Travel in Style, By Land or Sky
Omar Kallabat pictured with his 1965 Rolls Royce Phantom.
By Paul Natinsky
Most of us have daydreams about cruising downtown streets in a classic Rolls Royce or sailing through the clouds in a private jet with our significant other and a few close members of our entourage.
Well, we might not be able to own such luxurious modes of transport, but we can be king or queen for a day, thanks to two enterprising Chaldean businessmen who specialize in royal treatment.
Vintage Luxury Rentals
Omar Kallabat had worked for his family’s medical transportation since he was a teenager, all the while dreaming of classic cars. In 2021, working at home as the COVID pandemic raged, an idea clicked for Kallabat.
“I was sitting at home all day on the computer. I started losing my mind. Started to feel unhealthy, like what am I doing here just staring at a computer eight hours a day.” He started thinking that he wanted to do something he loved. Vintage cars.
“That first car was everything I had.” He spent his life savings on it. He is 27 and was 25 at the time he bought the first car. “After I bought that I had to succeed,” he said.
That first car was a 1965 Rolls Royce Phantom. Kallabat got a great deal on the car through an auction site. The Phantom is valued at more than $100,000. Kallabat bought it for much less—he asked us not to reveal the price; it was so low that at the time he thought it was a scam and commenters on the online auction site didn’t believe it was the actual selling price either.
“The auction…the timer started going down. People are putting their bids in…I’m not even kidding, I went to the grotto at St. Thomas’ Church the night before and said a little prayer. I said, ‘God, I know you don’t work like this, but just give me this car, I’ll do some good things for you.’”
In April of 2021, the Phantom made its appearance on a trailer in Kallabat’s driveway. In July, the dream car made its debut at a Lebanese wedding.
“That’s what kick-started it all,” said Kallabat. The wedding was in downtown Detroit. It generated some beautiful photos, which Kallabat promptly put on his website and Instagram page. “And then the bookings boldly started coming in.” The first year he did about 20 weddings.
In 2022, he got more exposure. He met a few photographers and wedding planners. He’s earned a few good reviews. Last year brought Vintage Luxury Rentals its first additional car, a ’57 Plymouth Belvedere. He bought the Plymouth six years ago and just finished renovating it last year. He uses it as a back-up car for weddings.
Kallabat does minor maintenance and says he can diagnose any issue. Major maintenance he takes to his buddy. “If it wasn’t for (Joel Kahl) there would be no business.” Kahl rebuilt the engine on the Plymouth and he rebuilt the engine on a ’37 Packard, the fleet’s next ride.
Kallabat met Kahl on Woodward Avenue a few years ago. Without him, Kallabat says, the mechanic costs would have priced him out of business.
The latest members of Vintage Luxury Rentals’ fleet met Kallabat’s need for a convertible and increased bookings. The fleet is now four cars.
“In late 2022, I noticed my bookings going through the roof,” said Kallabat. At that point, he had just the
Rolls and the Plymouth. He did about 50 weddings that year but says he could have done about 60 more.
So he bought a ’54 Bentley R Type that came from England with right hand drive and a 1937 Packard Super Eight, which he calls the “crown jewel” of his fleet.
At first, Kallabat did all the driving. He now uses independent drivers who earn a 20 percent gratuity from customers, plus a little extra from Kallabat. Vintage Luxury Rentals has four drivers it regularly schedules.
Much of Kallabat’s business is weddings. The cars are intended for special occasions, with the minimum rental for Detroit area events starting at $1,000 for four hours and $200 for each additional hour, plus a 20 percent gratuity for the drivers. The pricing is all-inclusive; there’s no extra charge for gas or mileage.
Destination weddings pay a flat rate for a full day, plus driver lodging and expenses. Vintage Luxury Rentals ships the cars to places such as Grand Rapids, Cleveland and Petoskey.
As for Kallabat, he’s single, but, he says, “I’m Chaldean, so the pressure is on.”
Appreciation for beautiful automobiles stretches wide. One of Kallabat’s favorite parts of being in the business of bringing the cars to people is stepping beyond weddings. He has donated his services to people in unfortunate circumstances and regularly allows people to photograph themselves and family members with the cars.
One of his cars was used by Wish Upon a Wedding, a group that organizes vow renewals for the terminally ill. In one case, Kallabat took a man suffering from kidney failure to dinner free of charge.
BC Flight
From left: Heather Namy, Cynthia Barnhart , Thane Namy, Gloria Namy, Alana Namy, and Luke Namy.
For those who seek to take their royal experience to the skies, BC Flight can provide a lift. Founded in 2022 by CEO Thane Namy, BC Flight is a broker—meaning the company contracts with operators who provide private jets of varying sizes along with credentialed pilots and flight crew. BC Flight takes care of the client’s needs from arrival at a small airport to luggage handling and food and drink aboard the plane.
As an “indirect air carrier” with a network of operators who operate the aircraft, Michigan-based BC Flight has access to several hundred aircraft at any given time.
“We coordinate everything for them,” says Namy. “We meet them at the airport, escort them onto the tarmac right up to the plane, they drive their car right up to the plane, an attendant parks their car and takes their luggage.
“You get there about 10 minutes before the flight takes off and within 5 to 10 minutes you are airborne and on your way. No hassles, no TSA, no parking lots.”
Namy says, “You can be a broker and operator or … or both.” BC Flight started out as a broker but want to acquire “a couple of light jets by the end of the year.”
25 years ago, Namy got his pilot’s license. He was a few hours short of his commercial rating when he started a telecommunications business, which did really well. Soon he was married with children, but never lost his passion for planes.
When his son was diagnosed with autism at age 4, a lot of airlines were “booting families because their special needs kids were acting up on the plane.” They didn’t really understand special needs, so it happened quite a bit, said Namy.
Namy needed a solution for air travel with his son. He had no idea how the private system worked. He was doing well financially, but not well enough to buy a $5 million jet. “Ownership was out, fractional ownership was still very, very expensive—and then I saw the jet card. I was like, ‘Oh, this is interesting. You write a check, you get a jet card and you get to fly hours.’”
The jet card is a card that a customer buys that is good for a specified number of flight hours. They are typically for 10, 25, 50 or 100 hours.
Namy’s experience with private-fly companies was mixed. The flight and crew were satisfactory, but there was little orientation or guidance on the ground, the food came in little boxes that were hard to manage in the small cabin, and the service and overall experience lacked the luxury feel that is expected with the cost of the service. Namy thought he could do it better. He had sold the telecommunications company he had built and was looking for a new venture. BC Flight was born.
Namy’s company provides the luxury experience that its clients are seeking, along with an easier way for clients to pay. Namy says other companies require full payment for jet cards up front. BC Flight has a more comfortable plan that helps its corporate and individual clients manage cash flow. An initial down payment and monthly payments financed at about 5 percent help spread the commitment over time.
“Twenty-five hours is the most popular package (for jet cards at BC Flights). You don’t use it up quickly. Four six-hour trips, three hours each way. Probably a year, year and a half flight time. Light jet would be $145,000—$35,000 down and make payments of $4,825 a month for 24 months.”
There are also plans for lighter users.
“One of our promotions is the light jet card, 10 hours, $9,500 down and $1,962 a month over 27 months. That pays for the 10 hours of jet time. The average is about $5,000 to $7,000 an hour on the jet card. If you’re flying three hours, it’s roughly $18,000.”
Businesses often use the jet card for executives but also as contest rewards, such as a trip with private jet. Other uses include recruiting executives and executive retreats. Namy says these types of rewards are popular now that inexpensive gym memberships have taken the luster off that perk.
For individuals, private flight service remains a financial reach.
Some options cost more than others, but whether you are looking to hit the open road in style or soar through the clouds in a private jet, these two Michigan companies have you covered.