Airlines want to stop `travel hack' luring passengers away

JSX under attack by major carriers because of practices

Alex Wilcox's furious rivals say he's exploiting a loophole. Wilcox counters that they're just annoyed he's treading on their turf.

At the heart of their dispute is JSX, a Dallas-based carrier beloved by work travelers for offering convenience like a chartered plane at near business class prices.

Wilcox got the idea for the service in what's possibly the least glamorous business origin story of all time. Combing throughFederal Aviation Administration regulations, he learned that while scheduled flights with more than nine seats have to meet onerous safety and security requirements, on-demand public charters have separate, less stringent rules. However, they can't specify

flight times, cities or sell single seats.

To get around that, Wilcox decided to create two companies that would work together: One would make a flight schedule and sell tickets and a second would fly the aircraft on specified routes at set times and dates. In reality, though, it's one entity working behind the scenes.

“I spent months without sleep, just looking at all the rules, looking for ways why it couldn't be done,” he said on a clear February day in a hangar at Dallas Love Field. “Every single person we talked to said, `No, you can't do it.'”

Then U.S. regulators signed off on his idea. “So we did it,” he said. In 2015, he founded JetSuiteX,

later rebranded to JSX. It allows customers to book tickets online, like a more traditional airline,and flies out of private hangars. In exchange for the amenities of a big airport, passengers get convenience. In lieu of long Transportation Security Administration baggage-screening lines, they get their bags swabbed for explosives and walk through a weapons detector. The experience doesn't come without pitfalls. If a flight gets delayed, there are only minimal snacks. If it gets canceled, there's not always an easy rebooking option.

Bringing that ease of travel at a lower price point than a private jet has fueled growth so rapid that competitors are lobbying against it and regulators are reviewing its practices. Potential rule changes by the TSA and the FAA could make flying with JSX much more onerous, potentially ruining its appeal.

Nigel Gorbold takes JSX as often as five times a

DAN ROSENSTRAUCH — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER A service worker for JetSuiteX looks over a new plane at Buchanan Field in Concord in 2016. The company, now called JSX, has become a target by major airlines because they say the Dallas-based company has benefited from FAA loopholes.

SHELBY TAUBER — BLOOMBERG Alex Wilcox found a way to offer charter convenience at near-business-class prices through JSX.