Fractional Jet Ownership

They say that money can't buy everything, which may be true. However, it can certainly buy you a lot of timesaving, just ask anyone who has participated in fractional jet ownership, which can most easily be described as a "flying timeshare."

So how exactly does fractional jet ownership work? A company or individual customer buys a fractional interest in an airplane, just as they may purchase partial ownership of a vacation spot condominium. With this purchase they can then use this or a similar aircraft for a specified number of hours and/or days out of the calendar year.

If the aircraft you have bought the fractional share in isn't available at the time you request.You also pay an hourly fee for time spent in the air plus a monthly management fee that covers maintenance and administration. The number of hours you can use the aircraft depends on the fractional ownership that you buy. Most fractional jet ownership programs allow some room for negotiation. As a rule a 1/4 fractional ownership gives you 200 hours a year, 1/8th would give you 100 hours, and 1/16 th would give you 50 hours.

Look for fractional jet ownership companies that have a fleet of aircraft with a reputation for long life and reasonable maintenance costs. The Falcon 50 and Falcon 900 are two such examples. Also companies that don't sell less than 1/4 shares bring the cost down by limiting the number of users per jet and a resulting reduction in charter costs as well as a lower incidence of scheduling conflicts with fewer numbers of fractional owners.

Large corporations are the biggest owners of fractional jets, with entrepreneurs, wealthy families, entertainers and sports stars next on the list. Those who have a demanding schedule that calls for them to be in a large variety of places cannot depend on commercial airlines, hence the demand for the flexibility of fractional jet ownership

There are very few cons to flying through a fractional jet ownership program. One downside is the ever-changing wave of life, which may affect your company's amount of travel time or your own personal use of a jet. This could result in a fairly significant financial loss, since you're typically tied in to a 5 year contract for the ownership. Most of the jet businesses also charge you a pretty hefty monthly fee, whether or not you fly, and when you incorporate fuel costs, landing fees, and other miscellaneous charges, you will spend well over what you would pay for a commercial flight. However, most people are pleased with their fractional jet ownership program and its options of comfort, schedule flexibility, and large time saving compared to commercial flights..