Corny Title.
With all the hoola hoop that's "going on" haha, do you think that the "fractional" business may boom in the future? I remember reading a post by NJA_Capt. he said after 9/11 the demand increased for the industry.

 

I'm sure that fractional, charter, and corporate flight departments won't be hurt by the recent going ons (with the exception of a possibility of increased fuel costs).

I know that it certainly provides another reason for me to give the CEO should he ever look at justifying the seemingly ever increasing costs of owning a corporate aircraft...

 

The real explosion you will see in the next several years are these VLJ's. In the 1980's, the only people who flew on private jets were people who could drop 20,30,40,50 million dollars on an airplane, and then pay for ALL the maintenance, all the gas, staff the operation with pilots... Then came fractionals. And we had an explosion in that market. Lots of people can't pay $30 million for a Citation 10, but they can pay less than $2 million for a 1/16 share of a Citation 10. The same explosion will happen with VLJ's. At $1-2 million a piece, a 1/16 share of a VLJ could cost under $100,000. $300 an hour operating expenses. There will be another explosion in people who can fly on private jets.

 

So if I asked you in terms of stability and job security, is it a better "way to go" in the long run? Also comparing that with cargo careers like ups/fedex, would one rather be better off in a fractional/charter/corporate gig?

 

Wonder if there will be an increase in crashes? Or will they hire pro pilots

 

They will have the minimum time for hire that the insurance companies require. The only increase in crashes will come from the guys trading up from their bonanzas thinking they can fly the huge increase in speed these jets will provide.

 

Why are people so blinded by the VLJ's...Eclipse has made so many statements about how the VLJ is going to change everything and frankly I think they are wrong...it's a bunch of hype so far and nothing has convinced me that the Eclipse 500 is anything more spectacular than buying an airline ticket and taking an RJ, hell I here the RJ is more comfortable than the 500. Geez Eclipse has fibbed a lot about what to expect from the 500, remember the claim they made that it could be done for under a milllion? Remember the claim that it could be operated for the same cost as a full fare airline ticket? well now the jet is over 1.5 mil and operations costs are above what it costs to buy a first class ticket on the airlines. I can't wait for the real truth of the VLJ to come out and we will all see that once it finally peaks it's reluctant nose out of the testing world and into the real world...http://eclipseaviationcritic.blogspot.com/ Thanks for the person who posted this link in the hangar forum my biggest suspicions of the Eclipse are becoming realities.

 

As much as I agree with you..... we must admit 1.5 million for any Jet is a deal! Considering a baron rolls of the line at a million these days.

 

Pearl Pilot- I am betting my career that the fractionals are going to be more stable than the vast majority of airlines, but I would have to say that Fedex and UPS would both be a lot more solid/ stable and a lot better paid. Those two are now the bench mark for pay and security in US aviation. While I believe those are the most stable and just about the best paid, I know I will never work at either since they are both so difficult to get into and because I believe I'm already at a career job now. If I knew the right people I might think about trying to get on, but I don't and the longer I'm at NetJets, the more difficult it will be for me to leave. The legacy airlines are starting to bounce back, but they will always be unstable unless the government reregulates the airlines again. They will probably be hiring a lot in the future with lots of retirements coming soon and better times looking near, but they always go in cycles and there aren't very many at the airlines who haven't been furloughed or had their company go out of business at least once. Good luck whatever you decide to do.

 

I'm sure many of you have seeing what has happened with the fractional ownership company here in Nashville. Here's the latest I've done on it, which includes links to the other stories I've done on it. http://www.nashvillepost.com/news/20...pay_in_another