It seems that we’ve entered the era of semi-private, scheduled charter air service. Next up as a target market: Texas. Rise is marketing memberships for an unlimited flight benefit between Dallas, Houston and Austin with a starting monthly price of $1,650. The service is similar to that of Surf Air, a California-based operation offering flights up and down the coast, though there are some distinct differences as well.
Unlike Surf Air, Rise is not hiring its own crews or buying its own aircraft, at least not yet. Instead Rise acts as a booking agent and facilitator of charter flight planning. That’s not necessarily a huge difference and most customers won’t really know the difference, but it does change some of the FAA regulations and makes getting Rise into the skies a bit easier. Rise is also different in that it is targeting the main city airports for the most part, rather than the alternate facilities Surf Air uses. Rise is operating from Love Field in Dallas and Hobby in Houston, as well as David Wayne Hooks airport a bit northwest of Houston (and even past IAH).
Rise has committed to a twin-engine Beechcraft King Air 350 for its flying, with eight seats on board. No wifi or other in-flight entertainment but the flights are under an hour and that shouldn’t be a deal-breaker in most cases.
The number of advance reservations which can be booked at any given time is limited based on the the membership tier; a full schedule detailing frequencies is not yet published.
Much like Surf Air, Rise looks to be an interesting option for folks with a bit more money and a need for more flexibility in flight times. That said, the intra-Texas market sees a whole lot of flights and Rise is using the same airports in most cases rather than smaller, more easily accessible facilities. This should be a fun one to watch.
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