Odyssey's History: Tampa Bay Air Charter
Odyssey Airways is a Tampa Bay-based aircraft charter company founded in 2010 and specializing in corporate and executive air charters, aircraft management, aircraft acquisition, and air charter brokering. Our charter operation serves the United States, Bahamas, Cuba, Mexico, and the Caribbean. We began as an in-house corporate flight department for a medium-sized Tampa-based company for four years prior to expanding it's role as an aircraft management company and corporate air charter provider. We saw the value created within the company which allowed them to use private aviation as a competitive advantage over their competition and sought to expand this service to other companies. With this vision, we formally applied for an FAA Air Carrier Certificate to become an air taxi service and aircraft charter operator. On December 31, 2013, we were issued our certificate and began operations to hold out to the general public. We have serviced the Tampa-Bay area for the past six years with efficient and customized personal and corporate aircraft charter service, expanded our advisory role in the acquisition and sales of numerous aircraft for local owners, provided our expertise in the industry for knowledgeable and fair air charter brokering, and managed several aircraft effectively of all sizes.
Odyssey's Vision With Its Focus on Safety and Service
At Odyssey, we strive to always do the right thing and that begins with safety. We take tremendous care in ensuring that you, your family, and colleagues are utilizing us as the safest means of private air charter. This is accomplished by putting safety first in the hiring of our pilots. During recruitment, we focus heavily on the skills and thought process of our pilots to ensure safety is first in their decision-making. They are introduced and encompassed in the safety culture of our company from day 1. Pilots undergo a strenuous review of their safety record, training records, and background checks. All pilots and placed on a drug and alcohol prevention and testing program.
Maintenance on all of our aircraft are completed by a no expense spared approach. Expense is not a driving force in our maintenance decision-making - safety is. All of are aircraft are maintained by the manufacturer or authorized maintenance facilities. All mechanics are vetted on their qualifications, proper training, and placed on a drug and alcohol prevention and testing program.
As we've outlined, safety is never compromised. However, just because we are fully focused on safety does not mean that customer service has to be sacrificed. Part of our culture is to always provide our customers the service they deserve with private air travel. We strive to keep them informed, do the right thing, and make their experience the best possible. When you have a safety culture as strong as the one we've created, it becomes second nature which allows us to offer equally as great service without compromise.
Aircraft Management Company
What exactly does an aircraft management company do? When you own an aircraft, you are owning a valuable asset. If the aircraft's purpose is for business, this asset can make you and your team available at more places around the world and more often. If the purpose is personal, you want the aircraft to be available when you want to take your family safely to your favorite vacation destination or travel to family birthdays, graduations, or college football games. Often times, they are used for both. Like any asset, you want to ensure that it is well-managed to serve its purpose. Odyssey Airways can make your asset work for you without the several potential hurdles. This can save you time, money, and preserve the value of your private aircraft when you go to sell and upgrade. Our services include hiring and staffing a qualified flight crew with safety, experience, and decision-making ability fit for your operations. Maintenance is important the safety and reliability but requires knowledge and tracking abilities. Odyssey employs a dedicated and experienced Director of Maintenance to not only ensure that the aircraft is impeccably maintained, but preserve the value of this aircraft with pristine record-keeping for future buyers to conduct their due diligence yielding the best price at resale. Record-keeping is key to telling the story of the maintenance life of the aircraft. We also assist in the scheduling of the aircraft if owned with multiple partners. Owning an aircraft with partners is a great way to split costs. Our experience in this field can also help consult you on finding the right partner that will not jeopardize any benefits to aircraft ownership. Finally, with our FAA Air Carrier Certificate, we can generate revenue to help offset costs of ownership when the aircraft is not in use by yourself.
Air Charter Broker Service
Possessing a fleet of aircraft is obviously important in our aircraft charter business, however, it is impossible to own or manage all of the hundreds of different types of aircraft. Each type of aircraft serves a specific purpose and efficient mission. Some aircraft are great for European charters, but highly inefficient for in-state hops. While other aircraft may be great to charter a eight colleagues to a conference in the region, but not as efficient to transport only couple to the Bahamas. With our expertise in the industry, we want to learn what mission you are trying to serve and match the right aircraft for your budget and needs. There are many illegal aircraft charters out there who do not follow the strict safety guidelines set for legal air charter operators. Being a legal air charter operator, ourselves, we are well-versed in the proper due diligence to ensure that you, your family, and/or colleagues are safe and we source the best option for your needs without compromising safety and comfort.
Aircraft Sales and Acquisition
Finally, another segment of our business is to provide the service of helping you acquire an aircraft. Like the charter brokering side of the business, we learn what your goals and missions are in aircraft ownership and can consult you on the right fit aircraft for your mission and budget. Even if you have decided on the right type of aircraft, we assist in the due diligence process of purchasing the best aircraft with the most value. Our team will review all records and advise you on anticipated maintenance costs, operating expenses, and potential conflicts that may arise after ownership. If you have any intention of placing your future aircraft on the certificate to be eligible for charter, it is best to include an aircraft charter operator and management company, such as ourselves, to assist in the acquisition of the aircraft to advise of any additional costs that may incur to meet the strict safety maintenance guidelines to be certified for charter. Finally, we can give realistic expectations of the charter demand that exists for the type of aircraft in questions.
Conclusion
Odyssey Airways has used the foundation of safety and service to build our company to where it is today. With those two pillars, you can trust us to be the leading provider of aircraft charters, management, sales and acquisitions in the Tampa Bay area and around the world. Contact us today at (813) 207-5002 or email to find out more. Or get a charter quote today here.
