Executive jet travel once belonged only to millionaire aircraft owners or company CEO’s prepared to justify the use of corporate aircraft to skeptical shareholders. Warren Buffett, a famous investor and one of the world’s richest men, once complained about the cost of his corporate jet, which he nicknamed “The Indefensible”. But before long he’d purchased NetJets, the pioneer of “fractional” aircraft ownership. A number of other alternatives to share the cost of owning, chartering and renting private jets are also available.

With a fractional ownership program, you buy a “share” of a plane, with the price pro-rated from the market price of a full aircraft. As an owner, you have guaranteed access (50-400 hours annually, depending on your share size) to the plane with as little as four hours’ notice. Depending on the company, the plane may be split into 16ths or even 32nds of a fractional share. Fractional owners pay a monthly maintenance fee and an “occupied” hourly operating fee. Some participants maintain fractional ownership in two or more planes, giving them increased flexibility in range, passenger capacity and accessibility at an affordable price.

On average, executive jets often carry no more than two or three passengers, emphasizing that many users value exclusivity above all. Steve Guzek, manager of FlighTime Business Jets, says it is misleading to compare the cost of traveling on an executive jet with that on a scheduled air carrier because they are quite different journeys. With your own plane, you fly where and when you want to, frequently to and from smaller airfields that are not served by any airline.

In fact, avoiding the airlines has become a principal reason why people consider using private aircraft, says Mike Riegel, consultant and publisher of Fractional Insider, an executive-jet newsletter. Underpinning this observation is the fact that many companies are beginning to attach a more realistic value to the time their senior employees spend traveling.

If an executive fails to arrive in time for a crucial meeting, for instance, this will disrupt the work of a large number of people and perhaps even the outcome of an important deal. Long journeys and overnight stops are often unavoidable because many flights, especially in the United States, involve passing through big hub airports and catching connecting flights. “People are finding it more and more frustrating to get from A to B, not least because the hub-and-spoke system breaks down very quickly,” says Mr. Riegel.

The VLJ Factor

In recent years a whole new category of private jet known as Very Light Jets (VLJ) has emerged, made possible by continuing advances in aerospace engineering and materials science. These “mini-jets” are expected to cut typical jet operating costs, and private pilots are ordering many for their own use. The Eclipse 500, the smallest of the VLJ’s, seats up to four passengers and costs around $1.65 million. Other new entries from Cessna, Embraer and others are for sale in the $2 to $3 million range and feature a typical range of some 1,000 – 1,200 miles with 4 passengers.

The anticipation surrounding the VLJ marketplace has led to orders for hundreds of aircraft, ensuring long waits for delivery and a thriving market in production positions. Even planes in current production like the Cessna Mustang and Eclipse 500 have waiting lists of two to three years, while some VLJ’s still in development won’t even begin delivery until the next decade. Honda says that by the start of 2007 it had received over 100 orders for its new HondaJet—even though deliveries are not due to begin until 2010.

Several new “per-seat on demand” air services are counting on the more affordable VLJ aircraft to underpin a new “air taxi” approach to travel. One such company, DayJet, began operations in Florida late last year and plans to expand throughout the south-eastern United States. DayJet intends to serve smaller cities and communities where travelling a few hundred miles for a two-hour meeting can take two full days out of an executive’s week. DayJet’s business model is built around the small Eclipse 500 jet and depends heavily on how rapidly Eclipse can supply aircraft.

Light Jet Advantages

From a user’s perspective, the success of “per-seat on demand” services like DayJet and JumpJet (a similar service using larger business jets) depends on the passengers’ willingness to travel along with other paying passengers and accept some flexibility in scheduling. Since one is effectively “chartering” a seat and not the entire plane, the exclusivity and privacy of private jet travel is no longer a given.

Once all the ownership and operating costs of jet travel (inspections, engine maintenance, piloting, insurance, etc.) are factored in, the economics of well-maintained light jets like the Cessna Citation are comparable to many of the new VLJ’s. Moreover, Citation-class jets — like those operated by FlighTime — feature larger and more comfortable cabins, more amenities and increased range and speed, while retaining all the scheduling flexibility and access to smaller airports that make private air travel so much more attractive than commercial airlines.

Exploring Your Options

When it comes to air travel, there are more options available than ever before. From fractional ownership to on-demand services, only you can decide how much your time — and your security, patience, comfort and dignity — are worth. To explore the many benefits of private air travel in more detail, contact San Antonio-based FLIGHTIME Business Jets at 210-930-3613 or visit their website at www.flightime.com.