Surf Air Expands Unlimited Private Jet Service from California to Europe

Packed in like human cattle. Or human sardines. Forced to wait in long wait lines. Treated to generalized and impersonal service. Suspiciously investigated and monitored. No, that is not the logline for a horror movie but an apt description of enduring modern 21st-century air travel. Lines are getting longer; travel departure delays are increasing and traveler disapproval with airports and airport service and ever more invasive security checks are reaching record highs. If only private jet travel was more affordable. Well, if you fly weekly or on a frequent basis in the California-centric region of the United States and spend over $2000 a month or every few weeks in business-related travel costs, then a new startup boutique airline may be able to offer you a more luxurious and comfortable way to fly.

World's First Private Unlimited Air Travel Club

Surf Air is actually the world's first private unlimited air travel club for business and leisure fliers. It was founded in 2011 in California by CEO Jeff Potter. Surf Air strives to maintain quality service by employing a small-scale staff and only flying to small, private regional airports in and around California. The FAA-certified company employs 200 people. All flights are piloted by two pilots, a captain, and first officer. All Surf Air pilots are active or retired commercial, military, charter and small aircraft pilots and experts at their craft. You can arrive 15 minutes before departure and buy your tickets through the website's app, but you will still follow scaled down commercial airport security and screening procedures. Surf Air's fleet of aircraft currently consists of over a dozen Swiss-manufactured 8-seater Pilatus PC-12 single-engine turboprop aircraft. The aircraft has a 1,200-mile traveling distance range and cruising speed of 320 MPH.

Uber of Skyways and Netflix of Airlines

The start-up airline has been referred to as the "Uber of the Skyways," and the, "Netflix of Airlines," because of their efforts to embrace technology and to cater air travel to their clients' needs in the most comfortable way possible. You can set up an inspection appointment wi, Cath Surf Air to visit one of their private airports and to inspect and check out one of their airplanes yourself. The airline has over 80 daily departures from California. Membership costs $1,950 a month with a $1,000 exclusive membership signup fee. First time members can fly one-way for $500 or two-ways for $1,000 in a promotional discount membership drive until July 31, 2016. Surf Air has over 3,000 exclusive members and counting. In fact, the company will be doubling the current size of their dozen-strong air fleet by the end of the year. The company's business model concept has been so popular that they will begin expanding their operations to Europe beginning October 2016.

Services Available

Surf Air Europe's private air travel members will be able to fly unlimited throughout Europe on a monthly basis for USD $3,225, or € 2,500, a month. So, it's all up to you. If you travel by air frequently and cannot take the rigors of corporate, commercial air travel anymore, it may be in your best interest of travel comfort to arrange an aircraft inspection and information visit with Surf Air today. Surf Air operates out of private and small-sized airports in the Greater Los Angeles Metro Area, San Francisco, Truckee, Lake Tahoe, Santa Barbara, Sacramento, Napa, and Monterrey. Surf Air also flies to private airports in Las Vegas in collaboration with another regional boutique airline called Advanced Air. In October 2016, Surf Air Europe will begin operations in and out of private and small-sized airports in Cannes, Dublin, Geneva, London, and Zurich. Additional cities will be added later. You can learn more about unlimited, monthly air travel membership at the Surf Air website. 

Apple Inc. announced a bigger iPad with a new keyboard and stylus aimed at business customers.

Chief Executive Tim Cook promised a day of “monster” news Wednesday, but shares of the company remained nearly flat as executives showed off the iPad, which will be priced starting at $799.

Cook began by talking up the Apple Watch, saying customer satisfaction for the new product was 97 percent. Apple is working with French luxury goods maker Hermes on a new watch collection, and Facebook Messenger is coming to the device, he added.

He then rolled out the “iPad Pro” with a 12.9-inch screen and said it had performance similar to a desktop computer. Apple showed off a “smart” keyboard and a stylus called “Pencil.”

Apple said it had partnered with Cisco Systems Inc. and IBM to help power the iPad pro, which it said is up to 1.8 times faster and has a 10-hour battery life. Many people on Twitter seemed unimpressed by the new iPad and lamented its large size, however.

Shares of Apple were up less than 1 percent at $112.68.

Cook promised “monster announcements” at the event, which is also expected to feature an updated version of its Apple TV device and of its iPhones, which drove nearly two-thirds of the company’s $49.6 billion in revenue in the most recent quarter.

Apple is widely expected to keep the size of the phones the same but upgrade them with an improved camera and Force Touch, a display technology that responds differently depending on how hard users press their screens.

A year after Apple rolled out iPhones with larger screens, touching off a frenzy of sales that saw revenue in the most recent quarter increase 32.5 percent from the same quarter a year ago, the latest upgrades may leave some investors and consumers underwhelmed.

“It’s getting harder and harder for Apple to compete against itself,” said analyst Bob O’Donnell of TECHnalysis Research. Apple shares are up more than 14 percent over the last year, although they are down nearly 12 percent in the last three months.

Fortunately for Apple, most consumers buy smartphones under a two-year upgrade cycle, meaning the company will still likely scoop up a lot of sales, said analyst Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy.

“The key point of reference is not how the new phone compares to the iPhone 6, it’s how it compares to the iPhone 5s,” he said.

Expectations have been rising for a revamped Apple TV, a set-top box that has seen few significant updates since its release in 2007. Although Apple has yet to hammer out deals for a long-awaited television service, analysts say the company is poised to overhaul the hockey-puck-sized device.

The device is expected to gain an App Store and an interface that allows users to make requests through the Siri digital assistant and search for specific programs and movies across apps. The company may also discuss the device’s role as a hub for gaming.

“It’s a big day for the big screen!” Apple Senior Vice President Eddy Cue tweeted before the event.

Nearly 20 percent of US broadband households own at least one streaming media player, and Apple has a long way to go in the market, according to data from research firm Parks Associates.

Roku is the leader in streaming media boxes, accounting for 34 percent of all streaming devices sold in the United States in 2014, according to Parks Associates data. Google Inc.’s Chromecast and Amazon.com Inc.’s Fire TV were next. The Apple TV box came in fourth.

“It’s important that (Apple) come out and really get up to date and potentially eclipse some of the other living room devices out there,” Moorhead said.