US technology-based aircraft staffing company CrewBlast has released its list of the top five aircraft for which crews were requested in December 2021. The list, which includes aircraft from four different aircraft manufacturers, is the first data released from the company, which launched at the end of last year. CrewBlast uses a new approach to aircraft staffing: its system has a database of registered qualified pilots and flight attendants that have downloaded their crew app. When an operator needs staffing, a 'Blast' is sent via push notification directly to the mobile devices of all crew members needed who can respond immediately, resulting in incredibly fast and accurate crew staffing.

The CrewBlast data indicates that the most staffing requests in December were for the Gulfstream 500, the Dassault Falcon 7X, the Bombardier Challenger 605, the Cessna Citation XLS and the Gulfstream IV. The aircraft are all models favoured by business and luxury travellers alike, and range from an average daily pilot rate of $3,500 per day for the Gulfstream 500 to $1,200 per day for a Cessna Citation XLS. Many of the aircraft can carry as many as 19 passengers while the smallest, the Cessna, can hold eight to nine people.

“While we serve all aircraft types, we anticipate that many of our requests will continue to come from these larger and longer range aircraft,” says president Timothy Griffin. “It's just much more of a challenge to staff these aircraft, and that's where we can help.”

“I could not believe how fast CrewBlast was able to staff our Gulfstream 500," adds Priester Aviation director of owner services James Schnell. “Staffing aircraft for last minute flights used to be a stressful, time-consuming process and a major headache. Thankfully we don't have to worry about it anymore.”