Region
Second Wave - Michigan
Capital Gains - Lansing
Catalyst Midland
Concentrate - Ann Arbor/Ypsi
Epicenter - Mount Pleasant
Route Bay City
Rural Innovation Exchange
Southwest Michigan
UPword - UP
The Keel - Port Huron
The Lakeshore
Metromode - Metro Detroit
Flintside - Flint
Model D - Detroit
Rapid Growth - Grand Rapids
Focus Areas
Arts and Culture
Community Development
Diversity
Economic Development
Entrepreneurship
Equity
Healthy Communities
Kids and Education
Sustainability
Technology and Innovation
Transportation
City
Ann Arbor
Chelsea
Dexter
Milan
Saline
Ypsilanti
Series
Concentrate
Block by Block
Detroit Driven
Inside our Outdoors
On The Ground
Voices of Youth
Statewide
Areas of Concern
Block by Block
Bridging the Talent Gap
COVID19
Cyber Security
Disability Inclusion
Early Education Matters
Forestry
Girl Scouts SE Michigan Team Up
Good Food
Greater Lakes
Inside our Outdoors
Invasive Species
MI Mental Health
Michigan Nightlight
Michigan's Agricultural Future
Michigan's State of Health Podcast
Nonprofit Journal Project
Preserving Michigan
State of Health
Stories of Change
Voices of Youth
Yours, Mine, & Ours - Public Health
Toggle navigation
Focus Areas
Arts and Culture
Community Development
Diversity
Economic Development
Entrepreneurship
Equity
Healthy Communities
Kids and Education
Sustainability
Technology and Innovation
Transportation
City
Ann Arbor
Chelsea
Dexter
Milan
Saline
Ypsilanti
Series
Concentrate
Block by Block
Detroit Driven
Inside our Outdoors
On The Ground
Voices of Youth
Statewide
Areas of Concern
Block by Block
Bridging the Talent Gap
COVID19
Cyber Security
Disability Inclusion
Early Education Matters
Forestry
Girl Scouts SE Michigan Team Up
Good Food
Greater Lakes
Inside our Outdoors
Invasive Species
MI Mental Health
Michigan Nightlight
Michigan's Agricultural Future
Michigan's State of Health Podcast
Nonprofit Journal Project
Preserving Michigan
State of Health
Stories of Change
Voices of Youth
Yours, Mine, & Ours - Public Health
About
Support Us
Flagship Air looks to take off from Ann Arbor Airport
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
| Source:
Concentrate
Share
Tim Patton didn’t start out wanting to create a local airline but that's just what the veteran entrepreneur ended up doing with Flagship Private Air.
"It really started as a personal passion," Patton says.
The chairman and CEO of Patton Holdings (based out of
Domino's Farms
) bought a private plane a few years ago for his health-care company. He often needed to go to small, out-of-the-way places like Hershey, Pennsylvania, for business, places that were prohibitively expensive to fly commercially out of Detroit's Metro Airport.
He wasn't alone. Plenty of local business people found flying either too expensive or too time inefficient using major airlines. And then the CFL went off over Patton's head.
"There is no one else doing this here in Ann Arbor," Patton says. "Why not make a business out of this?"
Flagship Private Air
is set to take off in early December. It has a handful of
turbo-prop
planes ready to fly from the
Ann Arbor Airport
to 47 locations throughout the continental U.S., but mainly focused on the Midwest.
The chartered planes can carry private parties within 250 miles. Prices are usually kept under $1,000 per person with a minimum of two people. The company can also cater the flights food from
Zingerman's
as well as set up hotel or rental car reservations. And Patton plans to expand his business to summer resorts in northern cities, like
Traverse City
or
Mackinac Island
.
The idea of hiring out a small plane for a few people at a reasonable price makes it worthwhile to local business people, especially those concerned with time efficiency. For instance, customers don't have to drive far, go through extensive security checks or fly at the whim of notoriously late airlines.
The planes can be rented out on a per trip basis or customers can buy blocks of time at a discount. Flagship even allows clients to become fractional owners in a plane. Think of it like a private-plane timeshare.
Patton has high hopes for Flagship Private Air as Ann Arbor's new economy business sector grows in both size and prominence.
Source: Tim Patton, chairman and CEO of Patton Holdings
Writer: Jon Zemke
Enjoy this story?
Sign up
for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.
Share
Related Tags
Aerotropolis
,
Entrepreneurship
Recommended Content
Across Our Network
After the storms: Some Tampa Bay arts and cultural groups face long road to recovery
Source: 83Degrees
You can spend the night at this vintage Sears cottage at a northern Michigan state park
Source: Rural Innovation Exchange
The pandemic jumpstarted innovations in telemedicine
Source: Soapbox
Sterling Heights to celebrate Veterans Day with unveiling of new memorial
Source: Metromode