Flight for Congressman

An official from the headquarters of your local congressman called today. They are interested in having your airline provide shuttle service for the congressman and/or his staff three to six times per month. The compensation would average $1,500 per flight; this amount covers the fuel and maintenance costs on your smallest aircraft. Trips would be scheduled a week in advance and the flights would not always occur on the same day of the week. Occasionally a Saturday trip might be requested.

Acceptance of the offer would give you access to this congressman who is on the Military Transport Committee. This committee is responsible for final approval of contracts to private aviation companies who transport military personnel. You have some interest in this business since it is potentially steadier than regularly scheduled passenger business, and there are contracts available. One of the congressman's aides hinted that a military contract would be the "reward" for offering your services. This could be a lucrative contract.

The irregularity in the congressman's schedule might cause you some slight difficulty in operating your regularly scheduled routes. You figure that you can divert an aircraft from an unprofitable route if necessary; a Saturday run would require that you defer preventive maintenance on one aircraft for a week. What should you do?

1. Accept the offer. Your operations chief is clever, and you believe that she/he will be able to solve any scheduling dilemmas.

2. Indicate that you are extremely interested; you can do business if they can provide a schedule at least two weeks in advance. (However, this action might result in the contract being awarded to a carrier who does not make this stipulation.)

3. Turn down the request.