Real world costs of owning a private jet

FYI, there are several companies which build those things around here (I don't know about Prevost specifically). They all have airplanes, if that tells you anything...

 

I didn't say they were idiots. But is is not cheaper for them to have their own jet, any more than it is cheaper for us to have our ridiculous cars that it would be to have a Civic.

 

Of course private jets are not cheaper. But what exactly is your point?

 

Yes, I am sure that same conversation happens in Silicon Valley, Manhattan, Palm Beach, etc but its not a conversation I had ever heard before and certainly not something that most conversations anywhere include!

I was at a restaurant in Hong Kong back in the 80's when there was this sudden bustle at the next table and this guy pulled out a very large attache case making a strange noise. Turned out to be one of the very early cell phones. That was a first also!
What next?!? We country bumpkins need to take it slowly!

 

Depends on what you mean. Is it "cheaper"? Obviously not. However, is it cost-effective? Maybe.

I used to fly for a company which manufactured capital equipment. Our typical unit sold for anywhere from $300k-$5 million, and our CEO was the main (and best) deal closer.

If the airplane allowed him to close just one additional $5 million dollar deal (and it did), the profit more than paid for our whole flight operation for the year. So, would it have been cheaper for him to be travelling on the airlines and miss out on those deals?

 

I can tell you about my trip to the Sony store in Ginza last week if you want to know what the latest robot/tv/mp3 player looks like.

 

Please tell me that is 3 different items. I'm pretty sure Skynet is just around the corner if we are talking about an all-in-wonder-tv-mp3 player-*robot*.

 

Yea, it's like they have different words for everything.

 

Good one! My laugh of the day!

 

A friend of mine just flew to Sweden on one of her Dad's planes, and that one in paticular is about 1.8 Million a year to run.

 

That include EVERYTHING?

Is it true that jets need a day off each week to be maintained?

 

Apart from the pre-flight checks, all what the jet needs is the normal service intervals specified by the manufacturer.

 

We pay $75k per month mortgage payments on a $10m loan which is fully amortized over 20 years.
Hanger costs are close to $10k per month.
Chief pilot $90k +benefits =$120k per year
2nd pilot runs $65k+ ins =$70k
we hire additional pilots when needed for charters
Insurance for the aircraft plus NBAA required liability for part 135 charter operations runs $105k per year
We have direct hourly costs of $2200 per flight hour for fuel ,landing fees,catering,flightphones, and maintenance reserves which run $250 per engine per hour.We also have reserves for landing gear and thrust reversers services which run about $150 per hour. Some operators keep reserves for paint and interiors as well. We are in a charter pool which will net us $1400 per flight hour. This usually comes in at about $20-30k per month as we do not push for hours. We did 4 round trips to Las Vegas from Miami during SEMA and the costs for that week was over $80k in expenses alone and we had no dead legs as the plane sat on the ground at LAS waiting for passengers.
We figure the budget to be just over $1.5M per year with only $860000 out of pocket when we closed on the plane in March of 04.We also are allowed a pretty heavy depreciation schedule due to the tax laws in effect when we purchased this aircraft. In closing if we have 6 people to fly cross country and back the costs are about the same as first class tickets purchased last minute. If its just one passenger we almost always fly commercial.

 

Yeah, but not to the level of grounding it every week. Unless of course we're talking about a 1970 model.

 

Some aircraft do require weekly inspections. I believe the Hawkers, at least the ones before the 800, are one (gotta love those British!). Even then, I think the weekly inspection is only an hour or so.

Most aircraft require some sort of serious maintenance at least once a year, with varying intervals after that. Plus additional maintenance based on hours flown, of course.

 

Comical !
I worked at Business Jet Solutions as a Maintenance Scheduler for 20+or- Lear 35s. The most stressful job I ever had and one of 2 I ever quit. These things break from the moment they leave the factory. The fleet of Challengers was worse.

The richest man I know, who also owned a commercial aircraft maintenance company facility rode around in a old Hawker. The straight jet coal burner. King of the cheapskates because he was spending HIS money, not a Corporate business expense.

If I had one I'd sell it, sit on my but by the beach and live off the interest.

 

This is a very informative post. These are details you never hear about. As a self proclaimed aviation nut, this explained much about using a private jet as a business tool. With a budget of over a million sunk into one each year, some serious deals need to be closed to make the company profitable just so the staff could save additional time over being herded like cattle into the commercial venue.

 

Arnold Palmer owns and flys his own Learjet. I've always admired him for that.

Anyone interested in an up and coming, in the near future, lower cost private jet, may want to look into the new VLJs...very light jets.

Click Here

 

John Travolta is an aviation nut and owns and flies his own "restored" Boeing 707, among other planes. Here's a pic of his house, he keeps his planes at home in his "garage"...
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Travolta is also a scientologist and his kid has autism but he refuses to acknowledge it since it isn't recognized by scientology. Yes, a true class act.

What a nut.

 

Fantastic,when he flew it to Sydney a few years ago ,many current and retired Qantas staff members were at Sydney airport to welcome him and the 707.Got fantastic coverage here in Australia.

 

I know that Travolta bought & refurbished an old Boeing (707?) for about $1M I think Trump did more or less the same

beats paying $40M + for a new G5