The spine of this desk
Nine Answers, Sorted by How Long They Stay True
Not sorted by aircraft, by route or by price, but by how long each answer remains true. It is the arrangement that explains the one thing about charter that confuses everybody: why a quote goes stale.
Why this order and not another
Every other way of arranging charter information hides the property that matters most. A list by aircraft implies the aircraft is the variable. A list by route implies the route is. Neither is.
What actually governs a charter quote is that its parts have wildly different lifespans, and the shortest one governs the whole. Sorting by shelf life puts that in front of the reader instead of behind a disclaimer.
The three shelves
All nine
- Answers that expire in hoursWhether an aircraft is actually freeThe most perishable answer in charter. True when an operator says it, and capable of being untrue before lunch, because somebody else is asking the same question.
- Answers that expire in hoursWhere the aircraft is sitting right nowAn aircraft two states away has to be flown to you empty first, and somebody pays for that. It is the single largest thing separating two quotes for the same trip.
- Answers that expire in hoursHow much duty the crew has leftA crew is not a resource that can be stretched. When the clock runs out the aircraft stops, and no amount of money restarts it.
- Answers that hold for this tripHow many people are actually flyingNot how many might come. The number decides which aircraft can be offered at all, and it is the answer most often given optimistically.
- Answers that hold for this tripWhat is going in the holdA small aircraft that seats a party easily can be unable to carry what the party is bringing. Space and weight are separate limits and both are hard.
- Answers that hold for this tripWhether the dates can moveA day of flexibility is worth more than any negotiation, because it lets an operator match your trip to an aircraft that was already going to be nearby.
- Answers that do not changeHow long the runway isA property of the ground. It was the same last year, it will be the same next year, and it decides which aircraft can use a field at all.
- Answers that do not changeWhether the field takes customsA field either clears international arrivals or it does not. The answer never changes and it decides whether a trip can end where somebody wants it to end.
- Answers that do not changeWhat the hours of the field areNot every airport is open all night. A field that closes at ten decides the last possible departure, and no operator can reopen it.
The three cells every answer carries
| Cell | What it holds |
|---|---|
| What the answer is | Stated plainly, in the desk's words |
| How long it stays true | Hours, or until the trip changes, or indefinitely |
| What happens when it stops being true | The consequence, named, rather than a warning |
Where the interesting problems live
At the joins. A field that shuts at ten is fixed; a crew's remaining duty expires by the hour; each is manageable alone and together they sometimes leave no trip.
That is the argument for the whole arrangement, and what the ground decides works through it.