Private Charter: Expanding Global Business Means Opportunity For Aviation Industry (Transportation Special)

The transportation sector of the live entertainment business is in many ways a reflection of the overall state of the industry, with a focus on premium experiences and a growing international element seeing larger productions and bigger artists playing more often and in more places across the globe.

In the case of private charter, however, what has been seen as and utilized in previous decades as a luxury element is becoming smart business.

“It may be that the cost for 100 hundred people to move from A to B, a regional airliner aircraft that’s got 150 seats on it is the right way to go rather than booking 100 tickets on American Airlines,” says Byron Carr, group touring director at TAG, which charters flights for touring personnel, artists and other VIPs. “It’s the only way to fly on one flight from point A to B, and it’s the quickest way to do that. Actually, economically it works out around the same number when you’re talking about that many people to move.”

While the dollars and cents need to add up, music is a creative product and requires crew and artists to be comfortable, rested and in good condition to perform at a high level in front of tens or hundreds of thousands of people per city.

“If you have a hectic touring schedule and you’ve got to get around and play the most shows that you can, then private charter really is the most effective method of doing that,” says Julie Black, executive aviation manager at UK-based Hunt & Palmer, which includes the music-specific Premier Aviation, which moves freight, crew and personnel for major tours globally. “You are buying time. You buy time, you buy safety, you buy security, and you buy convenience. Show me a tour manager that doesn’t want their artist to arrive refreshed and happy.”

As the touring world continues to grow globally, bringing larger productions to more locations, in many cases there is no other way than private.

“For Lollapalooza South America, the way that the schedules work is that the headliners will play and then have to immediately load out cargo and then be loaded in the next day,” says Adam Bantz, global managing director at Exclusive Charter Services, focused on music tours, cargo and celebrities. “The only way to do that is to travel private. It’s not physically possible to do that commercial.”

Add to the physical logistical challenges of moving people from country to country where airports, local customs and other quirks come into play, and you have a very specialized industry that requires very specific experience to pull off. Bantz is a relative newcomer when compared to the established players in the world of entertainment travel brokers, but has extensive experience as a tour manager taking rock bands across the globe. In eight years since joining ECS, he’s gained aviation clients including Roger Waters, Jelly Roll, Carlos Santana, Machine Gun Kelly and Coldplay, which involved moving hundreds of crew across Asia.

“Anybody can call somebody and quote something, but when there’s multiple brokers bidding on it, the way you win the trips is, number one, your pricing. So how are you going to get better pricing? By having a better relationship with the owner than the next guy,” Bantz said. “Also, there are very few people in the entertainment side of charter that have come from entertainment.” The experience has led to new major clients, such as Jonas Brothers.

“They’ve given us a chance at it because we’re very good at South America,” Bantz adds. “That’s a territory you need to do many times to be able to be good at.”

Carr says that one trend in private charter is a mindfulness toward sustainability – something that doesn’t quite go hand in hand with private planes.

TAG is able to present options to tour managers and artist teams letting them choose how they want to tour and knowing their carbon footprint, from flight to hotel.

“We then provide a data report and then the clients can make the best-informed decision on what sustainable carbon partnership program they prefer,” said Carr, noting new TAG offices opening in Saudi Arabia and Asia.

“That’s a big passion point and an objective of ours at the moment, being able to book as quickly as we can, as economically as we can and providing all the data, including carbon reporting.”

Carr says the business is seeing more operators, brokers and shows, which requires TAG to retain strong relationships with preferred brokers and reliable partners, but “that doesn’t mean there’s more aircraft.”

The challenges of navigating multiple time zones, vastly varying airports and local laws and customs means there’s a critical need for specialists and room for new players, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy.

“I’ve been involved in chartering for music bands for 23 years or so, I’ve flown around the world with many airplanes and many different territories and many different artists,” Black said. “I always think there’s nothing I haven’t seen and then, at some point something pops up and we’re like, ‘Oh, that’s a new scenario for me.’ But that’s also part of what keeps it fresh. We all love music and we all love aviation. We’re just a bunch of rocking plane spotters, really.”