Flying MAXjet
Virginia-based airline to London offers service and low fares

By Ruth A. Hill
for Virginia Business
August 2006

An offer from a startup airline promised business-class service to London for little more than an economy-plus fare. The prospect of crossing the “pond” in style and comfort hooked me — so I booked MAXjet, anticipating a lot more than a cramped seat.

Onboard my London flight from New York, I wasn’t disappointed. Inside the Boeing 767 cabin, customers could relax in wide leather seats — only 102 of them — half the usual number of seats for the aircraft. Consequently, aisles are wide, walk-around is easy, and there’s nobody in a middle seat. It seemed there were more flight attendants onboard than usual, and one of them handed me a digEplayer, my personal delivery system for more movies and music channels than I could ever consume in what is typically a six- to seven-hour flight.

Then came a choice of beverages and canapés. The four-course meal was served on china and white linen. The meal included salad, a New York strip and veggie ravioli topped off with crème brûlée for dessert. Before reaching London, we also were served a full breakfast. When it came time to rest, my chair reclined 20 inches, and I enjoyed more sleep than ever during a transatlantic hop.

“ MAXjet is all about helping people feel like customers again,” says Gary Rogliano, CEO of the Dulles-based airline. “The lure of low-fare business-class flying may get people in our seats. Our onboard service is about building their loyalty.”

MAXjet began service to London’s Stansted Airport from New York’s JFK in November and Washington-Dulles International Airport in April. The airline’s niche is all-business-class service for lower fares than offered by major carriers such as British Airways and United. A recent autumn fare sale for a roundtrip from Washington-Dulles or New York (booked by July 14) was $1,199, including taxes and fees. Typical roundtrip fares start at $1,499 from New York and $1,750 from Washington-Dulles, with five flights a week departing from Dulles.

Business fliers are the expected market, but Rogliano says leisure flyers made up about 40 percent of MAXjet’s passengers even before the peak summer season. At Stansted, about 30 miles northeast of London, passengers can easily get connections to other European cities.

Filling seats and building passenger loyalty is a challenging mandate for any airline — especially for a new one. Rogliano puts in long hours but did manage to squeeze in a recent vacation, his first in 10 years, almost as a gift to his family. “My daughter was graduating from college and wanted our whole family to go away to Walt Disney World for a week. She was seven months pregnant with our first grandchild, so we pushed her around the parks. It was a great time for all of us,” says Rogliano.

Still, work didn’t stop entirely for the New York native. “When we were at Disney, I continued to rise as I always do at 2:30 in the morning to deal with business in Britain. But I was with the family when they were awake, so it worked well for everybody.”

Long hours and travel have been Rogliano’s pattern for most of his career in financial and transportation management but never more so than today. He and MAXjet investors such as JetBlue’s CEO David Neeleman have dared to do the unthinkable: start a transatlantic airline in the midst of difficult times for the industry.

On weekends, Rogliano kicks back in Virginia on 230 acres in Goochland County with his wife, Angela, and their kennel of champion German shepherds. It’s a stark contrast to his weekdays in an airport hotel on one side of the “London Bridge” or the other. The family has lived in the Richmond area since Rogliano moved with his former employer, The Pittston Co., in 1996.

Time in the country, with his dogs, helps keep Rogliano grounded. And that’s a good thing, even for an airline executive.