I flew on a $9 million Swiss private jet that’s trying to disrupt the industry — here’s what it was like

While a private airplane might seem unnecessary and unreasonable, there are a few compelling reasons to fly private — at least, if you or your business can afford it.

The number one advantage is flexibility. While this can be a convenience for most private flyers, it can also be essential for someone with constantly changing business needs and demands.

“Mid-flight, you can decide ‘actually, let’s go to this place instead’ and land somewhere else,” said George Antoniadis, founder and CEO of PlaneSense, a fractional aircraft ownership company. “On a commercial flight, that would be hijacking. On a private flight, that’s a standard day.”

Of course, owning a plane can require a major investment of time, energy, and resources. That’s where fractional ownership, which is what PlaneSense offers, comes in.

Fractional aircraft ownership basically means instead of owning an aircraft outright and having to manage maintenance, operations, staffing, licensing, and so on, you own a share of an aircraft which is managed by a company like PlaneSense. After purchasing the shares, you simply pay a monthly maintenance fee, and an hourly fee when you’re onboard the plane — that covers fuel and staff.

“Because we operate an entire fleet, there are no outages during maintenance, or when a pilot is out, like if you own and staff your own aircraft,” said Antoniadis.

PlaneSense, which was founded in 1995, has more than 40 aircraft in flight. The average age of the fleet is under five years, because PlaneSense frequently purchases new planes, and sells older ones on the second-hand market in an effort to keep its fleet top-of-the-line.

PlaneSense has had a couple of lite jet aircraft, but until recently has focused on turboprop — or propeller — planes.

In February, however, the company took ownership of a brand new jet, the first one of its model to ever be delivered.

The PC-24, made by Switzerland-based Pilatus Aircraft, is a natural fit for PlaneSense — and not just because the company already owns a large number of Pilatus turboprop PC-12s.

Although it’s powered by jet engines and has the speed, range, and maximum altitude associated with similar jets, the plane is able to land on and take-off from much shorter runways than any other jet — more like a flexible propeller plane.

Recently, PlaneSense invited Business Insider and other outlets to tour the PC-24 and take a demo flight. We flew from Teterboro in New Jersey to Chatham in Cape Cod, a notoriously short airstrip about 45 minutes away by air, so that the company could demonstrate the jet’s ability to handle runways like that. We stopped for quick lunch, and — almost to prove just how flexible private flying can be — Antoniadis offered to detour to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to tour PlaneSense’s operations center, rather than flying straight back.

The plane — which is equipped with speedy air-to-ground Wi-Fi — was surprisingly comfortable for a light jet, and was quite impressive — especially on those short take-offs and landings.

Here’s a look at the world’s first PC-24, and what it’s like to fly private.