Leaving on a jet plane

By Anoush Khanoumi

Flying used to stress me out. It wasn’t the thought of being thousands of feet in the air, defying gravity, flying at ridiculous speeds. It was the time-consuming lines and the constant crowds of miserable travelers.

I often have to make the trip to my firm’s London office from our HQ in Dubai, and it was a trip I was dreading more and more. Despite the fact I always fly business class, I sometimes feel as if I might as well save the expense and fly coach for the “benefits” it affords. The gates are overcrowded. The pervading smell of fast-food is nauseating. Once you actually make it on the plane, you’re bound to share breathing space with mewling babies, travel-sickly children, classes of over-stimulated high-school kids on cultural exchange, fighting couples and nervous flyers who want to talk to you while you’re trying to work. It’s not that I have anything against any of these demographics under normal circumstances, but in the air they just added toxicity to my experience. And I positively hated it.

That is, until last week. Sick of my gripes, my boss suggested we charter a private jet to fly out to our yearly review. I was skeptical that it could be any better, but now I’m a changed man.

Imagine, sitting in your private jet, flying over the clouds, in a bright blue sky at 40,000 ft above the earth. You may find yourself daydreaming about your last vacation in the Greek Islands with your family, or your next trip to St. Tropez. Although you’re moving at 560 mph, it feels like you’re standing still. This is the experience … the extraordinary experience that came with when traveling on a private jet.

Also flying high are Blue Star Jets (www.bluestarjets.com), with whom I caught my flight. Their sales director Barbara Furman (bfurman@bluestarjets.com, or call her on +1 908 433 3203 – she’s extremely helpful) assured me my fears were unfounded, and her calm confidence soothed my nerves no end. I caught my from a small airport just outside London near my home, and was greeted by friendly and extremely professional flight crew. Preparation for take off was quick, no waiting for straggling flyers, dazzled by the bright lights and overwhelming perfume smells of the duty free, lost in the labyrinth of the airport and holding everyone up. And the take off itself was breathtaking – it reminded me of the excitement I felt when I first flew, so many years ago now.

I gazed out the window, enjoying the peace and tranquility, and asked the flight attendant to bring over a cup of fresh roasted coffee. I shuffled through papers, preparing a presentation I was due to give later that day, and for once, my work was not interrupted by the shrill scratching of the tannoy. Traveling privately was truly one of the greatest things I’ve experienced. It is addictive in a good way. It seemed all at once a celebration of all that I had created and worked so hard for in my life.

Although I didn’t make use of the masseuse, manicurist and or personal trainer I could have had accompany me on the flight (!), the food and drink were fabulous and the cashmere blankets were most appreciated on the journey home. I brought a selection of my favorite music and it was played throughout my trip: no more frustrated flicking between Gregorian chanting to the Disney channel on the in-flight radio.

There was no standing in long lines for security checks, or extensive delays on the runway during bad weather. None of my time was wasted waiting in lines for the next flight because my flight wasn’t cancelled. My boss always says time is money, and flying this way I got as close as possible to my business meeting without having to make time-consuming transfers to large airports: time was money in my bank. It occurred to me that traveling this way might also afford extra days to enjoy on the beach or the ski slopes on those rare occasions I have time off. Everyone knows that a well-planned four-day weekend is often reduced to a miserable two-day rush with connections in major airports, but this way you can maximize leisure time spent with your family. The rate my little ones are growing up heaven knows I could use all the time I can get!

When we got back to the office and began drawing up the schedule for this month, no longer was my heart in my shoes at the thought of some long arduous trip. I actually volunteered to fly out to our offices in Paris too, just to check on how things are going there. For me, from now on, this is the only way to travel.