Destin Air Charters Takes Off--Business Soars

By Chris Manson December 28, 2006 Issue

Steve Riggs acquired his pilot’s license about eight years ago. He flew for a while, until business demands — he’s a partner in the Carr, Riggs & Ingram accounting firm — forced him to give up the pilot’s seat. Now, as owner of Destin Air Charters, Riggs is happy to leave the flying to chief pilot Carl Selph.

“Carl is a very interesting man,” Riggs says. “He’s a CPA and has served in the Florida legislature. He has a tremendous intellect and loves to fly.” Riggs’ own love of flying began when he was an ROTC student at Fort Walton Beach High School. “My instructor, Colonel Keefe, flew P51 Mustangs in World War II. He kind of piqued my interest in aviation as a young man.”

Today, just a few days before Christmas, Destin Air Charters has three, maybe four flights booked. Riggs occasionally stops to check for flight information on his office computer. “Some days it’s nothing. They don’t book as far in advance as you’d think. Most people who call want to fly within an hour or a day or a week.”

Destin Air Charters began in early 2005 when Riggs discovered his own business needs extended far beyond this geographical area. “I bought a King Air B200, a plane that seats nine people including the pilot.” He decided to complete the “massive amount of red tape required by the FAA” to become a “Part 135” charter operation so others could fly on his planes, too. Destin Air Charters currently transports regular clients out of Mobile, Pensacola, Panama City, and Tallahassee.

In addition to a second King Air B200, Riggs owns a Cirrus SR22 that seats four passengers and a single pilot. “On a clear day, if you have to go to Tallahassee and don’t have a lot of people, it’s a far more economical way to fly,” he says. Chartering the smaller plane will run you roughly $500 an hour, while the current rate for the King Air is about three times that amount.

Selph and four other Destin Air Charters pilots attend courses at the Tampa area Flight Safety School twice a year. The charter service is also subject to regular inspections by the FAA’s Birmingham district. “They don’t want any of their operators cutting corners,” Riggs says. “We get checked regularly.”

The majority of the charter flights are single pilot, “but if someone asks for two, we can provide that.” Riggs adds that his planes have flown to Boston, Spokane, Washington and the Bahamas on a regular basis.

“There’s a level of affluence for people who want comfort and safety,” Riggs says. “We have people who want to go to Key West to scuba dive, and this way it’s easier for them to bring all their equipment.” Ditto for hunting expeditions.

Destin Air Charters’ motto is “First class—our only class.” The growing company will also handle car rentals and hotel reservations for clients if desired. “One reason people charter jets is you don’t have to get to the airport two hours early. You don’t have to get frisked or take your shoes off. It’s a tremendous convenience not dealing with the masses in a public airport.

“It’s cheaper to fly on Delta, no doubt about it. But there’s a tradeoff. It’s cheaper to drive a Geo Metro than a Cadillac, too.”

In its second year, Destin Air Charters’ clientele has grown, thanks largely to the efforts of people like Vice President of Marketing Tammy McDaniel and Cyrus Gilmore, the crew chief. McDaniel, a veteran of the travel industry, works overtime letting the community know all about the service. She reels off a list of organizations of which Destin Air Charters is a member, including every Chamber of Commerce between here and Tallahassee.

“We’re on call 24-7,” McDaniel says outside the Destin Airport hangar that houses the company’s planes. “We’re on the client’s schedule, they’re not on ours. We have a very close relationship with the Destin Airport to enhance relationships with our clients—valet parking, meet-and-greet service, VIP treatment.”

Riggs has also found great success managing other businesses aircraft. “We’ve got the infrastructure there to maintain and meet FAA inspection requirements so their planes are ready to go when they are.”

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