights on that day. And this doesn't even include OAK, SJC as well as BUR, LGB, and Orange County in So Cal. Fares start at $49. This will be a hard market to compete.
    - el_benhameen 9y ago
      I'm not sure. Waiting in line at security and then again at the gate sucks, and I fly maybe once every six weeks. If I flew four times a month for business, I could see a private gate with no wait being worth some money. You're saving time, too, which I assume is worth a fair amount of money to the type of person who flies that often.

davidjeet 9y ago

I could see Aviato moving into this space...

dannyminutillo 9y ago
lol

repiret 9y ago

So its Part 121, but with private TSA screening and boarding on the General Aviation side of the airports? Are you operating the planes, or is SkyWest of someone like them operating the planes?

dannyminutillo 9y ago
Yes, that's correct. We're not operating the planes. We have part 121 regional airline partners that are operating the planes. We're providing them with the schedule and they operate the flights. We act as an agent for the passengers.
- repiret 9y ago
  Do the planes have your own livery, or that of your regional partners?

mikejmorgan 9y ago

You want to change the airline industry? Let's talk. That's my plan.

shalmanese 9y ago

Why would you not offer an 8 flights per month plan? I imagine the most popular use case is people who need to fly in Monday morning and out Friday evening.

dannyminutillo 9y ago
That's correct about the use case. We're thinking about offering 8 flights/month but didn't think there would be that much demand for that option. Could be wrong though

disappoint3d 9y ago

It blows my mind that there's market for this kind of frequent air travel when we have such a climate crisis on our hands.

TheSmiddy 9y ago
ALL transport accounts for only 14% of emissions; beef and electricity generation are where the big gains are. We already have the technology to produce electricity without greenhouse gasses, we do not have the technology to physically move as fast and as far as airplanes without burning fossil fuels. People can choose to take some personal responsibility and sacrifice air travel (and more importantly beef!) for the sake of the environment but we have so much ground to gain at a systematic level that I don't think we need to be too overzealous about behavior change at this stage in the problem. Voting for politicians that will speed up the transition away from coal to renewables will have a far greater impact on the environment than personal lifestyle choices ever will. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emiss...

goodoldboys 9y ago

Looks cool - I'd probably use this if I still lived in LA. Found a typo on your FAQ: "Our fares our much lower than a private plane service." - that second "our" should be an "are"

whyaduck 9y ago

Will your schedule support working day trips? Meaning, a flight leaving early enough to be wheels down by 9 AM at the destination, then a flight out around 4-5 PM on the same day? Do you have plans for working with a rental car service at the private terminal?

RJIb8RBYxzAMX9u 9y ago

Any plans on allowing "plus one" guests? For example, a subscriber may use the service for $WORK most of the time, but occasionally the SO may tag along by paying a one-time ticket, perhaps at a slight premium.

j45 9y ago

This could be a nice way for a parked plane to help pay for itself in part.

sandover 9y ago

Question in my mind as a user of LAX: WHERE is the private terminal and does it get me out of the nightmare of LAX evening traffic? That would be a strong point in your favor. And also, does rideshare pick up there smoothly? Will you be working with Uber/Lyft to make sure that they are fully aware of the location? What about rental car services, are any accessible from the private terminal?

dawnerd 9y ago

I'd love a service like this if it came up to pdx. Quite a few lax-pdx flights every day so there should be demand too. Probably only a fraction of sfo-lax but if you add in seattle there's quite a bunch I'd imagine.

ohazi 9y ago

Does this actually exist, or are you gauging interest? Don't mean to rain on the parade, but you were basically asking if anyone on HN was interested in helping you build this a month or two ago. [0, 1] It doesn't seem plausible that you'd be able to arrange terminal space, airplanes, pilots, insurance, etc. so quickly. Would be happy to be wrong though, as I fly this route several times per year. Maybe I'm missing something about how this is all organized. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15927182 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15927182 [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15785691 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15785691

gamblor956 9y ago
Going to second this comment. I can't find any signs that this company has even been incorporated, which would be necessary for them to sign the contracts related to arranging terminal space, airplanes, etc. Also of note: the first private terminal in the US opened at LAX in May 2017 and charges $2200/month for membership. The LAX regional terminal is AA only...There are a number of small terminals for regional airlines south of the main terminal which are already fully occupied for exclusive use of the renting regional airline. [edit: Imperial Terminal is available for this type of GA usage. It has no seats and is basically a hangar with space for portable chairs, and does not provide a TSA checkpoint.]. Looks like this is just intended to drum up interest.
mbesto 9y ago
Agreed - I've flagged since it doesn't appear to exist yet.
mikestew 9y ago
One the one hand you are asked to sign up for “early access”. On the other hand the site mentions that “we’ve seen people use the app for business, ...”, implying that it is up, running, and people are using it. But in the end it can’t be up and running. Go try and book a flight. The app isn’t in the App Store AFAICT, and the only action items on the whole site are to get “early access”. It would be nice if the site just came out and said, “we’ll be running flights starting February 2nd”, or whatever, instead of making me guess.

StillBored 9y ago

Hmmm, so after reading the FAQ and the comments, I don't really see what the advantage here is over just flying one of the major carriers. Changing the pricing model is useful, but only really for people who cannot predict their schedule enough to get the lower rates from the commercial carriers. It seems to me that people who fall into that class, and yet are willing to subscribe to a few flights a month might not be super common. Particularly once the service starts to fill up, and you can't guarantee a seat at the last minute. The private terminal thing might be helpful, but frequent travelers are going to have already bribed the government to skip the full security line. Last time I was in SFO the precheck line only took me about 2 minutes. If I had checked in early, and only had carry on luggage, I could probably have gotten to the airport when boarding started and still made my flight (haven't went through LAX security in a few years can't comment there). So, while the GA/private terminal would be enticing if it were operated like a charter plane (aka no TSA to worry about at all), and the flights were small enough they would be willing to hold it if I was running 5 mins late, but it doesn't appear to be the case. The regional jets are much to large for that kind of behavior, and given that its not a business jet, the seating is going to be as miserable as it is on the larger carriers. To me it sounds like they are trying to reinvent the SW airlines of the 1970's which operated more like a traditional bus service (lots of frequent flights, last minute ticketing, etc) but without the huge profit margins on tickets that SW was competing against. So I would expect that to really lure people they need something closer to the full charter experience (business class seating at a minimum). For that, I suspect people might be willing to spring for a few extra dollars (bus class tickets are probably easier to compete with given they still tend to have larger margins). Large corps that like to fly their plebs in economy seats probably aren't going to spring for the extra ticket price (besides getting into the booking system might be challenging). Anyway, good luck...

gamblor956 9y ago

I can't tell if this is a real business or not.[1] The website appears to be a placeholder intended to test the market demand for their product. [1] Jumpdrive doesn't appear to be incorporated or organized in California or Delaware, which is a necessary predicate of them having signed contracts with regional airlines or with LAX/SFO for private terminal space.

iaw 9y ago

Could we get a title on this that's a little more accurate? It doesn't appear like this is an actual service but an effort to gauge interest which makes the title fraudulent.

1k 9y ago

I imagine balance will be tricky. Too few flights and customers get frustrated because they can't get seats or decent times. Too many flights and you lose money. This is probably why other airlines have peak/offpeak pricing in the first place to solve the load problem. Whats the minimum number of months to subscribe for?

dannyminutillo 9y ago
Yes, balance is very tricky, which is why airlines utilize dynamic pricing. We are working on a model that balances supply/demand. No minimum number of months to subscribe for.

Sharlin 9y ago

Seriously, HN? One comment mentioning that flying might not be the form of transport we'd want to encourage in 2018, and it's downvoted to oblivion. I'm disappointed.

chirau 9y ago

The stuff on the homepage is not consumer content. That is stuff for pitch decks and Powerpoints to investors. Tell the consumer what you are offering and after digging, you guys actually seem to have a great offering.

d--b 9y ago

Meanwhile, there are 3 flights from Paris to Rome on easyjet for tomorrow all priced at 100 euros. Yeah, maybe you get some extra fees, but the subscription model is pretty constraining as well.

satanic_pope 9y ago

For folks seeking some context on why LAX-SFO route, here's a list of busiest air routes in the world based on passenger volume :- 1.Jeju-Seoul 2.Melbourne-Sydney 3.Mumbai-Delhi 4.Fukuoka-Tokyo 5.Rio de Janeiro-Sao Paulo 6.Sapporo-Tokyo 7.Los Angeles-San Francisco 8.Brisbane-Sydney LAX-SFO is the 7th most busiest. Source : https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-08/world-s-busiest-air-routes-tiny-island-beats-london-new-york https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-08/world-s-b...

drewda 9y ago
Interesting, I hadn't realized it's that scale. And a good reason for California to invest in high-speed rail, in my own opinion.
- elliottcarlson 9y ago
  I took the opportunity to go from San Francisco to Los Angeles via the Coast Starlight train (and then from Los Angeles to San Diego via the Pacific Surfliner) and it was an amazing trip. I obviously could've saved so much more time flying, but I had a day to kill, and taking the train in a private sleeper roomette seemed like the best way to do it. I would definitely make that trip again (and the included meals were great).

grogenaut 9y ago

UI Design: Why is there a blog link at the top that isn't clickable?

tacon 9y ago

At first glance this sounded like the rebirth of the proposed restructuring of the commercial airline industry as covered in the book "Free Flight: Inventing the Future of Travel"[0], by James Fallows (2001). Back then the business model was to marry a fleet of very cheap passenger jets[1] with the huge number of little used airports dispersed around big cities. The book mentions two companies as leading the industry, Cirrus Design[2] and Eclipse Aviation[3]. The startup collapsed during the financial crisis. I remember reading an analysis of the difficulty of scheduling individual pickups to thousands of small airports, essentially a full blown traveling salesman problem that had to be updated in real time with each new reservation. The promise was to cut an hour or so off the total travel time by using small airports near the customer's home and destination. [0] https://www.amazon.com/Free-Flight-Inventing-Future-Travel/dp/1586481401 https://www.amazon.com/Free-Flight-Inventing-Future-Travel/d... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_light_jet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_light_jet [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirrus_Aircraft https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirrus_Aircraft [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse_Aviation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse_Aviation

tim333 9y ago

I don't really see how the economics would work out - planes have a certain cost to fly and the cost per passenger cost is that divided by the number of passengers on the flight. Discount airlines like Ryanair work by selling some seats very cheap to fill the plane and some expensive like last minute and peak time flights to make a profit. If you charge a flat lowish amount the popular times will be full and the less popular empty leading to poor utilisation and a higher average cost and you'll lose money. Dunno if I'm missing something here?