Disrupting The Skies

Private aviation is a seemingly impossible industryto upend. Leona Qi, Asia president of VistaJet,explains how it can be done.

- Patrick Chew

NEVER MIND THE champagne and caviar. Never mind the fact that we were flying from New York to Boston, and back again simply because we felt like it. Never mind the Moncler uniformed, British Butler Institute trained cabin crew who prepared a gin and tonic for me with tonic that didn’t come out of a can. What I found mind-blowing about flying in a private jet was the fact that I didn’t need to be “seated with my seat belt fastened” during takeoff.

“I want to take a look at the cockpit,” I mentioned.

“Well why don’t you do it right now?” said Michael Salamanca, who had just watched me board the plane, scurry to the first available seat I could find, then sitting and fastening my seat belt quicker than you can say, “Champagne or orange juice?”

I did all those things because that was the only way I’d flown. Rushing to get to the airport a couple of hours before my flight just so I can wait in line at security was a given, as was flight delays and cancellations. Flying on a private jet eliminates all of that. It was a stark contrast — instead of adhering to the airline’s schedule, the airline adheres to yours. A luxurious way of flying that has everything you need, and even more things you didn’t know you could need — cashmere eye masks, and Egyptian cotton linens, among other things.

“It shouldn’t be difficult at all to sell the idea of private aviation... given the personalised service and all its perks?” I asked Leona Qi, Asia President of Vista Jet.