isn't this the same business model as gym memberships ?
the only way its going to make money and have enough capacity, is people are just paying for the membership and not flying as much as they think they will.
looks like you can book a seat 30mins before it departs, and no security screening etc.
i can't see it working for SYD<>MEL unless they get a jet.
i can see it working for SYD<>CAN with people needing last minute flights, the flight-time should be about the same same as a dash8 , maybe even the junglejet or 717, as only 8 pax to load, which would make up for any slow cruise time in the kingair.
would need to do at least 4-5 sectors a month to break even compared to booking a business sector at the last minute. then add your amount of 'time' saved, cabfare/uber/hirecar and work out some pretend value for that.
the membership tiers are interesting,
www.flyairly.com/faq/
based on how many seats you can book at a time, on the monthly fee.
and to bring a non member for $1500/$1000/free return, depending on tier, not sure if there is a cap for that a month.
good time for a startup with oil heading south to $20/barrel
as usual, it will come down to the beancounters of the company looking after corp travel. i would say this would be more targeted to non CxO's , more middle/upper management or sale rep, folks that can book a business class fare for their role.
loss of earning status credits would be a bigger deterrent compared to frequent flyer points, then again the business usually doesnt befeint from the frequent flyer points (im guessing people that actually use the points for business/company travel is close to 0%) , but may benefit from the status points, if the employee gets free lounge access, and possible change of fare without penalty if they miss/change a flight with a higher status level.
/2cents