The Truth About Aircraft Ownership

Most cost evaluations do not account for depreciation

Variable costs for maintaining and operating a private plane are considerable

Even fixed costs can be difficult to estimate. For example, the fixed annual costs for a Midsize Cabin Aircraft were estimated by JETNET to be $599,550 and estimated by Conklin & de Decker to be $460,000; however, the actual total fixed annual costs reported by Executive Jet Management were $1.2M

Whether a single plane or a fleet, time and money are invested in:
1. The hiring/firing of pilots and crew through current pilot shortage²
2. The scheduling of maintenance and operations as well as costs of unplanned incidents
3. Ensuring audit and regulatory schedules are adhered to
4. Managing the legal responsibilities associated with owning your own aircraft
5. Procuring alternative travel options during scheduled maintenance events

Aircraft are typically down for at least one week per year for regularly scheduled maintenance, with any unscheduled maintenance in addition to that. Most aircraft typically have even larger inspections that occur every few years, which can result in multiple weeks of downtime. 

Crew vacation and sick days result in more downtime.

If you’re sharing your aircraft, there will be inevitable scheduling issues.

Depending on the size of your aircraft, you may not have the range or capacity to fly where you need to go
Not all aircraft can fly in to all FBOs.

Unscheduled maintenance leads to interrupted travel or traveling via a questionable charter operator, unless you have a Supplemental Lift arrangement in place
In business, aircraft downtime means missed meetings, lost opportunities, and, in some cases, lost business.
 

There is overcapacity in the marketplace—decreasing the residual value of planes:

Sale price should account for brokerage fees, inspection, and refurbishment

At NetJets, if at any point after three years you choose to opt out of our ownership program, we will buy back your share

With NetJets, efficiency is key. You only buy what you need.

Share prices and fixed costs are scaled to match the number of flight hours you plan to use, freeing up capital for other investments
You’ll only pay for the time you’re on your aircraft—not for repositioning.

With access to a fleet of approximately 700 aircraft,⁴ you can upgrade or downgrade if necessary to accommodate your travel needs.

As NetJets tail numbers are never directly associated with the passengers on board a given flight, anonymity and discretion are still possible even after the mandate goes into effect, which may be a significant advantage to those who utilize private aviation for business use