Fly Me To The Moon.

And let me play among the stars. The strains of Frank Sinatra float through the cabin of the private jet heading to Las Vegas as his "Rat Pack" cohorts are served by long legged hostesses in high boots with booze and cigars while the rest of the world looks on in envy. Unfortunately the hostesses are long gone to that Las Vegas in the sky but the ability to fly "private" is now more than ever a reality and US companies like Social Flight are taking advantage of the consolidation and aggregation attitude of the web.

They are betting that people would like to self organise and more often than not end up with the same destination in mind and the ability to bypass the myriad of hubs and fly direct in the confines of a private charter jet. Social Flight is betting you are willing to pay the same or less for a private jet filled with other self organisers that may not fly to the regular timetable or destination of the airline conglomerates. It's not just the weekend getaways they are looking at but the business travel sector where a lot of time is spent in transit and airport lounges in the labyrinth of the hub and spoke commercial airline model.

So it sounds like a sophisticated car pool without the traffic jams, a shopping list that fills up with all your favourite destinations as time goes by and an ability to fly with like minded people. Social Flight calls them affinity groups or "Travel Tribes" and sells the concept with the tag line "Fly like the Rich", something we all aspire to. The ability to fly to non commercial airports gives the concept a wider scope and creates opportunity for "Travel Tribes" to fly to events and occurrences rather than just destinations.

On any given day, charter companies in the US have 60% of the country’s 15,000 top-rated charter jets grounded and of the 40% in service a third travel empty during one of their legs, points out Social Flight CEO Jay Deragon. This is where the CEO sees the web giving his company the ability to cut down on waste and as such, charter companies are now beating a path to his door.

Like innovative consolidators before him Deragon is building a brand around the tribal concept of togetherness and exclusivity, Apple comes to mind. If there is a profit to be had, then all the better for the future of such social consolidators. The critical mass to build Social Flight beyond weekend getaways and sporting events will take some time and I'm sure the commercial airlines do not even have Deragon and his "Tribes" on their radar. Yet if enough people get tired of airport parking lots, waiting in lines, invasive security and flying somewhere else before they get to their destination, then Social Flight has a chance to change the aviation landscape.

Especially if he can give the charter flights a feeling of yesteryear romantic, "fly like the rich" and why not be Dean Martin style.