Hopscotch: Redefining the Air Taxi Model Continued from page 45 in 2017, the company operated 19 percent more flights than in 2016, and expects the same percentage increase for 2018. “The only con- straints we have had on growth have been attributed to capacity and pilot shortages,” Schmertz added. “This is particularly true for the leisure travel months of May through October. During those months, we turn people away all the time.” To meet travel pattern trends, Hopscotch Air uses a “floating fleet” concept, in which each airplane oper- ates from wherever demand is stron- gest at the time. Right now, the five aircraft are based at FRG, Trenton- Mercer County Airport (TTN) in New Jersey, and Westchester County Airport (HPN) in White Plains, New York. “Pilots essentially take the airplane home every night, flying during the day and back at the base from which they started, which is usu- ally nearest to where they live,” said Schmertz. “About 99 percent of our trips avoid overnights, which gives us a lot of flexibility, not only for finan- cial planning, but also duty time.” What makes that doable, he noted, is that the carrier’s stage lengths are extremely short. For Hopscotch Air, the average is 1.1 hours. Most of the trips are to airports without airline service, and many are a lot closer to the communities where the customer wants to go, than he or she realized. For example, Schmertz cited one passenger, who was flying to a construction project in State College, Pennsylvania, and was unaware of the fact that the Collegeville airport was closer to where he wanted to go. “He originally wanted to fly to another airport he 46 Two Hopscotch Air planes at Sheltair Aviation (KFRG) thought was the closest one—but wasn’t,” Schmertz said. “That’s why we ask our customers where their ulti- mate destination is and educate them as to the closest useable airport.” At this time, Hopscotch Air licenses a reservation system from Linear Air, a Boston-based air charter firm, which has developed propri- etary software. Schmertz explained, “We are working toward a more technology-based system and get- ting our customers comfortable with it.” Schmertz, himself, is a Linear Air board member and investor. Essentially, the carrier has a simplified fare structure offered in three separate categories. One is a standard origin and destination price, charged for point to point transporta- tion. The second is what Hopscotch Air calls its “Easy-Peasy” fare, which provides fares for the carrier’s top 20 city-pairs. Then there is the “Hop Along” fare, which Schmertz calls a “customized, frequent flyer/volume discount plan.” In all cases, pricing is predicated on the use of the whole air- craft, giving people traveling together the opportunity to split the cost. Hopscotch Air’s passengers are offered the option of hav- ing the aircraft repositioned to an airport located near where they are located or offered the less costly choice of going to where the aircraft is already located. “Our fare structure is sim- ple and straight-forward. If you have to explain it in more than one sentence, people will walk away,” said Schmertz. Of course, keeping fares reason- able means keeping costs under control. Along with fuel discounts at FBOs, Schmertz explained that Aviation Business Journal | 2nd Quarter 2018
