I don’t know if you’ve heard, but Southern California traffic is really bad and it seems to get worse every year. A private jet company is trying to alleviate the frustration of that traffic, as long as your destination is Palm Springs and you have plenty of money to burn.
SFGATE reports that a new jet service is launching in Southern California. Called Aero, the service is offering direct flights from LA’s Van Nuys Airport to Palm Springs’ Thermal Jacqueline Regional Airport. The flights won’t be cheap either; you’re looking at $725 for a one way.
This may appeal to those with money who want to get away quickly to Palm Springs, or those that need to get to Coachella quickly for the annual music festival. Aero offers other destinations such as Cabo San Lucas and Aspen, Colorado. Those are more expensive of course and the direct flights are limited; you can’t fly from Palm Springs to Aspen for instance but you can fly from LA to Aspen.
While the price of the flights are high, a drive from Van Nuys to Palm Springs can easily be over three hours with traffic, as Aero’s CEO Ben Kelin told Palm Springs Desert Sun: “When people want to avail themselves of a weekend, it can be really difficult. For Palm Springs on a Friday afternoon, you’re facing four hours of traffic and then the same thing on Sunday afternoon. It cuts into your weekend.”
Aero might have competition from commercial airlines. United offers a flight from Burbank to Palm Springs for just $277. A dumb, environmentally harming local flight for sure, but definitely cheaper. If you just have to fly the less than 150 miles from LA to Palm Springs, Aero says flights are available to book now through April 2025.