How Part 135 Operators Can Automate Charter Quoting

The average Part 135 charter operator takes 15-45 minutes to manually calculate a charter quote. During that time, the client may have already contacted three other operators. After hours? The call goes to voicemail — and the lead goes to a competitor.

AI-powered charter quoting eliminates this bottleneck entirely.

The Problem: Manual Quoting Is Killing Your Revenue

Here's what happens at most charter operations when a quote request comes in:

1. Check aircraft availability (spreadsheet or scheduling board)
2. Look up FBO fuel prices at departure and arrival airports
3. Calculate flight time based on aircraft performance
4. Add landing fees, handling fees, and crew costs
5. Apply operator margin
6. Factor in catering, ground transport, and special requests
7. Build a PDF or email with the quote details
8. Send to client and wait for response

This process takes 15-45 minutes per quote. At 10 quote requests per day, that's 2.5-7.5 hours of an operator's day spent on calculations that a computer can do in seconds.

How AI Quoting Works

An AI-powered FMS like Fly Vantage AI automates the entire quoting workflow:

Step	Manual Process	AI Process
Lead capture	Answer phone, take notes	AI receptionist captures route, date, pax automatically
Aircraft match	Check spreadsheet	AI selects best aircraft by range, capacity, and availability
Fuel pricing	Call FBOs or check websites	Live FBO fuel data pulled automatically
Cost calculation	Manual math in Excel	Instant calculation with configurable margin
Quote delivery	Build PDF, email client	One-click send with branded email template
After hours	Voicemail → next morning	AI handles it immediately, 24/7

The Revenue Impact

Charter operators using AI-powered quoting report:

• 3× faster quote response time — seconds vs. minutes
• 100% after-hours coverage — no more lost calls
• 15-25% increase in quote-to-booking conversion — faster responses win more trips
• $30,000-$50,000 in recovered revenue per month from previously missed after-hours leads

Getting Started

Fly Vantage AI includes AI-powered quoting — $799/month. The system is configured with your fleet, routes, and pricing in under a week. No implementation project, no training — the AI handles quoting from day one.