A Fly Now, Pay Later Jet Card Is From A Dad’s Love For His Son

26.10.2023 - 00:17 / forbes.com

Most new private aviation start-ups founded by outsiders are fueled from visions of revolutionizing an industry where charter flights are still often sourced the old-fashioned way via phone calls, text messages, and emails. Others want to democratize private jets with dreams of being like Airbnb. For Thane Namy, the private jet charter brokerage he launched last year is the culmination of something different: a father's love for his family.

Back in 2012, when Namy was still building the Detroit-area telecommunications company he founded, the father discovered his young son was autistic.

According to Autism Speaks, one in 36 children in the U.S. have autism. With boys, it's one in 25.

Namy says, "My wife likes to travel, but we were nervous about flying on the airlines. We would read these stories about families being kicked off the airplane."

As a result, the family began chartering flights but, like others, found it time-consuming, with prices varying day-to-day and different contract terms.

The solution was to buy a jet card with guaranteed pricing. It worked, but it wasn't what Namy expected, considering the expense of private flying.

On one flight, they were returned to a different FBO, the name for the terminals used by private jets.

"It was a real hassle. They had to find somebody to take us to the FBO we left from where my car was parked. It was on the other side of the field. It was a big deal to me, but the company seemed to think it wasn't a big deal," Namy says.

Then, he would find mistakes in catering bills and other “nickel and dime charges.”

"I just felt that it should be better. When you join a big company, you are one of 1,000 or 2,000. I grew my business by ensuring my clients were happy," Namy says.

After selling his telecommunications business last year, he started BC Flight.

BC stands for Broadside Concepts. That's because, despite his knowledge of aviation as a private pilot and nearly a decade as a charter customer, he had a few other business ideas. In deciding to enter the private jet charter market, he had a different objective.

"There are a lot of parents with autistic children. They want to take a couple of nice vacations a year, but they may not want to lay out $50,000 or buy a jet card for $150,000 and have to pay all at once," he says.

BC Flight joins the jet card market with a novel approach – fly now, pay later.

A 10-hour light jet card would normally require an advance payment of $59,500.

The financing option – perhaps a first in the industry, allows the customer to put down $9,500 and then make monthly payments of $2,974 for 27 months.

"I felt like by splitting it into monthly payments, it was something more people could afford," Namy believes.

Namy, who is