Tempest "There is serenity in every storm"

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Tempest

Tempest is your choice for high service, no hassle flying from Amsterdam and San Fransisco. With a fleet of the state of the art jets, a highly trained professional staff and the most open and clear pricing scheme in the industry you are ensured of the best service and the most comfortable means of travel possible.

Why Tempest?

Why Tempest is a question we very much understand. We do not hide what or whom we are, we believe in being clear and open and yes that means we are even open about prices. We know we are not the cheapest option out there, but in return with Tempest you know that the price we show is the price you pay and nothing will ever be added to it, whether it is for your bags or a drink on the plane, with Tempest it is all part of that one price. Not only that, that one price is always the price, there is no wondering and doubting on when to order your tickets, if there are seats available, tickets are sold at the one price whether is that is 4 hours before departure or 4 months.

So why Tempest? Because with us you are ensured of clarity, simplicity and world leading service. Travel does not need to be stressful, it should be enjoyed or at least be stress free and that is why you wish to fly with Tempest.

The fleet & our service on board

Air travel is not the most environmentally friendly means of transport, but with our state of the art planes from Airbus it is not remotely as bad as you would think. If you think up some of the most fuel efficient cars and understand most people drive those alone, you actually burn less fuel flying on board our planes than you would driving that very efficient car. It is for this reason we are very pleased with our Airbus fleet and out partner ship with Airbus on continuous improvements to these planes.

While efficiency is wonderful, what matters also is the service on board and the seats you can spend sometimes many long hours in. We all know how bad this can be at times, which is why when we went looking to outfit our cabins we did not knock on the well known doors that want to make you believe leather is the end of all things, while you sweat away and the foam of your seat is probably worn to bits. No we looked at office chairs, chairs designed to be sat in for many long hours on end and to this reason we partnered up with Okamura in an industry first to design seats for our cabins. So now we have amazing comfortable, well ventilated mesh seating with adjustable supports meaning you will always be highly comfortable on board our planes no matter the length of your flight.

So we are efficient, comfortable and now all we need is the things that make travel enjoyable. That means great service, great drinks, great food, free internet and entertainment. I mean we said it before and will say it again, we pride ourselves in our service and we do not charge for it, so lean back, enjoy a good bit of eating and drinking before you launch your favorite streaming service and binge watch that latest season as the miles effortlessly fly by. O and if we are to believe the lady in charge, The Balvenie on board is excellent, so try one, just don't let her hear you ordering the ice.

Currently we operate The Airbus A350-900, A350-1000, A320neo & A321neo.

About us:

Frustration can be one hell of a motivator and it lies at the cradle of what is now Tempest. For the first time in the companies history they have stepped into the consumer market. Not with IT solutions, but with an airline. That airline was born because of all the travel the staff had to do and just how terrible that experience often was. Now not scared and willing to take a risk or at least do some math on a silly idea after a few to many drinks on a Friday they decided to fly themselves. With a good economy and old airlines struggling under old debt and staff that seem to enjoy standing in high visibility vests and shouting more than doing actual work the risk was still great, but manageable. So that is how we came to exist, frustration mixed with a few drinks and as a result not only we can benefit, but everyone who wants a trouble free air journey can now as well.

The lady in charge:

Tannis Cateau is a Dutch/US citizen known to be very much herself and damn the world, but to damn good at what she does for people to take offense most of the time. Born in the US almost 3 decades ago, it became quickly clear she had a very clear head and a strong will. Running through school as quickly as she could she started programming when she got her first computer and the rest as they say is history. At the age of 18 she formed Tempest an IT solutions company that would soon grow rapidly offering many IT solutions to business with a focus on cyber security before it was hip. Despite all this success she is very much a product of her generation, she does not believe in 12 hour days and 80 hour work weeks, life needs to be enjoyed and if you play your cards well you can make the money and enjoy it at the same time. Being Dutch perhaps it is not to crazy, but for the US side of operations to tell people 40 hours is the max and less can be done was a bit odd for people. But she will do what she wants and people working for her quickly learn to adjust to the fact that while she offers a hell of a lot of freedom to her staff there are boundaries which are not to be crossed.

Now with Tempest stepping into aviation her focus is a bit more split, but over the years she build up a strong staff on the IT side of things and she truly acts as the CEO, leaving the day to day to those in charge. With the aviation side she is a bit more hands on to ensure the young company grows well and becomes a stable factor. She also made clever use of her dual nationality meaning that while on the outside Tempest is one business, it is in fact 2 holding companies that control the EU and US side separately financially with her being the sole owner of both. The question now is, what industry will be next?

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Tempest the airline that makes no sense and yet it works.

By: Marcel Karim

The Aviation industry is one of those things that is always in flux and seemingly struggling and being hugely profitable at the same time. A mix of old legacy carriers, new upstarts and budget carries that seem to be able to fly you around for less than a train ticket. One thing is quite common though and that is that no matter what airline you look at they compete on price from the middle east giants to the most basic of budget carriers price is everything. Yet one airline fresh to the game had decided not to bother with that aspect, in fact they have decided not to bother with many things. This is the short, but already interesting tale of Tempest.

It all starts in Silicon valley, Tempest is founded as an IT services company which quickly focused on Cyber security. Little known to the outside world they manage however to carve a strong name in the business world. Little is really known about them except that they seem to be very good at what they do and charge matching prices. The few people which we could get to talk all where roughly on the same line regarding to Tempest:

'They are amazing at what they do, though nobody really understands how they do it as they keep everything under wrap and the few people who get the know how are under NDA clauses that makes most national security clearances seem light. They are also unconventional, that the silicon valley generation is a bit odd is well known, but these people will show up in T-shirts and jeans to multi million dollar contacts regardless of local custom.'

Perhaps this is our first insight in the Airline part of Tempest, they clearly have the money and they have a certain attitude which is not always liked to much. I think it does fit them quite well as by their own official statement Tempest was born out of frustration over poor and complicated service in the modern aviation industry. Personally I cannot agree more it is next to impossible to understand when it is the best time to book your tickets or what fees will be added and what services are or are not included. That is before you even set foot inside the airport let alone the planes themselves. Clearly they believe in doing things differently, a lot differently.

A simple look at the Tempest website shows you enough cause it is well simple, you select any of their rapidly growing destinations from their Amsterdam and San Fransisco hubs, select your seating class you desire and seating location and you get a price which simple states: "All services, charges and taxes included.". In fact if you look deeper you learn that even if new taxes are added or any other costs between you booking the flight and it taking off they will cover those 100% cause they believe in a single price policy. Of course a single price is nice, but it goes beyond that cause that single price is the same no matter when you book your ticket, a very bold move as many vacation travelers tend to book early to come out cheaper, though if that is the case is debatable. Finally it must be noted they are far from cheap, the only times I could find them to be comparable in price is when you book shortly before departure. Again though instead of trying to hide this is marketing they openly admit they are not cheap.

It does not take a marketing genius to see that this whole pricing scheme and open nature about it makes no darn sense. It should not work at all, cause people want cheap or if it is not cheap at least be made to believe it is cheap, they want to believe they are scoring a deal by booking early or last minute. Yet Tempest flat out ignores these facts and by all the evidence we can see it is working amazingly. In order to see the Amsterdam side of things I booked a flight with them from Vegas to Amsterdam, premium economy all the way. Both flights where loaded I think I spotted maybe 3 open seats on my flight to San Fransisco and none on the flight to Amsterdam. Looking at the reviews online that seems to be really consistent with people remarking about fully loaded planes. Perhaps why there is no mention of getting upgrades anywhere, in fact they do not have a frequent flyer program, though that could simply be the result of their explosive growth.

To talk about that growth I reached out to a contact at Airbus the company that supplies the entirety of the Tempest fleet. He told me how Tempest made use of their previous relations to start a smallish lease contract to try things out, but now they are leasing nearly 50 planes with more than that still on order directly from Airbus. He also remarked about their unusual choice for seating material with it being mesh instead of traditional leather of fabric covered foam cushioning. Having experienced the mesh seating myself I had to get used to the idea at first, but once you adjusted it a little it offered a really comfortable flight with the heating or cooling for each seat offering a level of comfort that is unmatched. My contact told me the costs of those seats where staggering up front, but he remarked that it would be quite cheap to refurbish all the seats by just changing out the mesh which could mean that cost in long run evens out. Perhaps it is that long therm vision that has made Airbus comfortable enough in their current partner ship.

It is clear from just the basics I have seen so far that despite all the signs that should predict the imminent failure of Tempest it is in fact doing the complete opposite. Perhaps people are willing to pay a bit extra for convenience and I will amazing service and perhaps they are also getting tired of being lied to or misdirected by marketing. No matter what it is, I know personally if I have a choice I will fly with Tempest again it has been the most relaxing flying journey I have had in my life. It surely has been a lot more relaxing than this rave party I am at now here in Amsterdam to hopefully catch the lady in charge for an interview. Look forwards to my next post to see if I have succeeded in that. I will also upload the full video and trip report once I am home again so keep an eye out on my youtube channel and as always if you want to visit my patreon page your support keeps this going.