The news blackout from Pogo Jet doesn’t portend its demise; instead it was merely intentional. According to Pogo Executive Vice President of Operations Mike Stuart, the company has been laying low while working hard behind the scenes to make its flat-rate (per hour) charter service a reality. “We’re waiting to get in when the [very light jet] aircraft matures,” he said Tuesday at the Business Models for VLJs and Light Jets Conference in West Palm Beach, Fla. “We need a high-utilization aircraft model and we don’t want to have to worry about teething pains.” According to Stuart, Pogo is “leaning toward” the Eclipse 500, dashing Adam Aircraft’s hopes that the company would buy 75 A700 very light jets. The VLJ charter firm plans on starting its $2,000-per-block-hour service in mid-2008. Pogo will not charge for unoccupied time, and all airplanes will come back to their home base every night. Stuart said Pogo’s VLJs will fly between 2,100 and 2,300 hours each per year, more than that of the average fractional airplane but less than the 3,000 hours per year logged by the average airliner.
