Another hurdle was building the company’s fleet. As Ditchie elaborates, “We began in April with absolutely nothing but a plane, two pilots, and a new but empty office.” Just a month into the new regime, STA was turning light-jet clients away due to the fact that the demand for their services grew exponentially. They addressed that challenge in just six months time, expanding the fleet to its current number of eight aircraft. Today STA’s light jet books an average of almost 60 hours per month, a number that is unheard of in this economy.
Of course the air travel is a substantial part of the STA experience, but beyond that, STA’s full service luxury lifestyle concierge program is a benchmark of differentiation. “A lot of companies offer concierge services, but we take it to the next level,” says Ditchie. “We have gone so far as to plan and host a birthday party for our client’s son in our hangar. This has absolutely nothing to do with a flight, but it shows our dedication to our luxury lifestyle concierge service beyond our aircraft operations.”
Upcoming endeavors for STA include doubling its fleet and the launch of a company jet card that will be available prior to year-end, making it a perfect Christmas gift for the private jet traveler. The jet cards come in two forms—“one is a day jet card you buy for day usage, and the other one is the member card—a card you can buy in hours,” Belcher explains. Customer rewards are built-in because with every flight, STA is reloading $500 onto the card. Even better, it also acts as a credit card, allowing the cardholder to spend the reward dollars at participating partner establishments such as restaurants, hotels, and other luxury brands.
Jet charter customers of STA can rest assured that they are not only getting the luxury of time that private travel allows, but also a new personal concierge available 24/7 for any need. It is hard to put a price on such a commodity. As Ditchie sums up, “We are built on the principle that there is nothing too big or too small. Our ultimate goal is to have our clients as dedicated to us as we are to them.”
STA Jets Inc.
19300 Ike Jones Rd.
Santa Ana, CA 92707
714.430.1406
www.stajets.com
