By Brian T. Coleman
For discerning travelers seeking to bypass the hassles of commercial air travel, Aero offers first-class seating on private jets. The luxury airline, based at Van Nuys airport in Southern California, presents a compelling alternative to traditional travel options. Aero flies out of Van Nuys, CA airport to select destinations, including Aspen, Sun Valley, Palm Springs, Las Vegas, Napa Valley, and Cabo San Lucas. They deliver passengers to their destination in style and comfort with a focus on luxury and efficiency. Today was my opportunity to experience Aero service.
Aero was founded by Garrett Camp, co-founder of Uber, with the goal of bridging the gap between commercial first-class and semi-private jet charters, offering scheduled service to select destinations. Essentially, Camp viewed Aero as the Uber of air travel. Service was first launched with flights between the Mediterranean vacation Islands of Mykonos and Ibiza before bringing luxury travel to America. In addition to scheduled flights, Aero offers exclusive flights to major sporting and entertainment events nationwide. Aero operates a fleet of Embraer 135 and Legacy jets configured for between 13 and 19 passengers.
Aero invited me to experience them on a trip from Van Nuys, CA, to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and back. A member of their marketing team directed me to book my reservation on their website so I could have a complete passenger experience. Booking my flight was a seamless process. The most difficult part was deciding on a date that fit my busy schedule. The www.aero.com site was a simple, user-friendly, clutter-free website. It is well laid out with only the basics of what passengers need to make their booking. A nice addition to the site, though, would be a cabin layout graphic so the passenger could easily choose their preferred seat. Of special note, Aero does not fly to every destination every day of the week and offers only seasonal service to some airports.
After booking my reservation, one of their very professional concierge team contacted me and stayed in contact with me throughout the entire process. The concierge team members I worked with were efficient and answered every question I could throw at them. For example, having never flown out of Van Nuys airport, I had no idea where to park. After a text to my concierge, I learned valet parking is available for $45. In addition, the valet company could wash or detail my car while I was traveling, a valuable convenience for busy travelers.
The day before departure, another text message gave me the tail number of the aircraft I would fly to Cabo. On FlightAware, I learned my ERJ-135 was initially delivered to American Airlines in 2006. You would never know any of their ERJ-135s were not brand-new. It’s not uncommon for these planes to move from airline to airline, being completely refurbished in between. Additionally, Aero flies the smaller Legacy 600, which is laid out in a more traditional private jet configuration with seats facing each other. [Read more…] about Flying Aero: One Passenger’s Experience