A four-day aircraft turnaround took 12 days, forcing the owner to charter twice and triple costs.
1. Aviation Week's BCA Podcast focuses on changes in the Part 135 charter business, including market conditions and operating challenges.
2. Molly McMillan hosts Glenn Hogben of the Air Charter Association and Viviana Kozin, Chief Operating Officer of George J. Priester Aviation.
3. The episode asks whether charter has reached a post-COVID new normal while operators manage costs, customer expectations, and regulation.
4. Viviana Kozin says George J. Priester Aviation has experienced a positive but softer market since COVID.
5. Kozin says charter prices have fallen while operator costs have increased, making healthy margins harder to maintain.
6. Glenn Hogben says industry members report growth and resilience despite changing client needs and global economic challenges.
7. Hogben compares 2024 and 2025 conditions with 2019 and 2020 and says pandemic-era volatility has declined.
8. Kozin says individual aircraft ownership increased after COVID but some owners have returned to charter as ownership proved unsuitable.
9. Hogben says business jet charter continues to serve corporate and leisure travelers seeking connectivity, safety, efficiency, and flexible scheduling.
10. Hogben adds that commercial aircraft and cargo operations support larger groups and urgent movements where scheduled services or capacity have changed.
11. Kozin identifies operator reliability as a major problem involving maintenance providers, MROs, parts suppliers, qualified mechanics, and labor hours.
12. Kozin recounts an aircraft maintenance visit promised for four days that lasted 12 days and caused the owner to charter twice.
13. Hogben identifies engineering shortages, supplier-part delays, pilot recruitment, and the gap before cadet schemes can produce enough personnel.
14. Hogben says cargo capacity can arrive after demand changes because aircraft delivery and reconfiguration take substantial time.
15. Hogben says European regulatory uncertainty, tariffs, and taxation create concerns that differ from the current U.S. environment.
16. Kozin says technology can improve efficiency and pair one-way trips, but it may also push prices down without reflecting operator effort.
17. Kozin says George J. Priester Aviation emphasizes phone-based relationships because customers may hesitate to make a major charter purchase through an app.
18. Hogben discusses illegal charter, the 2019 death of Emiliano Sala, and the Air Charter Association's January 21 Fly Legal Day.
19. Business aviation operators, brokers, and charter customers will value this discussion of reliability, regulation, technology, and legal-flight checks.
20. Listeners seeking detailed aircraft specifications or personal travel stories might skip this industry-focused conversation.
