|
Air charter
hopes aero medical transport service
is right Rx for finances |
 |
By Eric Durr
The Business Review
November 7-13, 2003
Quik Flight LLC, a year-old, one plane air
charter service in Scotia, is in the medical transportation
business.
The Federal Aviation Administration approved Quik Flight's application
to offer air ambulance service Oct.
30.
Quik Flight will offer transportation to medical patients in non-emergency
situations.
Chandler Atkins, Quik Flight's president, is counting on the medical
transport business to make the air charter company profitable in
2004.
The FAA certifies that pilots are qualified to fly air ambulance
flights that the aircraft will remain air worthy after being reconfigured,
and that the aircraft carries the proper equipment, said Jim Peters,
an FAA spokesman.
The Capital Region has been without an air ambulance service since
a company called Air Response Inc. shut down at the Schenectady
County Airport in 2001 consolidate operations in Denver.
Although Quik Flight was originally billed as for-hire air transport
for business people and tourists, the company always wanted to get
into the medical transport business, said Atkins.
"We have been studying this ever since we opened," Atkins said.
There currently are no air medical transport services operating
in upstate New York, Atkins said. When doctors at Albany Medical
Center need to transport a patient, they have to go out of state
to find a service. The nearest is in Boston, he said.
The company will spend about $50,000 to fit its $800,000 five-seat
Piper Cheyenne turbo-prop with a stretcher and associated medical
equipment. The plane can be rigged as an air ambulance in about
20 minutes, Atkins said. The stretcher unit costs $30,000.
Two investors in the company will staff the medical transport
service, Atkins said.
Dr. Krishnan Raghaven, a critical-care doctor who works in Amsterdam,
will act as the medical director for the service.
Ballston Spa-based Staff Relief, a nursing services company owned
by Sam Rimawi, will provide flight nurses for the service.
The air medical transport business is a thriving industry, said
Blair Kelly, communications and marketing manager for the Association
of Air Medical Services, an Alexandria, Va based organization with
250 members.
In some parts of the country, business is very competitive but
there are not many services in the Northeast, Kelly said.
Atkins said his analysis of the industry indicates that Quik Flight
should be able to thrive.
Many health insurance providers will pay for up to 80 percent
of the cost of transporting a patient, he said.
Quik Flight's immediate service territory will be New England
and New York.
Quik Flight will also act as a broker to help clients secure medical
transport flights from services
outside the region, Atkins said.
Air Response operated four planes from the Schenectady County
Airport. Each of those planes did about 500 hours of air ambulance
flight time annually, Atkins said.
When Quik Flight was launched, Atkins said the charter service
would need to generate 300 hours of flight time at $800 per hour
to break even. That hasn't happened yet and the business is operating
in the red, he said.
Adding the air ambulance service will give Quik Flight another
"pillar" to base profitability on, he said.
Atkins said he is confident Quik Flight can generate at least
500 hours of air ambulance and leisure/business flight time and
expects to become profitable by the third quarter of 2004.
While business and leisure are often dependent on the economy,
medical transport flights generally are not optional travel.
The basic rate for the air ambulance service will be 3.45 cents
per mile, which pays for the plane and the pilot, Atkins said.
There will be additional charges based on required in-flight medical
care.
Hopefully, Quik Flight can acquire another plane if business is
good, Atkins said.
"Quiet frankly, I think this is a higher calling," Atkins said.
"I feel more of a purpose with business doing this than flying executives
from point A to point B."
|
|
