Originally Posted by
Cubdriver
I would think if the Meridian is used primarily as a personal airplane, that is the reason it is not selling well. Financing is hard to get right now unless you could just about loan them the money yourself, especially for high-end personal aircraft like the Meridian. This is why Cessna is not selling many jets- the loan pool dried up. In the case of commercial aircraft in this category, they are more appealing because the operating expenses are usually lower than similar sized jets, and for cost-conscious charter and corporate buyers they simply look better than jets right now.
Cubdriver has it hit on the head exactly. Meridians do have a 500+lbs useful with full fuel. It is more of a owner/pilot than business flown by professionals, but does get a lot of mixed use. Right now though, that market is soft for a multitude of reasons. People that can afford the TBM's, haven't been "hurt" as much so to speak by comparison
There are always trade-off's, but if you find the right person with the right mission profile, this plane will pay off in it's efficiency. Most people want this, that, and the other, but they never use it, and just pay extra for those options. Someone wise will get what fits 90-95% of their mission profiles, and make the occasional sacrifice(like a fuel stop) for the once or twice a year trip that would require that, and you'd save $1mil over the next priced airframe(new of course)
The irony of this whole thing, is I just found out 15 minutes ago we sold one, and we do have a current meridian owner looking to upgrade to a newer one also. So goes to show you things can turn quickly.