The team got right to work with coordinating the departures for clients who had been in Peoria for a business meeting. “We received the request as a Word document with all of the passenger’s names, various locations of travel, and requested travel dates,” Zabel recalled. “We arranged their separate travel into Peoria over a 3-day span, and the seven jets were just the clients’ return flights, all with a wheels up time of 12 pm. There was an eighth jet that departed later that afternoon.”

Organizing the trips sounded daunting, but the St. Louis team took it in stride. “We sat down and broke down the request document by color coding passengers and locations so we could get an idea of how many quotes we needed to create,” Webster said. “We sent the quotes separately and then as they were approved we sent separate itineraries. In the end to make the process more organized for the planner we sent all itineraries in one email to relieve any confusion.”

Even though the groups weren’t departing from the Jet Linx St. Louis private terminal, the Client Services Specialists made took extra steps to make sure the departure was perfect. “The group of seven that departed at the same time were departing out of a regional airport in Peoria, IL. We sent three of our Client Services Specialists (Reagan Wilson, Samantha Webster, and Christy Wibbenmeyer), up to Peoria on an empty leg to ensure a smooth departure and included signs for the pilots to hold so each passenger knew which aircraft to board. The Client Services crew then drove back the 2.5 hours to St Louis base,” Zabel explained. During that time, the Base was under the capable hands of Client Services Specialist Barb Courtney. “Barb stayed behind to welcome back the passengers that were arriving into STL: two separate aircraft arriving within 20 minutes of each other,” Webster continued. Courtney’s ability to multitask came in handy, according to Zabel. “There was also a non-related aircraft that landed around the same time, so Barb was juggling three arrivals at once.”

Zabel credits the entire Jet Linx St. Louis crew with the Base’s ability to handle the large request smoothly. “The passengers were grateful, the client was pleased, and the entire St. Louis team – client services, sales, and line technicians – all had their hand in making this a positive experience.”