Real estate, retail and banking magnate Larry Reynolds of Valdez, Alaska, has formed a company to begin offering charter air service to hunters and fishermen, initially between Anchorage, Alaska and Eastern Russia, but eventually between various parts of the US and hunting destinations worldwide. The Hunting Report, recognizing the need for such a service, has agreed to coordinate bookings and lend its credibility to this effort.
“The problems associated with firearms transport are discouraging many hunters,” says Don Causey, President/Publisher of
The Hunting Report. “Add to that the wildlife inspection problem hunters face when they try to bring trophies home with them and you have a witches brew of discouraging factors. This service is urgently needed right now by US hunters contemplating trips to Petropavlovsk, Magadan and other hunting centers in Eastern Russia. It will be warmly welcomed, I’m sure, by hunters headed elsewhere in the world if momentum can be built behind this effort and costs can be contained.”
The new service will be available between Anchorage, Alaska, and Eastern Russia starting April 1. The start-up strategy involves the use of a Westwind II private jet Larry Reynolds bought from the State of Alaska last August. The craft has a capacity of eight – or five hunters with all their gear – and a cruising speed of 450 miles an hour. It can fly between Anchorage and Petropavlovsk in just over four hours and deliver hunters directly to a VIP Center with no waiting lines. On the return trip, hunters will be able to bring their trophies with them at no additional charge. Arrangements have been made for US Customs and US Fish and Wildlife inspectors to meet the plane on arrival and process hunters and their trophies into the country without delay.
The service is not cheap. The projected roundtrip ticket price for five hunters flying together is $8,000 each, with an additional charge for landing fees. Those are expected to be just over $1,100 total. The cost, to make sense, needs to be compared to the cost of a Business or First Class seat on a scheduled carrier, not the rock-bottom cost of an Economy Class seat. Currently, hunters who travel to Eastern Russia in Business Class pay between $13,000 and $15,000, depending on where they fly from in the US, and the trip takes three to four days. The fee given above does not include gun-handling fees, hotels and meals along with the weight and excess baggage charges associated with bringing trophies home. So, the new charter service to Eastern Russia will actually be cheaper for some hunters than flying commercial. It will also shorten a three- to four-day trip to about four hours from arrival in Alaska.
It is not clear yet how the cost of charters to other hunting destinations will compare with the cost of commercial service. For sure, charters will always be more expensive than Economy Class Service. In some parts of the world they may even be a bit more expensive than Business Class Service. But the compensating factors will be reduced hassle, reliability of gun and baggage service and speed.
Reynolds says his roll-out strategy for providing service elsewhere in the world includes the use of other big-name hunters’ private jets. He also plans to tap into the international reservoir of large jets to provide cost-effective, comfortable and hassle-free service between the US and major hunting destinations such as Johannesburg, Auckland and perhaps even Madrid on a seasonal basis.
The service is essentially risk-proof, as Reynolds has asked
The Hunting Report to hold all ticket funds in escrow until purchased service has been delivered. He has also lined up back-up jet service in case his own jet – or others that he arranges to use in the future – has to be pulled out of service unexpectedly. The LLC that has been formed to provide charter service has $100 million in liability coverage. The Chief Pilot is a former British Air Force pilot who has flown all over the world. All regulatory requirements pursuant to offering passenger air service are being followed religiously.
“I wouldn’t lend
The Hunting Report name to this effort if I didn’t believe this was an urgently needed service,” Causey said, going on to note that he had complete confidence in Larry Reynolds and his intention to make this service work. “The key is hunter participation,” he continued. “It’s time to fire a shot over the bow of scheduled carriers like Air Canada, who initiated the escalating war over gun-handling fees, and SAA who continues to sell tickets to Johannesburg knowing they will have to leave baggage and gun cases behind, snarling countless safaris and creating nightmarish gun transit problems. The abuses are too lengthy to enumerate, but traveling hunters know what they are.”
One of the intriguing aspects of this start-up service is the motivation of Larry Reynolds. A passionate international hunter who has taken literally hundreds of trophies worldwide, Reynolds says he does hope to make a profit from his charter service eventually, but the driving force behind his effort is a desire to ease the burden of international hunters. Quite simply, he wants to give something back to the community. To that end, he knows he will take a loss on early trips to Eastern Russia and perhaps other parts of the world when he will have to fly planes home empty while a reservoir of staged hunters is built up in a given destination. He also knows he may be left holding the bag if the service founders, as he has contractually agreed to leave all ticket fees in escrow with
The Hunting Report until service has been provided. There is absolutely no chance he will be able to cash out on the backs of hunters.
“I’m proud to be associated with someone who wants to give back to the hunting community,” Causey says. “I urge hunters to jump on this bandwagon and make it work!”
Hunters who want to meet Larry Reynolds and/or take a look at the private jet he plans to use for his start-up service to Eastern Russia will be able to do so later this week at the Grand Slam Club/Ovis Convention in Las Vegas and at the FNAWS Convention in Salt Lake City. Reynolds says the jet will be available for viewing at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas Wednesday night and all day Thursday. It will be on display at Salt Lake City International Airport from about noon Friday through the end of the convention on Saturday. He will personally be available for questioning at both events. Interested hunters can arrange a viewing of the jet or a meeting with Reynolds by calling him on his cell phone at: 817-994-9255. For questions about the plane and the service, you may call Reynolds’ Chief of Aviation Operations Chris Stavaland at 907-441-6954. The Chief Pilot of the plane, Rick Canadine, can be reached at: 907-229-8583.
Hunters who have trips booked to Eastern Russia and who want to book the new charter service should get in touch with Don Causey of
The Hunting Report right away. The same is true of hunters headed anywhere else in the world. Though service to other destinations has not been firmly planned yet, an early expression of interest will help give the new service momentum. The best way to reach Don Causey this week is via e-mail. See below for his e-mail address. Booking agents and individual hunters alike are encouraged to take prompt action.
“I need your feedback promptly,” Causey said from Anchorage, where he was finalizing arrangements for the new service. “My immediate mandate is to build a flight calendar for Eastern Russia, but I am also interested in exploring a quick start of charter service elsewhere in the world. Agents and individual hunters can help me achieve the first goal by sending me firm dates for any Eastern Russia travel, along with commitments to use the new service. No funds need to be transferred now. Individual clients and agents can help with the second goal by sending general statements of interest in the service elsewhere in the world. Please indicate where you think the service is most viable – between Washington, DC, for example, and Johannesburg – and how large you think the market will be. If you personally are ready to charter to any hunting destination, please indicate where your personal price point is. In other words, indicate how much you would pay for the convenience and security of a charter flight. If you have firm dates for any future trips please include those. Let’s get this service started!” –
The Editors.
(
Postscript: Don Causey can be reached this week at:
doncausey@msn.com. He can also be reached on the floor of the FNAWS Convention Friday and Saturday. He will be available at the Global Rescue booth, No. 736. If you prefer to call The Hunting Report offices with your expression of interest, you can do so at:
800-272-5656.Just be aware that the staff of
The Hunting Report has not been fully briefed on the new charter service at this point and will be able to do little more than take messages at this point.)
