I had the opportunity of flying on a private jet out of DuPage Aerospace last weekend to Dallas/Ft.Worth. I drove to DuPage Airport, which is five minutes from my home, at 9:30 to depart at 10:00 am. I didn't have to be there a half hour earlier, I was excited! The jet was waiting on the ramp and ready to go. I was so impressed with the professionalism of the pilots. We boarded the jet and got settled into our seats and was so impressed that they had my wine selection onboard along with a delicious appetizer tray. However, I elected not have my wine and instead opted for the mimosas that were served. Delicious! The flight was very smooth and before I knew it we landed at Dallas/Ft. Worth. I am not sure which I was more impressed with, the private jet flight or the waiting black SUVs’ that were waiting for us on the ramp when we landed. The pilots loaded our luggage into the SUVs’ and off we went to our destination. Very impressive and so convenient! Loved every minute of it. So easy and relaxing. Such a treat!
Now, here is what happened on our return flight. We returned home at a different time than the rest of the group that flew down with. We had to fly commercial home from Dallas/Ft. Worth. We were scheduled for an American Airlines flight to leave at 10:00 am with a stop and 1 1/2 hour layover in Little Rock, Arkansas departing for O'Hare at 12:30. When we boarded our flight to Little Rock as soon as we got settled into our seats we got a voicemail from American Airlines informing us that our connecting flight from Little Rock to O'Hare was cancelled and was rescheduled to 6:45 pm. So we were trying to figure our options, fly back to Dallas and fly standby to O'Hare which is very iffy. We stayed in our seats and when we arrived in Little Rock we found out we had no other options. We did hope to fly standby on a 2:50 flight to O'Hare but there was only one seat and we didn’t want to separate. So we sat around the small Little Rock Airport from 11:15 am till 6:45 and instead of getting home at 2:15 we arrived home at 8:45. Plus picking up my luggage took over an hour because the airlines had to hunt for it because it was sent on the standby flight when they said it was going to be rerouted, but wasn't. By the way, the private flight that we came down on left Dallas at 10:30 am and they were home by 12:30.
So my advice is, if you have the opportunity to fly private with DuPage Aerospace, do it. They care and are very professional and you get what you are promised and say again, “they care”. I saw how much the commercial airlines do not care about you. Oh, did mention that when my luggage didn’t show up I asked the person working at the luggage carousel what I should do, she said “I don’t know” shrugged her shoulders and walked away. I felt like I was a movie star going to Dallas, and the return trip truly was a nightmare.
JoAnne B