Picture this. You whip out your phone and book a private flight in 30 seconds. It takes you 15 minutes to whiz through the airport to the terminal—and no, you don’t have to take your shoes off. You’re greeted by a concierge who knows you by name. They get your bag, escort you out to the aircraft and off you go. When you arrive, another concierge welcomes you, offering assistance with ground transportation and other logistics.
That’s what Wade Eyerly, co-founder of Beacon, believes flying should be like. But let’s be honest, that’s far from the case—it’s more like a cattle call with countless inconveniences.
That experience will soon be accessible, though, when Beacon, a subscription based private plane service for frequent fliers, officially launches September 15 with round trip flights between Boston and New York (plus seasonal service to the Hamptons and Nantucket). For as low as $2,000 a month, Beacon offers users unlimited access to regularly scheduled flights, and doesn’t charge for any changes/cancellations made as little as 20 minutes before departure. Join Beacon before August 1 and you get to skip the $1,000 initiation fee altogether. There will be 18 to 20 flights per day (one way, or nine to 10 round trip). The company plans to release the app to those who have already signed up three weeks ahead of launch so they can get a jumpstart on booking flights by the time Beacon is operational.
Key conveniences
When describing Beacon’s booking process, the first word that comes to mind is "frictionless." The only information you need to enter is where you want to go, when you want to go and what flight you want to get on. And if there’s not room on a flight you wanted? No biggie. Get on the waitlist, and you can also watch flights to see if they’re starting to get filled up.
“What really makes it stick out—beyond the leather seats and all the other creature comforts—is that you’re buying back time,” Eyerly told BostInno in a phone interview. “If you’re someone who goes back and forth twice a week at four hours every time you travel, that’s eight hours just to commute. We turn overnight trips into day trips. And that, ultimately, is the dominant creature comfort that anyone wants: to gain back time in life.”
One way Beacon buys back time is by cutting down on the hassles of security. The TSA focuses on aircrafts that have 10 or more seats, and since Beacon sits below that, it allows passengers to bypass the ordeal. Beacon vets members in its own way, too: by doing a background check.
Beacon, which has offices in Boston and New York, is Eyerly’s second foray into the private aviation space. Previously, he and co-founders Cory Cozzens and Reed Farnsworth started a similar service: California-based Surf Air.
But whereas with Surf Air they built a airline from the ground up that owned all of its planes, Beacon partners with other companies to operate the aircrafts for them.
Earlier this month, Beacon announced a $400 million agreement with Dynamic Aviation, which as the official operator, will be providing commuter passenger services on exclusive basis to Beacon. As part of the agreement, Dynamic Aviation will be delivering 27 mid-sized executive aircraft over the next three years, and is contracted to maintain and operate the aircraft for Beacon over the next decade. Beacon estimates the deal will result in the creation of between 300 and 400 jobs.
Signs of growth
Now, Beacon is gearing up for its upcoming launch—and a big component of that means growing the team. Up until recently, the company had 12 employees, but they just hired seven and are about to bring on another six. By the September debut, Beacon aims to have 30 people on board.
"We turn overnight trips into day trips. And that, ultimately, is the dominant creature comfort that anyone wants: to gain back time in life.”
Adding fuel to the fire, Beacon just closed a $7.5 million Series A round led by Romulus Capital with participation from MiVentures, Western Technologies Investment, and several other unnamed early-stage investors. The funding will be used primarily for marketing, sales and service personnel and training, as well as overall growth.
Eyerly calls Beacon the “gateway drug” for private flying. And Beacon is betting big on its service delighting customers so much so that they become addicted—that’s why the company has opted to forgo forcing users into a contract, instead letting them pay month to month. When Beacon launches, Eyerly expects the service to already have about 500 members.
Beacon is obviously not a play for the mass market, but it could have immense value for frequent flying execs trying to make more time with their family, and companies that regularly travel between cities in close proximity. It's more than just a private jet service, too—in Eyerly's eyes, it's a social club. On a commercial flight, passengers tend to plug their earbuds in and avoid conversation with those around them. But on Beacon, four seats face each other, facilitating conversation.
"You get on a plane with a bunch of other similar folks and they're naturally interested in each other," Eyerly explained. "It's like being at a dinner table, a very intimate experience ... We've seen some fascinating things happen. And when you have the same people flying together all the time, they start to do business together."
Photo of private jet via Shutterstock, headshot of Wade Eyerly via Beacon.
