Calvin Clifford “Trey” Fayard III founded GLO Airlines in New Orleans in 2013, and the regional airline began operations in November 2015.
Fayard, 36, earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Southern Methodist University in Dallas and a law degree from Tulane University in New Orleans. He was managing director of Cornerstone Gas Corp. and founding principal of Coliseum Property Group as well as in-house counsel for the Fayard Law Firm.
GLO has direct flights from Little Rock’s Clinton National Airport to New Orleans and, beginning in late March, to Destin-Fort Walton Beach, Florida.
How did you go from attorney to airline founder?
I dove into the air carrier business because I couldn’t reach the destinations I needed to quickly and efficiently. The reason GLO came to Little Rock first is because I traveled here often for both business and visiting family. It would take approximately 16 hours round trip in travel time for me to get here if driving and maybe only spend a day or two on business or a hunting trip — a completely inefficient use of time.
Initially, I would charter smaller aircraft, either with business partners or friends, depending on the situation, in order to get to some of these regional destinations much faster. I started getting phone calls from people who I didn’t even know asking when the next time a plane would be headed up to Arkansas, north Louisiana or Tennessee and if they could buy a seat.
In essence, I became an amateur charter broker and realized that the days of the quick trip via legacy carriers were behind us. I knew I had to do something about it or else someone else would.
Why is GLO needed?
The Gulf and Mid-South regions have been underserved by air carriers for a long time, resulting in an overreliance on road travel. As the major airlines consolidated, they removed nonstop air service from smaller, regional markets and forced flights to connect through hubs, which could be completely out-of-the-way destinations. As a result, flights that should only take an hour or two tops will end up taking half of a day or more with connections, layovers and delays.
Who is your target passenger?
GLO’s core passenger is the business traveler who is looking to conduct business in one or two days and return home quickly and efficiently, without wasting multiple hours on the road. GLO is also seeing a lot of leisure travelers, passengers who are visiting family members in and around our markets, couples taking a weekend getaway or athletes traveling to regional competitions.
What does GLO focus on to keep its customers happy?
Customer service is a top priority. We value making the travel experience as easy and seamless as possible. I’ve personally experienced too many issues when traveling to a destination — lost bags, extra fees, paying for a water or snack, lengthy layovers. At GLO, we don’t charge for up to three bags and one personal item. We even took out a few extra seats in the aircraft to give our passengers more legroom.
How have early operations gone?
Little Rock service has been strong. In the aviation industry, history will tell you that about four months of operations will give you a good sense of your booking trends — which days are most popular, which times need to be adjusted, etc. What we are experiencing between Little Rock and New Orleans, in the past three months, has been rising load factors, or number of passengers.
What have lower fuel prices meant to GLO?
Lower fuel prices have resulted in lower operating costs. However, it also means less business travel from the energy sector, which is very important to Louisiana and Arkansas.
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