Highfliers

This is private space that's spacious enough to hold a face-to-face business meeting, or provide a restful sanctuary complete with a 78-inch, fully flat bed and a personal media system with Bose noise-reduction headphones.

Spurlock himself conceived of the interior of the aircraft, and went on to win a prestigious Red Dot design award for the plane's unique suites. Every guest has unimpeded access to the aisle, and the seats are staggered so that no one has to battle for an armrest.

In addition, "the tray tables deploy out close to 60 inches across, so you can hold a meeting for two with laptops, legal pads, cups of coffee. All of these details are grounded in what we wanted to offer each customer on board," Spurlock explains.

Finding Good Help...

The right balance of employees to passengers -- and training those employees to represent the Eos brand -- has been critical to the airline's success, says Spurlock.

"Other airlines are certified for four flight attendants per trip; we have six flight attendants on board every flight, so they each attend to a maximum of eight guests per flight," he notes.

To acclimate staff to the Eos brand, flight attendants complete an eight-week training program that includes trips to day spas and a culinary institute for education about a five-course gourmet meals and English high tea, among other experiences.

That's compared to two days of training required by others in the industry, says Spurlock.

"We also spend a day walking through the Westchester County Mall, going into individual retail outlets to discuss how people in these surroundings are part of that store's brand, and how its service style becomes part of a brand," he adds. "All of our staff was hired to be part of the Eos brand."

Taking Off

Spurlock coined the term "commercial corporate jet" to describe Eos, positioning it as a hybrid that provides the best of both commercial and private aviation.

By focusing on premium service and launching Eos with the New York City-to-London route, he is achieving his goal to create a new kind of airline.

"For our competition -- British Airways, American and Virgin Atlantic, among others -- the entire business is built on high volume. They fly aircraft with 300 to 400 people per flight, and they have giant hub-and-spoke operations. To build a service culture inside that world is almost impossible," he points out.

Recently, Eos announced it had raised a second round of institutional investment money, and with this capital it is in negotiations for new aircraft and will also determine new routes.

"We proved our business model by launching flights and generating revenue and customer loyalty," Spurlock says. "The next step is growth."

---

Enjoy the Good Life? Email us with what you'd like to see in future articles.

>To order reprints of this article, click here: Reprints