This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by psa188@juno.com. /-------------------- advertisement -----------------------\ Share the spirit with a gift from Starbucks. Our coffee brewers & espresso machines at special holiday prices. http://www.starbucks.com/shop/subcategory.asp?category_name=Sale/Clearance&ci=274&cookie_test=1 \----------------------------------------------------------/ Air Travelers' Safety Fears Are Boon for Charter Company December 29, 2001 By JAYSON BLAIR There have been many stories of business misfortune in this postdisaster New York: companies that have been displaced, or shuttered as the recession looms and pocketbooks tighten. This would not be one of them. Todd M. Rome II, the owner of Blue Star Jets, a private plane charter company, does not try to hide the fact that he is taking advantage of some of the fears that came out of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11. Indeed, Mr. Rome has been marketing his company as the safe and secure alternative to commercial airlines since the weekend after the attacks, joining private security firms, military supply stores and lawyers who prepare wills as some of the businesses benefiting from New Yorkers' fears. One thing that makes Mr. Rome's success so intriguing is that before the attacks, his business had all the makings of a start-up failure - not to mention that, while it promises safety and security, Mr. Rome is a blunt-speaking founder with an interesting past. Now, Mr. Rome says, Blue Star is flooded with requests from corporate executives, wealthy families and others looking for the sense of control and security that comes with being able to fly privately. Mr. Rome's claims cannot be independently verified, but the National Business Aviation Association, a trade group for private jet owners, says that charter company sales are up by as much as 10 percent since Sept. 11. The subtext of Mr. Rome's business model is not subtle. "When you are flying with your family and your loved ones," he says, giving a carefully honed sales pitch, "there is very little more important than security. If you are not willing to pay the price, well then, who knows what could happen?" His principle is where there is a fear, American capitalism will find a way for profits. And how is he going to guarantee his clients' safety? Is this just another smooth talker? Maybe, but Mr. Rome does not hesitate to point out to clients that he has hired as his security chief a former official at the Israeli airline El Al, which has the best safety record of any airline in the world (he declines to name the official for security reasons). He will put bodyguards on the plane if that makes his clients feel better. And secrecy is a key, he points out. All information, he says, including times, locations and customers' identities, are kept secret. "Nobody will know who's in the air and when you are leaving but my staff," Mr. Rome explains to a client who is paying $23,284 - not including catering - to fly 14 friends and family members from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey to Los Angeles. "We strive to be the best not only in our prices, but also in our safety measures." Mr. Rome says he does his best to give customers a sense of control. Safety records? He gives customers his pilots' Federal Aviation Administration dossiers and other flight records, as well as the safety record for the plane. Background checks? Each passenger must be cleared by private detectives. Searches? Every bag can be searched by hand at the request of the client or pilot. "People want to have control, and I give it to them," Mr. Rome says. Mr. Rome, 32, says he is a former Wall Street trader. He avoids questions that divulge detail by repeating statements that do not answer them. "Where did you work before this?" he is asked. "On Wall Street," he says. "Where on Wall Street?" "On Wall Street." Mr. Rome has reason to be discreet about his past. In April 2000, during the dot-com boom, N.A.S.D. Regulation Inc., a subsidiary of the National Association of Securities Dealers, filed a complaint against Mr. Rome and a Manhattan company where he was the president, the Millennium Securities Corporation. Mr. Rome and the company were accused of fraud and illegal manipulation of the initial public offering of stock for a company that it was underwriting, Translation Group, a company in Haddonfield, N.J., which offered software to translate text in different languages. N.A.S.D. officials said that Mr. Rome and others at Millennium illegally made more than $5 million from their handling of the public offering. Mr. Rome denied the charges. In May 2000, without admitting liability, Mr. Rome and his colleagues signed a settlement in which the firm promised to leave N.A.S.D., not do business with any of its members for two years and Mr. Rome had to pay a $100,000 fine. Mr. Rome says that the Translation Group initial public offering, which was in 1996, has no bearing on his present business. In March of this year, Mr. Rome incorporated Blue Star, which he operates from an Upper East Side office less than a minute away from the apartment he shares with his wife, Carol, and their two daughters. The business, he admits, was not doing well when the economy began to weaken over the summer. Then came Sept. 11. Suddenly, well-heeled families started doing the same thing chief executives, athletes and music stars had been doing for decades: renting their own planes. Mr. Rome says the first calls came from people who had been stranded after the attacks by the F.A.A. decision to shut down the commercial airlines. Charter jet operators were back up in the air several days before the commercial airlines. Then, as Congress and President Bush debated airline security, Mr. Rome says calls began pouring in from people wanting to fly. Federal data shows that the nation's private jets are just as safe as airlines. But critics note that charter companies that use private terminals are not required to run passengers through metal detectors or have their baggage scanned, a point that airlines say makes companies like Mr. Rome's more vulnerable to terrorist attacks. Also, established charter companies say that start-ups like Blue Star cannot offer the same menu of options because they do not own their own fleets and must get in line to lease planes from others. Blue Star customers say that while Mr. Rome can generally get access to a plane at most airports in the United States, it is not always the size they need. Mr. Rome says he has access to 1,400 planes, ranging from a 737 that can carry nearly 300 people to an eight-seat Bombardier Learjet that can go for less than $1,500 an hour. Heavy jets, like the Bombardier Challenger 604 or the Gulfstream IV, can take 14 passengers to Los Angeles from New York for about $21,000. Lighter planes, like the Learjet 31A/ 35, carry seven and cost under $2,000 an hour. Blue Star offers candy, snacks and coloring books for children free of charge. King crab, caviar, French wine and other items come for an extra fee. Mr. Rome says that some of his recent clients included a family of five that paid $6,000 and made a round-trip flight between MacArthur Airport on Long Island and Montreal. Two families coming from Los Angeles - with 14 people total - picked up a student at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, and then flew to New York for Thanksgiving. Looking ahead, Mr. Rome says he is preparing for a time when fear of flying is no longer the main motivator for his customers. His plan of attack is to sell people on the fear of waiting. "I'll take you there faster, with less waiting on the ground on both ends and closer to your destination," Mr. Rome says. He is already preparing to pitch to college students who want to make winter ski trips to Vermont. He is offering a special on that seven-passenger Learjet: about $1,800 an hour. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/29/nyregion/29JETS.html?ex=1010657732&ei=1&en=764c9b392add2ffa HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact Alyson Racer at alyson@nytimes.com or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to help@nytimes.com. Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company