Inefficiencies in the airline business have led a group of talented pilots to take control of their futures and help large companies remember the good old days of air travel.

Craig McAteer, Cary Yates, Shye Gilad and Tom Carrigan who all worked with Independence Air and Paul Kosubinsky who works for another major airline, together have 60 years of experience in the airline industry and more than 35,000 hours of flight time.

Last spring, McAteer and Yates, who have known each other for 15 years, decided it was time to provide something different to avid air travelers. They decided to create Professional Jet Services Inc., and recruit some of the most experienced pilots they knew to join in their new venture.

Professional Jet Services Inc., also known as ProJet, is an aviation consulting and management firm. The idea is that a large company whose employees travel often will have the option to buy, lease or co-own an airplane. ProJet will provide high-end transportation domestically or internationally based on its client's needs.

Because owning an airplane is an expensive endeavor that can cost anywhere from $5 to $30 million, McAteer explained that companies can use the craft's depreciation as a tax write-off at the end of the year. But most importantly, it will decrease the time spent traveling.

"If you're flying out of Dulles, by the time you park, take the bus to the terminal, check your bag and go through the security gate, its been 45 minutes," Yates said. "Then from the time you taxi out and are airborne, it's been three hours. In three hours, we can be over the Rockies."

"The Airline experience in Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia has become a hassle for people," McAteer added. "If you have to go to New York for a one-hour meeting, what should be a 45-minute flight takes better than five hours and the whole thing becomes like a three-day event."

He added that ProJet can have its clients in the air in five to 10 minutes after they arrive at the airport unlike commercial airliners that can sometimes take up to an hour.

ProJet will have its principle base at Winchester Regional Airport in Frederick County, Va. Passengers will have the option of driving to Winchester for take off, or having ProJet come to pick them up from a closer airport such as Dulles International Airport, Leesburg Municipal Airport, Manassas Regional Airport or Frederick Municipal Airport.

Yates said there are 5,500 airports in the United States and business jets can fly in and out of all of them. But most commercial planes can only fly into about 70.

"This is more convenient," McAteer said. "Most airlines can't drop you off where you need to be. Taking a taxi to your final destination can be a two-hour ride."

McAteer, 39, grew up in Atlanta, and said he knew he wanted to be a pilot for as long as he can remember. McAteer became a flight instructor and was chosen to train pilots for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as well as the Navy Seals in flight safety. McAteer joined Atlantic Coast Airlines in 1993, which became Independence Air.

Yates, 46, grew up in Northern Virginia, and attended Radford University. He has been an aviation professional for more than 17 years and has worked as an airline captain for Presidential Airways, West Air Airlines, Atlantic Coast Airlines and Independence Air.

Shye Gilad, 37, executive vice president of safety and customer service for ProJet, is now a pilot for JetBlue. He said the "top notch" quality ProJet will offer is because of the extensive experience they have in the industry and airline safety.

"We can make a two-hour flight from New York to Boston or Florida and be back in time for lunch," Gilad said. "The future is wide open right now and I think we can offer a product that will really dominate in Northern Virginia."

Tom Carrigan, 39, vice president of operations, comes from a family of pilots. He most recently worked for Independence Air.

Carrigan said he was "sold immediately" on the idea for ProJet, adding that the airline industry was a big market that he was sure ProJet would be able to take on.

Paul Kosubinsky, 37, vice president of acquisitions, has been flying professionally since 1988.

He said when he decided to join ProJet he knew that the company could do better in the airline business than what the airlines had been doing.

"Service, service, service. The customer is everything," he said. "This won't be about trying to get the money to survive until the next day, or just cramming as many bodies on there as we can. We're not looking to be the biggest guy out there, we're just looking to be the best guy out there."

Kosubinsky said ProJet consists of five of the best in the industry and said although people don't look at air travel the way they used to, he is certain that will change with ProJet.

"We all love flying," he said. "It's that romance in flying that's missing and we'll bring that back with top notch excellent seamless travel in airplanes."

McAteer and Yates said ProJet has worked closely with the Federal Aviation Administration, and is looking to target civilian government contractors, large companies and private corporations and will open its doors on Jan. 30.

"We've been in this industry for so long we know that people in the private sector don't have time for the headaches of airport delays," Yates said. "This will be luxury flying. The Cadillac of air travel."