San Francisco is expecting more than 1 million visitors for Super Bowl 50 festivities, including jet setters from Fairfield and Westchester counties. Ticket prices are ranging from $4,000 nosebleeds to $400,000 suites.
For visitors flying in on private jets arriving at Hayward Executive Airport outside the heart of Silicon Valley between San Francisco and San Jose, Thom Harrow”™s aviation company, APP Jet Center, will be waiting to welcome them with a red-carpet reception.
“We have invested a fair amount of money in creating a luxury environment from the moment they arrive,” said Harrow, who owns and operates the company from his New Canaan headquarters.
APP Jet runs what are known in the aviation industry as fixed-base operations, airport real estate companies that provide parking, hangar access, refueling and tailored concierge services.
Along with several other airports in the region, Harrow said he expects the market will include between 1,000 to 1,500 additional flights dedicated to ferrying incoming Super bowl crowds. His operation alone expects to more than quadruple the normal amount of aircraft it services over the first weekend in February in preparation for the Feb. 7 Super Bowl.
“Normally we will have maybe 10 airplanes in a day,” he said. “Now we have as many as 150 of them and you have problems, like where you are going to put them.”
Across the entire weekend Harrow said he is expecting up to 170 flights carrying a range of passengers from from private individuals to large corporate groups.
At least 20 percent of the incoming flights will be from Westchester County Airport. They are evenly split between corporate, chartered and personal flights, Harrow said
To handle the increase in flights, the company will be flying in staff from additional APP Jet bases in St. Lucie County International Airport in Florida, Manassas Regional Airport in Virginia and Denver”™s Centennial Airport.
The additional staff members ”” nearly double the norm ”” are needed to handle the barrage of flights, particularly as many of the aircraft will be arriving and departing around the same time, Harrow said.
The careful orchestration of servicing the planes incorporates “pretty intimidating logistics,” he said.
“At some point we are only going to increase the capacity of these airplanes by parking them pretty close to each other,” he said. “It is very dangerous for us. If you even nick the wing of one of these airplanes you have to call the manufacturer, you have to certify it’s worthy to fly in the air ”” the plane usually can”™t take off for two days.”
With the total cost of a typical one-way flight from New York to San Francisco costing between $20,000 and $25,000, this can lead to some very irate customers, Harrow said.
As one might expect, moving around multimillion-dollar jets requires multimillion-dollar insurance.
“We carry liability insurance for handling these aircraft for $75 million per incident,” Harrow said. “It is serious stuff.”
Serving the millionaire lifestyle comes with requirements. Not everyone who arrives at Hayward will be off to the big game, but even the pilots will be treated to top-of-the-line service.
Harrow said he has spent up to $85,000 to prepare an upscale temporary tent facility, complete with high-quality furniture, big flat-screen TVs and the “highest-end catering firm in Silicon Valley” to entertain pilots and crew members.
“This is the Silicon Valley game, the corridor of tech and a crowd that is used to living well,” he said.
While the high rollers will be arriving in droves, that doesn”™t mean the profits will be piling up for Harrow.
“This is kind of a break-even event for us after the expenses we put in,” he said.
Charging $500 for parking, Harrow said the company makes its money on jet fuel, but considers the event a wise publicity investment to showcase the base in advance of an upcoming $5 million expansion by APP Jet.
“I want all these people to come in and have a super impression of our airport and our operation so they come back” he said.
