MEMBERS ONLY
Brothers launch a subscription ‘all you can fly’ airline
TWO BROTHERS — one a former U.S. intelligence officer, the other a commercial pilot — are looking to do for business travelers what Netflix did for movie fans.
With SurfAir, the brainchild of siblings Wade and David Eyerly, fliers pay a starting membership from $1,000 per month for an “all-you-can-fly” subscription for flights in roomy leather seats on Swiss-made, eight-passenger Pilatus planes.
They can even bring along clients and family.
“This is a hybrid between private air travel and commercial airlines everyone is used to,” Wade Eyerly, CEO of SurfAir, told the Daily News.
“We are doing a fixed schedule, fixed route on a private plane,” added Eyerly, who used to work for the government.
The target client, he said, is a regular commuter, business traveler or other frequent flier — someone who faces the option of a two- to six-hour drive. The flights will be between regional airports.
While the Los Angeles-based start-up is awaiting government approvals, the plan is to be in the air by late summer.
The initial routes will be on the California coast with flights between L.A., Palo Alto, Monterey and Santa Barbara. But plans are in the works to begin East Coast service early next year.
Target routes from New York would include Philadelphia, Washington, Providence and Boston.
When SurfAir opened its first batch of 500 memberships in April, the spots were snapped up in two weeks, Eyerly says.
Travelers can join a wait list at surfair.com.
For an airline to follow the Netflix business model isn’t as out-there as it sounds, said Eyerly. He and brother David, a pilot who worked for the TSA and flew for Frontier Airlines, did their research and found that statistics show market size for domestic travel is expected to double by 2020.
Using private planes and regional airports, SurfAir will eliminate long lines, TSA pat-downs and cramped seats, he said — all the things that passengers detest about flying.
Travelers will be able to arrive minutes before flights and cancel without incurring fees.
The company’s list of backers is led by Anthem Venture Partners and includes actor Jared Leto of “Fight Club” fame.
SurfAir intends to be flying 60 planes in three years, and 150 planes in seven years.