OpenAirplane, which comes as close to a nationwide aircraft rental service as we’ve seen, continues to expand and at AirVenture 2016 this week, it announced a new service called FlyOtto. According to OpenAirplane’s Rod Rakic, FlyOtto essentially makes a network of Part 135 on-demand charter operators accessible for anyone who wants a trip from A to B.
“It works just like OpenAirplane, but now it’s going to make every airport more valuable,” Rakic told AVweb. “We know that general aviation is a great way to get places that would otherwise be four to six hours in the car. We want to give everyone the same magic power that we have in general aviation as pilots at the push of a button,” Rakic said.
If it sounds like Uber for airplanes, it’s similar, but uses only operators legal to fly under Part 135, with all of that regulation’s limitations. The traveler logs onto the website (flyotto.com), gives a departure and destination, and the service returns with choices of aircraft ranging from piston singles to turboprops. Jets may be added later, Rakic said. He said FlyOtto can provide access to all public-use airports in the U.S. and also includes helicopters.
Meanwhile, OpenAirplane, which provides rental aircraft of all kinds across the U.S. based on a single standard checkout, continues to grow. It started in 2013 with six locations and now has 97 locations, with 350 aircraft available for rental. See OpenAirplane and FlyOtto in Hangar D at AirVenture 2016, booth 4154. You can hear a full interview with Rakic in this exclusive AirVenture podcast.
