One of New Jersey’s roadside intrigues is the enigmatic Teterboro Airport just off Route 80 in Bergen County. It’s big (827 acres) and old (in operation since 1919). This enclave of private jet travel is the country’s busiest private airport by far, averaging more than 200 takeoffs per day.
Popular though it may be, Teterboro Airport is a rarefied outpost. Private jet travel is expensive: well into thousands of dollars for every hour of flight time. While most of us would be ecstatic to get upgraded to business class on a flight from nearby Newark Liberty, Teterboro caters to people who are done altogether with flying commercial.
When I pass the Teterboro exit, I picture radiant celebrities and billionaires striding a red carpet to a shimmering silver jet. A flunky has stowed their Louis Vuitton luggage, and all they carry is an Hermès bag or Tom Ford briefcase. Inside their cushy jet, I imagine, flight attendants who are part-time models proffer champagne, caviar, truffles and lobster. Hunched over iPads in the back of the plane, weary assistants labor over itineraries for movie premieres, couture fittings, six-figure guest appearances. This must be the private jet life, right?
Well, not exactly. Yes, image-obsessed celebs and billionaires’ children like to post about their party-hearty private flights. But the typical private jet passenger is a much more private character: “either a top executive flying to meetings and so on, or a well-to-do family going to or from a vacation home,” says private jet industry expert Doug Gollan. “These customers are the bedrock of private jet business.” They’re not in it for the selfies, he says. “They choose private flights not for the glamour, but for their incomparable convenience, ease and time-saving [perks].”
The advantages are numerous, says Gollan. “At private airports,” he says, “you skip all the time-wasting waits and hassles of commercial flights—which afflict even first-class passengers. By contrast, the entire private flight experience is streamlined. You save hours and hours, and often a hotel night.”
“I like to call [a] private flight ‘a time machine,’” he says. “First of all, you don’t spend half a day getting yourself to, and then waiting forever at, Newark or Philadelphia’s airport.” While private jets can and sometimes do take off and land at commercial airports, “there’s bound to be a convenient private airport a short drive from wherever you are in Jersey, and another near your destination, too.” (Around three dozen local private airports dot New Jersey.) Manhattanites, Gollan says, often minimize travel time to Teterboro by traversing the 12 miles by helicopter.
“Proximity is a blessing, but it gets even better,” says Gollan. “You choose your flight time. You show up, honestly, just minutes before. You park, free, at your terminal….They call your pilots, who meet you and take you to the aircraft. Your luggage is loaded onto your jet; the only baggage restrictions are weight and storage considerations for items like golf bags on the smaller planes,” he says. “[You’re] in and out of the terminal. Most of the time people stop only to use the restrooms, as lavatories on smaller jets can be cramped.” If passengers are running late, most planes will wait for them for up to an hour for no extra charge.
Private jet travel exploded during the pandemic. “It was the answer,” Gollan says. “No airport crowds. Built-in social distancing. This was the low-risk way to travel.” Newcomers to private flights included myriad families, “who discovered that along with the medical peace of mind, it was so easy to travel as a family. You could include staff like a nanny and, of course, the dog.” Gollan notes that “95 percent of people who got into private aviation during Covid have stayed with it. If it works for you financially, there’s no turning back,” he says. “Travel is just so much less stressful this way. You can’t believe you ever did it the other way.”
The vast majority of flights from Teterboro fly up and down the Eastern Seaboard, says Gollan, “up to around three hours’ flight time.”
Since smaller jets lack kitchens, do private passengers preorder deluxe in-flight catering like bubbly, sushi and steak? “You can if you want to,” Gollan says, “but the jet will always have a minibar and simple snacks.” And, he adds, “The favored time for takeoff is after lunch. Passengers love this because they can relax or work in-flight and be at their destination before dinnertime,” he says. “[Their] flight hasn’t wasted an entire day, the way it does when flying commercial.”
Nowadays, flying private doesn’t necessarily mean you own a jet. “Today, many private flight passengers have fractional ownership of a jet,” says flight broker Adam Steiger. “It’s popular but it can necessitate some juggling.” Jet charters comprise the hottest segment of the market, he says. “You can rent an aircraft just like you can rent a yacht or a Ferrari. You and your family or friends can fly to a game, concert or festival, graduation, wedding—anything, anywhere.”
At Steiger’s Pennsylvania-based company, Air Charter Advisors, private flight brokers advise new and repeat private-aviation customers on their best options, and then supply them. The company zeroes in on providing on-demand charters for “when you need a plane to go anywhere in the world,” he says. “Even on just a few hours’ notice, we help clients choose the right aircraft for their needs and then get it for them. The jet comes with a crew and the fuel you need, and we coordinate options like catering, entertainment, accessibility concerns and ground transportation.”
Another form of jet rental, jet cards, are intended for clients with recurrent private flight needs. “It’s like a debit card you load with funds so you can prepay and not have to shop for each flight,” says Gollan. Numerous companies, whether or not they offer their own jets, sell jet cards and manage every flight detail. These often include club-like perks such as luxury hotel and designer discounts. Gollan’s business, Private Jet Card Comparisons, based in Miami, helps potential jet-card buyers find the card company and flight deal that’s right for them.
If you end up joining the private jet movement, you’ll get to know Teterboro Airport from the other side of the fence. Happy travels!
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