How to Use

Capital Air Express

We Can Take Care of Your Travel Needs!

  • Business Travel

    We have proven to be a value-added alternative to the high cost of private jets, whether it's flying executives to job sites, transporting clients for property tours, or visiting multiple locations in a single day, we help you get more done with less downtime. Our free onboard WiFi allows you to stay connected and productive during transport.

  • Vacations and Leisure

    Let us take your family to the beaches of the Bahamas, a cabin in Blue Ridge Mountains, or one of the many bustling cities the South has to offer. We’re able to fly into smaller, regional airports closer to your getaway and without the crowds. Fly around baby’s nap schedule or easily bring Grandma’s medical supplies.

  • Special Events

    Concerts, Sporting Events, Golf Outings, Bourbon Trail, Holidays, Weddings, Marathons, Trade Shows, Festivals, Reunions, Graduations, College Tours, Civic Celebrations and more! Over the next decade the US is hosting the FIFA World Cup, the Summer Olympics, the Winter Olympics and the Mens & Women’s Rugby World Cup. Beat the crowds, fly with us!

  • Rural or Limited Service Areas

    Go where the airlines don’t! Enjoy places like college towns, hunting & fishing spots, wellness retreats, or far flung family homes. Jobs in agriculture, mining, energy, construction, or infrastructure often require travel to remote sites. Visit large properties, farms, or undeveloped land for purchase, sale, or oversight. Get there closer, with little or no further diving.

First-Time Flyer? Here’s What to Expect

Never flown private before? You’re not alone. Many of our customers come to Capital Air Express after years of flying commercially and simply aren’t sure how charter works—or what they’re supposed to do.

The good news: it’s actually pretty simple. There’s no membership required, no complicated process, and you don’t need to know anything about airplanes or private aviation. Tell us where you want to go, when you want to go, and who’s coming with you. We’ll help with the rest.

STEP 1: REQUEST A QUOTE

Start by telling us where you’re leaving from, where you’d like to go, your preferred dates and times, and how many people will be traveling.

You don’t even need to know which airports to use. In fact, we often recommend airports our first-time customers didn’t know existed. Because our aircraft can operate from smaller regional airports, we may be able to get you much closer to where you actually want to go.

Once we have the details, we’ll build an itinerary and send you a quote.

STEP 3: WE TELL YOU WHERE TO GO

Private aviation doesn't usually operate from the same terminal you use when flying commercially.

Before your trip, we'll provide the airport information and instructions you need so you know exactly where to meet your aircraft. Depending on the airport, that may be an FBO (essentially a private aviation terminal) or another designated meeting location.

No wandering around the airport trying to figure out where you're supposed to be.

STEP 6: ENJOY THE FLIGHT!

Our flights are private, but the experience is intentionally practical.

You're flying aboard piston aircraft designed to make regional trips faster and more convenient. You'll experience private aviation without the formality—or price tag—associated with traditional private jets.

Settle in, enjoy the view, get some work done with our free WiFi, talk with your family, or simply enjoy not being stuck on I-75.

FLYING OFTEN?

You don't need a membership or prepaid account to fly with us—you can simply book individual trips whenever you need them. But if you expect to fly regularly, our Block Time options can significantly reduce your hourly rate.

Block Time allows you to purchase flight hours in advance at a discounted rate and use them as you need them. The more hours you purchase, the lower your hourly rate, which can add up to substantial savings for frequent travelers.

STEP 4: ARRIVE & MEET YOUR PILOT

For most flights, you can arrive shortly before your scheduled departure time. Your pilot will meet you, help get everyone and everything aboard, provide a passenger safety briefing, and get you settled for the flight.

There are no long security lines, crowded gates, boarding groups, or fighting for overhead-bin space. Just remember: your departure time is the time we plan to leave, not the time to pull into the parking lot. Give yourself a few minutes to get settled so we can keep your trip on schedule.

STEP 7: LAND CLOSER

Instead of automatically flying into the nearest major commercial airport, we can often use a smaller airport much closer to your final destination. That can turn a long drive after your flight into a short one—and sometimes saves as much time on the ground as you saved in the air.

When you land, collect your things and you're on your way. No baggage claim required.

STEP 2: BOOK YOUR FLIGHT

Like the itinerary? Book it.

Once your flight is confirmed, our team handles the aviation side of things—aircraft scheduling, pilots, flight planning, and the other details necessary to operate your trip.

If you have questions before your flight, just ask. You’re not expected to know how any of this works. That's our job.

STEP 5: BRING PEOPLE AND BAGS

Before your trip, we'll ask for passenger and luggage weights. That's a normal and important part of operating smaller aircraft safely.

If you're bringing golf clubs, hunting or fishing equipment, baby gear, unusually large luggage, or anything else that might require extra space, tell us when you book. Different aircraft have different capacities, and knowing what you're bringing helps us plan. And yes, in many cases, your dog can come too.

WHAT ABOUT THE FLIGHT HOME?

If you've booked a round trip, we'll arrange your return as part of the same itinerary.

Depending on your schedule, the aircraft may stay while you're there, reposition to another airport and return for you later, or operate other flights in between. You don't need to worry about where the airplane goes—you just need to know when and where to meet us for the flight home.

THAT’S REALLY IT.

Private aviation can seem intimidating if you've never used it before. Once you've done it, you'll realize there's surprisingly little to it from the passenger's perspective.

Tell us where you want to go. We figure out the flying. You show up and get on the airplane.

No airline schedules. No giant terminals. No figuring out private aviation etiquette.

Just a much simpler way to get from where you are to where you actually need to be.

Standard Operating Hours & Early/Late Flights

Capital Air Express typically schedules departures no earlier than 7:00 AM and plans flights to arrive at their final destination no later than 10:00 PM. These aren't hard curfews, but they are the standard operating hours we use when building passenger itineraries.

The reason is simple: your flight is only part of your pilot's workday. Before passengers ever arrive, our pilots may be checking weather, reviewing the flight plan, preparing and inspecting the aircraft, fueling, or repositioning from another airport. After your flight lands, they may still need to secure or reposition the aircraft and complete post-flight responsibilities. A 7:00 AM passenger departure can mean a workday beginning well before sunrise, while a 10:00 PM arrival can mean the pilot's day doesn't actually end until considerably later.

Why We Limit the Length of the Day

FAA regulations establish limitations on pilot duty and required rest, but at Capital Air Express, we intentionally plan our schedules more conservatively. Our standard company policy generally limits a pilot's duty day to 12 hours, rather than scheduling to the maximum allowable duty period.

That gives our pilots additional margin for unexpected weather, ATC delays, maintenance issues, passenger delays, and other circumstances that can extend a day beyond the original schedule.

It also helps us manage something equally important: fatigue. Flying requires sustained attention and good decision-making, and those things matter just as much on the last flight of the day as they do on the first.

Early Morning & Late-Night Flying

Our aircraft and pilots are fully capable of operating at night, and nighttime flying is a normal part of our operation. However, flying after dark comes with additional considerations. Visual references are reduced, weather may be more difficult to identify visually, and smaller regional airports may have limited staffing, fuel, ground services, or other resources available very early or late at night.

When nighttime operations are combined with a particularly early start or the end of a long duty day, fatigue becomes an additional consideration. For that reason, we don't routinely build itineraries that depend on extremely early departures or very late arrivals.

Can We Fly Earlier Than 7:00 AM or Arrive Later Than 10:00 PM?

Sometimes, yes. These are our standard scheduling guidelines, not absolute operating restrictions.

We evaluate early-morning and late-night requests individually based on the complete itinerary, pilot scheduling and duty time, aircraft positioning, airport availability, weather, and other operational considerations.

Additional charges may apply when accommodating a request requires special crew scheduling, an overnight stay, or repositioning. We'll let you know when that's the case before your trip is finalized.

SAFETY SETS THE SCHEDULE

Private charter is designed to give you significantly more flexibility than airline travel, and we'll always make a reasonable effort to accommodate the schedule you need. But flexibility shouldn't come at the expense of good safety practices.

Our 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM standard operating window gives our pilots and operations team room to manage the unexpected without routinely pushing crews to the edges of their duty day. It allows us to be flexible when circumstances require it while maintaining the safety margins we believe are appropriate for our operation.

Sometimes we can make 6:00 AM work. Sometimes we can get you home at midnight. But we don't build our everyday operation around asking pilots to do either—and that's intentional.

Flying With Us for Special Events

College football weekends, major golf tournaments, concerts, races, festivals, and other special events are some of our favorite trips to fly. They’re also where regional private aviation really shines. Instead of spending hours driving or building an entire weekend around commercial airline schedules, we can often get you into a nearby regional airport, enjoy the event, and—in many cases—bring you home the same day.

Special-event trips work a little differently from an ordinary charter, so here’s what to expect.

TELL US WHAT YOU’RE ATTENDING

When requesting your flight, let us know what event you’re attending—not just where you want to go. Our team can take the event schedule, airport options, expected traffic, flight time, and your plans for the day into consideration when building your itinerary.

For particularly large events, we may recommend a specific airport, an earlier arrival, or a different schedule based on what we know about operating in that area.

GETTING YOU CLOSE TO THE ACTION

One of the biggest advantages of flying with Capital Air Express is our ability to use smaller regional airports that may be much closer to your destination than a major commercial airport.

For large events, we'll look at the airports in the area and determine which options make the most sense for your aircraft and itinerary. Sometimes the closest airport is the best choice; other times, an airport a little farther away may offer easier access, better availability, or a smoother trip overall.

WHAT HAPPENS TO THE AIRPLANE WHILE YOU’RE THERE?

It depends on the trip.

Sometimes the aircraft and pilot can simply stay at the airport while you enjoy the event. During particularly busy weekends, airport parking may be limited, so we may drop you off and reposition the aircraft to another airport. When it's time to head home, we'll bring the aircraft back to meet you.

You get to enjoy the event; we'll handle where the airplane needs to be.

HEADING HOME

For daytime events, we'll schedule your return around when you reasonably expect to be finished. For concerts, night games, and other evening events, we'll also consider how late the event is expected to run, travel time back to the airport, pilot duty time, and nighttime operating conditions.

Our standard scheduling generally plans for flights to arrive at their final destination by approximately 10:00 PM, although later flights can sometimes be accommodated with advance planning and may require an additional overnight or crew fee.

And remember: if the concert ends at 9:30, that doesn't mean you'll be sitting in the airplane at 9:31. Give yourself enough time to enjoy the encore, get out of the venue, and make your way back to the airport.

SAME-DAY OR MAKE A WEEKEND OF IT?

Same-day special-event trips are absolutely possible and are one of the reasons our customers love flying with us. A Saturday football game, Sunday golf tournament, afternoon race, or evening show can sometimes become an easy out-and-back trip instead of an overnight stay.

For the very largest events, however, arriving the day before can make for a much more relaxed experience. We'll let you know when we think that's worth considering based on the event and your itinerary.

BIG EVENTS, BUSY AIRPORTS

Major events can transform normally quiet regional airports. During events like college football games and major tournaments, airports may use special procedures for arriving aircraft, parking, fueling, or departures.

That's part of what our operations team handles behind the scenes. We'll plan around the information available to us and keep you updated if anything affects your itinerary.

YOU ENJOY THE EVENT. WE’LL HANDLE THE FLYING.

That's really how special-event travel with Capital Air Express works.

Tell us where you're going, what you're attending, and when you need to be there. We'll figure out the aircraft, airport, crew, timing, and flight planning that make sense for the trip.

Then go enjoy the game, watch the tournament, sing every word at the concert, or cheer on your favorite driver.

We'll meet you back at the airport when it's time to go home.

Check out our full Same Day Round Trip Policies.

Check out our full College Football Weekend Policies.

Check out our full Masters Week Policies.