Originally Posted by
UCLAbruins
Yeah but the problem with flight deparments is that many have 1 or 2 frames. What happens if that Citation II has a maintenance problem 20 minutes before departure??? or say you have to take 9 or 10 people from LAX to MIA? This is where the fracs come in. If you own a quarter share of a Hawker, and a wing falls off, they'll send you another one, might still be able to depart on time. Don't have to worry about maintenance fees, C checks, pilots' salaries, hangar fees, etc, etc, etc.
If the airplane breaks, maintenance gets to working on it. If they can't fix it the trip cancels, or if they absolutely/positively have to go we charter. Dropping another airframe to cover an AOG or being able to "up-size" to a bigger plane is a nice perk of fractional ownership, but an owner certainly pays a premium for that privilege.
Fractionals make a lot of sense for some businesses and individuals...and they don't make sense for others. They are ideal for folks that don't need more than a couple hundred hours each year, need various types of airplanes at various times, don't want to deal with the "dirty" side of ownership, or want the simple convenience of one call and the airplane is there when they want.
Fractional ownership is NOT ideal for companies that fly 300+ hours a year, those that need/want the depreciation, have no need for various sized airframes or those that want or need true operational control and flexibility over their flight operations. That said, there are plenty of one (or even two) plane 91 operations that own a Marquis Card for the instances you describe above...
The bottom line is this: the
true cost of fractional ownership is MUCH higher than operating one's own department beyond 200-250 hours of yearly utilization.
NJA (and CS and FX) provide a great product...but fractionals are by no means a universal solution to every company's lift requirements.