How’s PlaneSense Doing?

They are holding up quite well. Boasting the largest fleet of Pilatus PC-12s in the world, Alpha Flying has grown from two planes to 31 since the company was founded in 1996. Today the PlaneSense program has between 200 and 300 clients, who purchase one-eighth shares of the aircraft that provides them with 90 hours of flight. PlaneSense CEO George Antoniadis says Alpha Flying’s unique positioning in the market has allowed them to weather the economic storm better than most. PlaneSense experienced less than half the program exits other fractional ownership programs have suffered. Of those, all of those shares were successfully remarketed to new entrants ... and PlaneSense sold additional shares in 2009 and 2010. "So we didn't experience a reduction in client base. In fact, we increased," said Antoniadis. Read the whole thing.

Sean Sanders Flies Haiti Relief

9:30 a.m. on a rainy, cold, Tuesday morning in Atlanta, Ga. Five relief workers, including a lawyer and a Creole-speaking doctor, are ready to take off from DeKalb-Peachtree Airport in a private airplane donated for the trip. On board with them, piled to the airplane’s ceiling, are boxes and bags stuffed with prescription drugs and medical equipment they will take to a clinic outside Port-au-Prince, Haiti. For some on board, this is a return trip since the earthquake struck Jan. 12. For Pilatus Center South’s Sean Sanders, it’s the tenth round-trip to Haiti in two weeks. AOPA covered Sean’s adventures here.

SeaPort May Service Kansas City

SeaPort Airlines, which flies three round trips between Harrison and Memphis six days a week, has been selected by Salina, Kan., leaders to also provide Essential Air Service to Kansas City, Mo., International Airport, SeaPort President Rob McKinney said. If the U.S. Department of Transportation affirms Salina's choice of SeaPort, it may also lead to SeaPort's adding Kansas City as a flight destination from Harrison. McKinney said he would then put forth a request to the DOT for a service change, adding a Harrison to Kansas City flight.