Traverse City News and Events

Air Services Sold; A Precursor To New Daily Flights Connecting Traverse City To Detroit, Chicago?

By Luke Haase | Sept. 26, 2018

Traverse City-based Air Services Inc. (ASI) has been sold to a group of local investors – and the company’s new direction could bring new daily air service between Cherry Capital Airport and Detroit and Chicago.
 
New ASI CEO Omer ErSelcuk tells The Ticker the new ownership group is “digging in to learn how ASI can provide additional or new services to meet” demand not currently being met by the global airlines like Delta, American and United.
 
Since its beginning in 1994, ASI has offered private aircraft for charter and has managed small planes for private owners. But the new owners have growth plans that could include a significant expansion into scheduled daily service to Traverse City’s two most popular flight destinations. 
 
ErSelcuk says the daily service is not yet an inevitability, but that “we as well as our local investors feel that there’s an opportunity to provide an air service alternative into Chicago and Detroit. That service would be designed to complement the existing global network carrier service. But it’s very early in the process, and the real opportunity is building ASI’s existing business and working with potential customers to look at what any new service might look like.”
 
The new service would most likely target business customers -- ASI’s existing bread and butter -- who need to travel to and from Detroit or Chicago, though ErSelcuk adds that “no matter what you do you’re going to have a seasonal spike from June through August. But any potential shuttle service to Detroit and Chicago…would most likely be year-round.”
 
ASI is expected to announce its specific expansion plans in early 2019, and if those plans include new daily flights, ErSelcuk confirms “we would launch service and have tickets for sale prior to the busy June through August period.”
 
The addition of daily scheduled charter air service to Traverse City would be big news in northern Michigan and could serve as an economic development driver, allowing more business owners to live here and work elsewhere, vice versa, or attract more tourists on a year-round basis.
 
“The true value in any economy,” says ErSelcuk, “is its workforce. And building even better air service makes northern Michigan more attractive.”
 
ErSelcuk has both extensive regional airline experience and local ties. He served as CEO of Seaborne Airlines in San Juan, Puerto Rico for several years, overseeing its growth from $3 million to more than $30 million in annual revenues. His family has had a home and ties to Torch Lake for four decades.
 
He adds he’s been studying potential airline opportunities in northern Michigan for close to two years.

“I got interested not just because it’s beautiful and I love it, but because there’s a unique opportunity here because we’re on the end of a peninsula, it’s difficult to drive to, the air service options are somewhat limited, and there are a lot of islands. That’s a good scenario for air service development.”
 
Business or leisure travelers can already charter a small (4-8 passenger) plane from ASI. But in order for an ASI plane to carry ten or more passengers or operate more than four flights per week connecting any two cities, the company would be required to get additional certification from the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration.
 
Utilizing larger aircraft carrying more passengers would bring the per passenger price down, making it more appealing to the masses. ErSelcuk says daily service to Detroit and Chicago would have key advantages over the major airlines for some travelers.

“We know where they want to go, we know what time they want to go, and how much time they want to spend on the journey,” he says. “We’ve heard the ideal is a 7 or 8am departure and a return [flight] at 4 or 5pm with a flight time of around an hour. We think if you don’t have to get up at 3am to catch a flight, but you arrive at a reasonable hour and then get home while dinner is still hot, that’s of value. So can we take that level of convenience but drop the price point down so that the target market size expands significantly?”
 
And what is that magic price point that would appeal to enough travelers to make the service viable?
 
“I think the magic number lies between $300-$500. That’s really the target. It has to be in that range to make sense,” he adds.
 
ASI Founder Roy Nichols will continue at ASI in a consulting role. The company’s staff of 22 -- including eight pilots – are what ErSelcuk calls “ASI’s biggest asset.”

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