JSX
Air travel will more often than not leave you with your head in your hands, whether caused by your own chagrin or witnessing another’s fury over any number of causes airlines deal with.
A Dallas company, however, is transforming the short-haul travel experience with what seems to be a revolutionary concept: Taking the hassle and headache out of air travel while saving our most precious commodity, time.
JSX, trade name for JetSuiteX Inc., founded in 2016, is an accessible, hop-on jet carrier that operates out of private hangars, flying Embraer ERJ135 and ERJ145 jets, which can also be chartered for private flights.
“JSX is carving out a whole new flying experience and category which is labeled as a semi-private jet service or hop-on jet service that combines the best of both commercial and private flying,” says Alex Wilcox, the company’s CEO and co-founder, adding that its design is to “simplify and streamline the democratization of enjoyable semi-private air travel for all.”
Not simply for the Gates, Buffetts, and Musks of the world.
Flights certainly are priced “for all,” but short hauls for business to Austin or Houston are eye-openers. Flights can be found for as low as $199 one way from Love Field. In addition to Austin, Dallas, and Houston, JSX also serves Burbank, Concord/Napa, Los Angeles, Monterey, Oakland, Orange County, and San Diego in California; Destin, Florida; Las Vegas; Miami; Phoenix; Reno-Tahoe; and Westchester County in New York.
In April, the company and its more than 700 employees celebrated its sixth birthday.
“We have been wholly dedicated to creating equitable and accessible skies for all,” Wilcox says. “We are a highly and intentionally inclusive and diverse company, championing what we deeply value, prioritize, and proactively seek out in today’s world.”
Every JSX customer enjoys perks familiar to private jet fliers: spacious and private FBOs, minimized “dwell” time — passengers can check in a mere 20 minutes before their scheduled flight — and no lines or TSA bins. Passengers can check up to three bags.
There are complimentary onboard amenities and personalized service from a dedicated flight attendant. And bags are retrieved within minutes of arrival right by the plane you just got off of.
JSX
The company’s fleet of 77 jets have 30 leather seats and no middle seat.
The best of luxury travel is what JSX has carved out, a unique niche in the marketplace designed to be a “joyful, simple experience” that’s been lost along the way in the industry for a variety of reasons.
“Travel delays, spending time in long lines can all negatively impact our organization’s ability to get more accomplished each day,” says Derrick Miles, a JSX traveler and founder and CEO of CourMed, a health tech company, in an interview with CNBC. “Time is money.
“I don’t have to go to the private hanger until 20 to 30 minutes prior to departure,” he continues. “In addition, the JSX parking lot is about 20 yards away from the facility. Therefore, I’m saving hours of time, and I can focus on the company’s liquidity, profitability and growth.”
It’s all a result of Wilcox identifying what he called a gap in the airline industry for businesspeople, families, and regional travelers needing a fast, affordable commercial flight option.
Wilcox says aviation has been in his blood since his first memories. Growing up in New York City, he traveled to Europe every year to visit his grandparents, amazed that he could be at home in Brooklyn and in a matter of hours in a different part of the world.
Wilcox, a graduate of the University of Vermont, joined Virgin Atlantic Airways after stints with Brockaway Air and Southwest Airlines. At Virgin, he met David Neeleman. The two founded JetBlue Airlines in 1999. After six years, Wilcox moved to India. He had been recruited by an Indian billionaire to move to Mumbai and help him start an airline that would become Kingfisher Airlines.
Neeleman is the father of a number of low-cost airlines in addition to JetBlue. His others were Morris Air, WestJet, Azul Brazilian Airlines, and Breeze Airways.
Neeleman has been a mentor, Wilcox says, with his help along the way.
Investors initially shied away from JetBlue, Wilcox says, because they didn’t believe would-be passengers would bypass La Guardia for JFK International Airport for a domestic flight, even though JFK was “wide open” almost all day long, while La Guardia looked like Interstate 35W at rush hour and flight delays.
Wilcox recalls making trips between La Guardia and JFK at different times of the day.
“It was never more than 20 minutes, and David eventually proved that people would drive a few extra minutes for a flight — on-time — with TV.
Neeleman, he says, inspired him to pursue his own big ideas.
“One of the questions I get frequently is whether or not this model of air travel is scalable,” Wilcox told THRIVE Magazine. “The answer is 100%, yes. There are hundreds of underserved, short-distance, point-to-point markets in the U.S. alone. Many of them are huge, and some are small and seasonal and totally underserved. Before the pandemic, we were experiencing double-digit growth year over year and had big plans to expand to new regions and destinations.”
Even during the pandemic, he says, when demand encountered a dramatic decrease, JSX was able to introduce new domestic markets, including pop-up flights to Salt Lake City and the company’s first international route from Los Angeles to Cabo San Lucas that launched in February 2021.
“It’s a proven fact that flying is safer than driving, and I strongly believe that by giving people a more convenient alternative to driving between short distances — we are, in fact, saving lives.”
He partnered with venture capital firm Proctor Capital Partners to get JetSuite off the ground, and the company evolved into JSX in 2016.
Since then, the company has been award-winning. In 2020, it received APEX’s Regional Passenger Choice Award for the North America region. The same year, Fast Company tapped JSX as one of its most innovative companies. It has also been recognized as a “top workplace.”
JSX’s innovation has gone beyond its startup concept.
The company is a partner with Autism Double-Checked, an organization founded by travel-industry professionals and dedicated to creating a safe and enjoyable space for those on the spectrum and their families when they travel away from home. The hustle and jostling and otherwise high energy typical of an American airport isn’t the best environment.
The organization awarded Autism Double-Checked certification to JSX in April 2019.
All staff, including pilots, flight attendants, and customer service agents, undergo training to better assist passengers with autism. JSX also worked with Autism Double-Checked to create a passenger guide for those flying with passengers who have autism. Among other things, the guide alerts passengers to issues of safety, crowds, waiting, noise, body awareness, heat or cold, light, taste or smell, fine-motor issues and surprise element they might encounter at the various airports JSX serves, or on its flights.
In April, JSX contracted with SpaceX’s cutting-edge Starlink as its Wi-Fi provider at no cost to the customer.
“Our customers repeatedly asked us when we would offer inflight Wi-Fi, and we’ve said that we’ll do it when we find the best product in the world. We’ve found it,” Wilcox says.
And if one customer is to be believed, the service the flight offers might be the best option in the world.
Wilcox remembers the day JSX introduced service to Reno-Tahoe. When the first flight arrived from Burbank, a customer who had been patiently waiting for service to Reno walked down the stairs and “bowed down” to the JSX team.
That, Wilcox says, is the result of travel that is, well, joyful.
And at a great price.