When DaimlerBenz merged with Chrysler last year, it set the stage for a much more unlikely partnership--that of DaimlerChrysler Aviation (formerly known as Chrysler Pentastar Aviation) and General Motors.

While the DaimlerChrysler merger resulted in a major expansion of the company's other aviation activities, the automotive giant's air charter business came to a grinding halt. The FAA does not permit foreign ownership of FAR Part 135 certificates and so the automaker was forced to suspend charter operations in November 1998 until a solution could be found to its ownership status.
Sensing an opportunity to generate revenue and offset the cost of operating his employer's flight department, Ken Emerick, General Motors' director of Worldwide Travel, and DaimlerChrysler Aviation president Tom Davis, eager to re-enter the charter business, began to think about the unthinkable--a joint venture between the two companies.

The resulting entity -- Automotive Air Charter -- benefits from the sophisticated fleets of two of the country's largest and oldest flight departments. The new company's charter fleet includes four Gulfstream Vs and Five Cessna Citation Xs -- the largest of either type in the U.S. DaimlerChrysler's Hawker 800XP is also available and additional aircraft managed by DaimlerChrysler may be available in the future.

Davis has credited Emerick with making this venture a reality, saying "GM is such a perfect fit for us because they have the same culture." That culture, according to Davis, includes a strong commitment to safety and high training and maintenance standards, as well as superior aircraft.
Davis added that his company's "excellent relationship with the FAA" assisted in the process. "You have no idea how big a job it is" to put the charter operation back together, he said.

When DaimlerChrysler took its sabbatical from the charter business, it found other sources for its clients, although the company hopes to win all those clients back.

"We've kept in touch with our customers." Davis said. He says he expects many, if not all, former customers to return.

On October 2nd, just weeks after receiving final regulatory approvals, Automotive Air Charter operated its first flight from Pontiac, MI, to Denver and Jackson Hole, WY, aboard DaimlerChrysler's Raytheon Hawker 800XP. It's just the start, said Steve Taylor, director of sales, marketing and customer satisfaction for DaimlerChrysler Aviation. The company already has bookings for two GV charters, one to Johannesburg, South Africa, the other to Sydney, Australia, over the winter holiday and other advance bookings are strong as customers rediscover DaimlerChrysler and its unlikely new partner, General Motors.

Automotive Air Charter is evidence that the strong ties and relationships in business aviation often transcend other rivalries.