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Insignia Jet Group Announces FLITE Air Taxi™

Dépèche transmise le 19 juillet 2011 par Business Wire

Insignia Jet Group Announces FLITE Air Taxi™

ROCKLAND, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--When Justin Sullivan, an experienced jet charter executive got together with a former Virgin looking to get creative, about anything could happen. It did, and it’s called FLITE Air Taxi.

“The Pilatus is just a terrific bird and the cargo space is fantastic - perfect for touring bags”

David Tait is the Virgin. In fact, he was the first Virgin Atlantic Airways employee, co-authoring the airline's business plan with Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Companies. Tate spent almost 20 years based in New York building the fledging into one of the world's most innovative and critically acclaimed airlines. He then did something relatively unusual in commercial aviation - he left Virgin and switched his focus to the other side of the airfield.

“When I looked at what was happening in General Aviation, compared to the carefully choreographed chaos on the commercial side, I couldn’t believe the opportunities in private aviation,” says Tait.

He first tried to storm the air taxi world as CEO of Avocet Aircraft, a very light jet that was to be purpose-built for air taxi operations. When Israel Aircraft withdrew its support from the project it killed the aircraft but not Tait’s conviction that there was a huge air taxi opportunity “waiting in the wings."

When Tait and Sullivan met up and compared visions, the way forward quickly became clear. As Sullivan tells it, “Insignia Jet customers frequently find a jet charter is either too expensive or less than ideal for shorter out-of-the-way trips, while the commercial alternatives are too inconvenient and time-consuming”

The pair soon homed in on the Pilatus PC-12 as the optimal airplane with its low operating cost, short field capability, big comfortable six-seat cabin and ability to handle everything from golf clubs to cabin trunks. “We believe there’s a huge segment of leisure and business travelers looking for relief from the terminal misery of flying commercial, particularly in short-haul markets,” said Tait. “It’s all about building awareness that such an affordable alternative to jet charter is out there” he added.

With the creation of FLITE Air Taxi, Sullivan and Tait’s new offering comes out of the gate with over 50 Pilatus PC-12’s in its nationwide program. This makes for incredible economics for FLITE's Charter Members, who enjoy low fixed hourly rates and a consistently superior travel experience for charter clients.

One early adopter is LPGA champion golfer Cristie Kerr who has used FLITE’s Pilatus to take wing to several LPGA tour events in recent months. “The Pilatus is just a terrific bird and the cargo space is fantastic - perfect for touring bags” Cristie raved.

CEO Sullivan added, “We have a lot of big plans for FLITE and we believe the Virgin model of customer service excellence that David brings, plus the amazingly versatile Pilatus gives us a pretty good start.”

FLITE AIR TAXI is a charter program of Insignia Jet Group-for more information call 1-800-517-8169 or visit www.FliteAirTaxi.com.

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