Want to travel like you're on Succession? Luxury helicopter charter caters to RI's rich and famous.

The client list of Flexjet’s helicopter division — which first launched in the Northeast last year — is a roster of the type of clients' businesses don’t name.

But if you watched HBO’s “Succession” and saw the children of Logan Roy jetting around in one of Flexjet’s private helicopters or planes it gives you an idea of what the service is like – high-end travel, for both business and pleasure, for the wealthy.

“We’re very discreet and we don’t talk about our customers,” said Eli Flint, president of Flexjet’s Helicopter Division. “But, I can tell you that we do have multiple customers around here (in Rhode Island), especially in Newport. We have several people that commute from New York City to here on a weekly basis ... and they do it in just over an hour.”

What is flying on a Flexjet helicopter like?

On a press flight recently, Providence Journal photographer Kris Craig and I met Flint at a private airport within a mile of Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport. The difference is, you walk in, take in the view of other planes from a spacious lounge and then walk right onto the tarmac to meet your aircraft in minutes.

The helicopter we were flying on was a Sikorsky S-76 with room for eight passengers and a bespoke interior to match the chairperson of Flexjet’s Bentley Bacalar. The same type of helicopter, Flint said, that the king of England flies in, and just one size smaller than the model the president of the United States uses.

It’s minutes from the time you step onto the plane to when you’re in the air. There’s no need for headphones to shield your ears from the noise or anything like that, it’s more like flying in a luxury car service. But from this viewpoint, all of Rhode Island’s waterways open up under you. Flint pointed out one of the green lawns of an unnamed customer that uses Flexjet. Craig, in return, pointed out the different landmarks we were flying over – the Mount Hope Bridge, Colt State Park, Warren, Bristol.

Flint, who flies jets and is working toward his helicopter license, called it one of the most scenic trips he’s taken.

But if you weren’t in the air to sightsee, the flights are low enough that your phone still connects to the internet so you could work. But it’s less time than you might think. The trip from Warwick to Bristol took just a few minutes.

Flint said the things that surprised me, surprise a lot of customers. People are often surprised to realize how productive the time is to either work or talk with family members, friends or associates with no distractions. And many people are surprised by how much time it saves when you can go 150 mph “in a straight line.”

When we landed – in a move so smooth it’s hard to pinpoint exactly when the wheels hit the ground – the turnaround was quick before Flint was back in the air. It took the pilots only a little longer to get everything ready for Flint’s next trip – this time to Newport – than it took Flint to walk back into the airport to collect his briefcase and get back to the helicopter.

That’s what Flexjet does, just usually for paying customers looking to get from Point A to Point B.

What is Flexjet?

Flexjet is a luxury, private aviation company for those who can afford it.

When it was founded in 1995, the focus was on the private jet space, allowing customers to fly all over the world while skipping the common headaches of flying commercial. Most of their business is in the United States and Europe.

More recently, they became interested in the “final mile” of a trip, which is not a literal mile, but the last leg of the trip: the moment when you leave the airport only to become immediately stuck in construction traffic on I-95.

Looking at that challenge, Flexjet acquired businesses already in the helicopter space and folded them into their business. Now, Flexjet offers both fractional ownership in jets and helicopters to get their clients where they need to be.

“It’s the age-old quandary of mankind: time,” Flint said. “Our customers say, ‘You know, I want more time in my life.’ It’s people just looking to cut hours of their week that were sitting in a car.”

How much does Flexjet cost?

The way fractional ownership works is customers figure out how much time they’re looking for, such as the time it takes to get from Newport to New York City, and buy that percentage of ownership of one of Flexjet’s helicopters.

“You don’t go out and buy a $12-million [helicopter]. You buy a little piece of it because, really, that’s all you need over the course of the year,” Flint said. “If you only need 25 hours, I’m going to buy 1/16. If I need 100 hours, I’m going to buy ¼.”

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Owners pay an initial buy-in fee, maintenance costs that keep the vehicles safe, operational costs such as supporting the salary of having two pilots instead of one in the cockpit, fuels cost, etc. With all the costs accounted for it ends up costing owners about $9,000 for an hour of flight, Flint said.

Comparatively, flying as a charter and paying per trip, it will cost closer to $11,000, Flint said.

What's next for Flexjet?

What Flint, who loves aviation, is excited about is the new models of electric helicopters coming onto the market.

With a focus in private aviation on becoming more energy efficient – Flexjet has a program where they buy carbon offsets – there's demand for the new electric vehicles that have zero emissions and a third of the sound signature, Flint said.

The new helicopters, Flint said, will be a reality "closer than you think." He estimated Flexjet will have them in the air mid-2026.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Forget fancy cars, limos and traffic - RI's rich and famous take a helicopter