Does anyone know why it is beneficial for NetJets to have only 5 bases????
Obviously, it is beneficial to the pilots to have more bases. In a typical airline with a hub and spoike system, it makes sense to have domicilies only in the hubs plus any other major cities they operate out of. That makes sense to me.
But I don't really understand the fractional industry. Since NetJets fly to literally every reasonable sized airport in the country, and crews are normally airlined to their plane, it doesn't make sense to have a very small amount of domicilies. Since NetJet's only bases flight crews at 5 domiciles, the odds of having the plane their is very slim. Therefore the majority of the pilots need to be airlined to a plane (MORE Time and Money).
Now imagine NetJet's adds 5 more bases (10 total) in SEA, DEN, MDW, IAD, and STL (I just picked some big airports that were distributed in their geographical location). The chances of having a crews aircraft in those domiciles in twice as much. Fewer crews need to be airlined (LESS Time and Money). If they still need to be airlined, they will more than likely be closer to their aircraft (LESS Time and Money). And finally, it doubles the options of places to live for pilots (Happier pilots due to increased QOL). Hey, it could even be used as a bargaining tool for the company!
I don't understand why NetJet's and FlexJet use a very limited number of domiciles. It makes much more sense what Citation Shares and Flight Options do (have many domiciles). Does anyone have some insight as to why NetJets and FlexJet are like this???