Most Profitable Charter Aircraft
If you were going to start a charter company from scratch, what would be the top 2-3 airplanes you would want to use? I currently manage a King Air C90 that I could lease at a very reasonable price. Is this usually a profitable charter plane? What are a few others you guys would recommend?
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Originally Posted by JJOSH122
(Post 895867)
If you were going to start a charter company from scratch, what would be the top 2-3 airplanes you would want to use? I currently manage a King Air C90 that I could lease at a very reasonable price. Is this usually a profitable charter plane? What are a few others you guys would recommend?
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Originally Posted by Ziggy;896352[B
]The most profitable aircraft is the one you're not financially responsible for.[/B] But it really depends on which market your serving. Citations still seem to be popular.
I can't remember the website, but there is one out there that lists the average operating cost per hour. To own an airplane and try to make money with it is insane. I recently lost my job to a situation like that. Usually the only reason an airplane is on a charter certificate is to offset cost, not make money. Unless you're flying boxes, and the airplane is extremely busy, Ala Ameriflight/Airnet, don't plan on making money, plan on spending money. |
Originally Posted by slyguy
(Post 896577)
I can't remember the website, but there is one out there that lists the average operating cost per hour. To own an airplane and try to make money with it is insane. I recently lost my job to a situation like that. Usually the only reason an airplane is on a charter certificate is to offset cost, not make money. Unless you're flying boxes, and the airplane is extremely busy, Ala Ameriflight/Airnet, don't plan on making money, plan on spending money.
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Flexjet and Netjets are fractionals...
so in order to use them, you have to BUY a fraction, THEN pay a monthly management fee, THEN pay a per-hour usage fee... That is how they make money! :) There is no such thing as a "profitable" charter... you have to charge so much in order to make a profit that someone would just go to a 135 company that is just offsetting costs for some owner-- just like slyguy said. But that 135 company is charging a hefty monthly mgmt fee, plus taking 15-20% of revenue made from charter, so the mgmt companies are making out like bandits while the pilots do all the work! |
Originally Posted by slyguy
(Post 896577)
I can't remember the website, but there is one out there that lists the average operating cost per hour. To own an airplane and try to make money with it is insane.
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Originally Posted by f16jetmech
(Post 896742)
I keep seeing this statement... is that just because of fuel prices and economy? You would think somewhere you could make money with a plane. I mean, how do any of the charter companies do it? Like flexjet and netjets etc.
You can make slim margins on an airplane on a 135 certificate on every flight. But when maint. comes up, or you need to send pilots to recurrent for their 6 month 8410's and insurance, or the airplane needs upgrades, or a radio craps out, or the nose wheel steering buys the farm, or you have a tire blow out, or the left main gear door develops a crack, or the cowl splits and the nose bowl needs to be replaced and re-painted, there goes not only your profits, but more than likely some money out of pocket too. My former employer was going to try and buy a Metro. He was going to get it for a song and dance, with a ton of spares. Even with financing half only of the cost on an airplane that was from the seventies, the monthly nut to crack would have left about $100/200 an hour in profit. On an airplane that might charter 35-40 hours on a REALLY good month, you do the math. Is the risk really worth the return? This was also paying the pilots hourly, not a salary. That is a good way to cycle through pilots like some cycle through underwear. If you want to keep a guy around, pay him a salary so when he's not flying, he still has piece of mind that his mortgage is still going to be paid. |
Off the top of my head the DOC's on a C-90 is around $550/hr. Looking at a wet lease what do you think you can bill it out at?
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Originally Posted by clipperskipper
(Post 896959)
Off the top of my head the DOC's on a C-90 is around $550/hr. Looking at a wet lease what do you think you can bill it out at?
$500/hr:D............... |
Originally Posted by mshunter
(Post 896892)
You can make slim margins on an airplane on a 135 certificate on every flight. But when maint. comes up, or you need to send pilots to recurrent for their 6 month 8410's and insurance, or the airplane needs upgrades, or a radio craps out, or the nose wheel steering buys the farm, or you have a tire blow out, or the left main gear door develops a crack, or the cowl splits and the nose bowl needs to be replaced and re-painted, there goes not only your profits, but more than likely some money out of pocket too.
Many newer charter aircraft are on engine programs like TAP/ESP/JSSI/MSP/etc. and some even on nclusive hourly maintenance programs like Cessna's ProTech or FalconCare where all scheduled & unscheduled maintenance is included in a single hourly rate. With programs like these, the unscheduled maintenance event isn't a "budget buster". There's a reason why many owned charter aircraft are older, however; low acquisition price and the high operating costs can be passed right along to the customer. |
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