Flying, Two-Point-Oh

OpenAir and MontCo Aviation offer a better way to fly: Cirrus 2.0.
By Brenda Lange

Over the past several years, commercial air travel has become increasingly onerous—especially for shorter trips, where time spent traveling to and from the airport and getting through security lines often equals or exceeds the time actually in the air.

But flying is still a safe, convenient way to travel, and a better option than taking the train or the bus or driving, especially for business travelers who need to get to an important meeting, but would prefer to arrive refreshed and still return home for dinner.

Enter OpenAir, a regional air carrier that works in conjunction with Montgomery County Aviation and flies planes manufactured by Cirrus. OpenAir provides ownership/management programs and an air taxi service for business travelers, while MCA provides premier service, logistical support, Cirrus flight school and fractional ownership programs.

Operating locally out of Wings Field in Blue Bell, OpenAir offers the pleasant alternative of letting you fly where you want, when you want; the convenience of a charter service at a fraction of the cost.

For Joel Davne, who does systems integration work for large businesses and the government, participating in multiple meetings in different states in the same day was virtually impossible. But since he started using OpenAir’s services, he has found extra hours in the day and become more efficient.

“We have gotten a tremendous value from this service, and it’s created opportunities for us we wouldn’t have had before,” Davne explains. “Now I can attend a meeting in DC in the morning and Newark (NJ) at 1 p.m. the same day. There is no other way to do this.”

In this era of web conferencing and teleconferencing, businesspeople often don’t need to be in the same physical space to conduct business, however, there are times that face-to-face contact is necessary to seal the deal.

“I save hours that would have been spent driving or on the train, and I use them to shuttle between northern New Jersey, Pennsylvania and the DC Metro area, get to meetings I need to get to, and get home in a timely way, all while retaining my sanity,” he adds.

OpenAir offers flexible scheduling, so passengers set the departure times, not the airline. And the passengers get the added convenience of skipping expensive airport parking fees and lengthy lines in crowded terminals. For Davne that means he can be on the tarmac, in the plane and ready to go in less than a half hour after leaving his home. Parking is free, and he makes it from the plane to his car at the end of the day in five minutes.

From Passenger to Pilot to Prophet
Rick Ianieri used to be the businessman who hired an air taxi service to shuttle him from meeting to meeting. He decided to put his airtime to good use, and learned to fly while traveling for business, then started flying himself.  In short order, he began working with both Cirrus and OpenAir, and now he coordinates his time between the two, showing business professionals there is a better way.

“The old way, you’d leave the house early, fight traffic to the airport, then stand in line,” he says. “My way, we leave Doylestown at 10 a.m., arrive in Boston by 11:15, you make your meeting and we’re home by 3, or you can take another meeting.”

OpenAir flies four-passenger Cirrus SR22 aircraft, “Probably the safest in the world,” says Ianieri. “It has safety features not found in any other plane, such as airbags, state-of-the-art avionics and an integrated (whole-plane) parachute.

“This is the flying equivalent of driving in a BMW 5-series car, as far as size, luxury and comfort,” he adds.

From Wings Field, along with Doylestown, Trenton, Chester County, and the passenger’s home airfield, OpenAir flies regionally, routinely shuttling passengers, both for business and pleasure, to Pittsburgh, Boston, Martha’s Vineyard and Washington, DC.

“This is what Cirrus calls the Cirrus 2.0,” Ianieri says. “It’s a better way to get there. If you fly often for business, or want to get to your vacation home on the Vineyard without driving and then taking the ferry, try us. If you decide you want to learn to fly, we can do that too.”

They concentrate their services within a 500- to 600-mile radius, or about 2 to 3 hours flying time, as a general rule of thumb.

The fun that used to be found in flying has disappeared along with PanAm, People’s Express and other brands. Today, flying can feel like a chore—inefficient, expensive and antiquated. OpenAir is safe, affordable, and, as Ianieri likes to say, “We’re in the business of time; of selling your time back to you—to spend it with your family or doing the things you want to do.”

For more information about OpenAir, call (215) 534-5966 or (800) 940-2359 or visit www.flyopenair.com.

Brenda Lange is an independent writer and editor (www.brendalange.com).