Piston aircraft are one of the categories San Francisco Jet Charter arranges most often out of the Bay Area, typically 3 to 9 passengers, published ranges from 730 to 1,480 nautical miles. Which one suits your trip comes down to the passenger count, the baggage, the distance and the performance at both airports on the day.
Piston aircraft We Arrange
Typical Aircraft
The working types in this category are Beech Baron 58, Beechcraft Baron G58, Cessna 340, Cirrus SR-22, Piper Aerostar 600, Piper Cherokee Six PA-32, Piper Navajo / Cheyenne, Piper PA-23 Aztec and Piper Saratoga PA-32R.
When This Category Fits a San Francisco Trip
Piston aircraft cover the shortest Northern California trips, where the distance is well under an hour and the field at the far end is too small for anything larger. Two to five seats, and the economics only work over short legs.
Within the category the aircraft differ more than the label suggests. Cabin size, baggage volume and published range all vary across the 9 types listed above, and the right one for your trip depends on how many are traveling and what is traveling with them. Send us the details and we will narrow it down rather than leave you to compare specifications.
Bay Area tower hours vary a great deal, and the smaller fields close in the evening, which is worth checking before a late return. Whether a particular aircraft can use a particular airport on your date is the operator’s call for that aircraft, that weight and that day, and your advisor will confirm it before anything is booked.
Talk to an Advisor
Tell us the route, the dates and who is traveling, and we will come back with the aircraft that fit and a realistic estimate. Call +1-888-987-5387 at any hour, or use our contact page. You can see the full range on our aircraft overview, and read how we vet operators on the safety page.
Vetting Behind Every Trip
Every operator, aircraft, and crew goes through our internal due diligence before we present any options. Our internal standards meet or exceed what the FAA requires:
- FAR Part 135 charter operators for traditional private aircraft, or FAR Part 121 for airliner-size and group trips (or the foreign equivalent on international legs)
- Operator subscription to Wyvern and ARGUS reviewed where the operator participates.
- Pilot experience and operator incident history reviewed before we recommend an aircraft.
- Fewer than 60 brokers worldwide hold Premium Wyvern Broker Member status, and Air Charter Advisors is one of them.
San Francisco-Specific Patterns We Plan Around
Tower hours determine the trips more than anything else. Only San Francisco International and Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport are towered around the clock; Hayward Executive closes in the late afternoon, and Livermore runs weekday daytime hours with a short window on weekends. For an early departure or a late return, that difference decides the airport. Customs is narrow in this region too, with San Francisco, Oakland, Mineta San Jose and Monterey Regional the fields that clear international arrivals. Trips into the Sierra are their own case, where elevation and terrain shape the aircraft choice more than the distance does.
Contact
For a quote on a San Francisco charter, send the trip through our contact page or call an advisor at +1-888-987-5387. Our safety page sets out how we check operators, crews and insurance, and the full aircraft gallery covers the other categories. The National Business Aviation Association sets the broader operating standards we work within.