Although private aircraft travel may be one of the best values today, the regulation of its use is highly sophisticated. This reason and the complexity of aircraft operations, we believe, mandates professional aviation consultation, advice and guidance to be considered before committing to any aircraft investment and operation. 

Yes, the use of private aircraft does cost money like any other quality tool or service that provides true first class and convenience. However, it additionally provides customized travel flexibility and business opportunities that can be served by no other means.  

The private aircraft industry is the most regulated and scrutinized industry world-wide.  There are many factors involved, such as stringent safety requirements, complexity, advanced technology, advanced training, fuel consumption, land and air infrastructure, and much more to manufacture and operate aircraft.

The real cost of private aircraft travel does not stop at the rate per flight hour. The capability to travel over a greater distance in a shorter time formulates into more time (money) to spend in a larger geographical area to do business. These factors add value and reduce proportionately the cost per flight hour.

The need to travel by air must be first analyzed to find out if this specific type of travel is right for you. The information from the analysis can then help determine what level of use would best meet the need.

The following are some factors considered in the initial analysis: travel schedule, the need to be in multiple places over short periods of time, time value, added opportunities, and the intangible benefits of private aircraft travel.

Schedule

Travel schedules are important. However, the level of importance must be determined. Factors to consider are:

  • How far in advance can you plan your schedule
  • The need to travel on short notice
  • The significant impact if schedules cannot be met
  • The impact on local responsibilities (loss of productivity) that added travel time may have
  • The number of people needing to travel
  • The importance of being productive while traveling
  • Travel coordination time convenience
  • Convenience versus stress
  • Travel availability peace of mind
  • How privacy & security are valued
  • How convenience is valued
  • How time is valued

Private aircraft travel offers the ability to go at a moments notice. Whether you have an important business opportunity, a medical emergency, or a last minute whim to go someplace special, private aircraft will go when you want. You may find that airlines do not have a schedule that fits your needs. With a private aircraft you can arrive at a time that works for your schedule to go direct and closer to your final destination. 

Not only can you go when you want, you can go where you want. The airlines serve only a few hundred of the largest airports in the United States whereas private aviation can reach over 5,000 airports. This allows you to land closer to your final local destination avoiding the need to spend hours of driving to get there. 

Schedule availability and flexibility create time savings. 

Time-Value

Time is money. When traveling with private aviation, you earn time. How much is time worth to you? 

Consider the per-hour value of the people or equipment needing to travel. An all day meeting on-site would require scheduling an airline out the day before and returning the day after. This spends two days just to travel. Private aircraft travel would allow the meeting and travel all in one day. The valuable time earned is a result in going direct to the destination, without terminal changes, layover delays, landing to an airport closer to the local destination, and baggage claim transitions. To compute the savings, multiply the hourly time value of each person on-board by the days and hours saved. Then add the saved transportation, meals, and hotel cost. You may find that private aircraft travel is not as expensive as you may think.   

In addition to saving opportunity costs, consider the trip cost on a per person basis. Private aircraft costs include paying for all available passenger seats and baggage or cargo areas. As you occupy more seats, the cost per-person goes down. If you are traveling for business, the trip costs less. If traveling for pleasure, you can add more friends or family at no extra cost, adding value.

For example, if 2 passengers paid salaries of 0,000 need to travel from Greenville, SC to Washington D.C. round trip, the cost might be $8,000 in a light jet or $4,000 per person. If six people make the trip, the cost is about $1,300 per person. In addition, each person will probably spend three hours driving to the airport, parking, checking in, clearing security, waiting to board, waiting to takeoff, waiting to disembark, and waiting at baggage claim. In lost time alone you would save $900 plus the opportunity cost of eighteen unproductive hours. Add overnight accommodations, transportation, and meal cost, the savings could be an additional $1,000 in expenses. Now the total cost per person is approximately $1,140 for true first class travel, on-demand (your schedule), direct flight, without the hassles of airline travel. This is without considering the productive time that may be used in route provided by the friendly cabin environment of private aircraft.

Another example is shipping parts that may be holding up a “just in time” production line. Production line penalties, loss of time, and material waste often cost tens of thousands of dollars per hour. Getting the parts there by private aircraft could save a surmountable amount of time—money.

What if cost is not the most important factor in making your trip?  For example, what if a company needs to visit four different rural locations to do a plant inspection tour? Could the inspections be completed in a day? Only by using private aircraft may this be even possible. Even if the airlines were cheaper, they may not service the location you need to get to. You literally cannot practically get there from here unless using private aircraft.

Time is money, but time saved also creates additional business and personal opportunities.

Added Opportunities 

In addition to flexibility and value, private aviation creates new opportunities. It provides an opportunity to personally manage (without adding other employees) a larger geographical market of customers and vendors that would not otherwise be possible. The added business edge to making face-to-face contact with clients in a short time cannot be duplicated. Private aircraft helps you accomplish things that give you the edge on your competitors. 

Private aircraft is a tool that can add to the bottom line by letting you grow new business. When you compare the cost of the aircraft against a new business deal that may be worth millions or more, private aviation becomes a bargain.

A real example of this is a company that had been trying to earn the business of a new customer. Unfortunately, the customer could not work a visit to the job site into their schedule since it required multiple days due to travel. Eventually, the company purchased its own private aircraft and was able to travel out and pick the customer up. Company executives rode along to use the time and cabin class environment to make final presentation preparations. They met with the new customer, flew them back, showed them the proposal, and sealed the deal on the way home in the same day. The use of private aircraft travel was invaluable as the tool used to do the job and the cost was insignificant to the overall bottom line expense of doing business.

Private aircraft also makes more time available to spend with families and at personal events in today’s, too often hectic, schedule of doing business. This factor alone contributes directly to individual productivity.

Private aircraft also provides the opportunity to better support special needs flights. Whether travel for children, elderly, or medical travel for sick employees, family members, or the unfortunate emergency, private aviation access is the solution.

We mentioned earlier how air travel security is necessary and important to air safety. Although regulated and governed by the same Transportation Security Agency (TSA), private aircraft offers the opportunity to protect and provide security without the intimidating, time consuming, and often embarrassing practices of airline security.  Private aircraft travel and security also offers added protection against trade secrets and proprietary information from the competition.

The private aircraft opportunities of added passenger seat and baggage space, direct schedules, no layovers or terminal changes, arriving closer to your local destination, and without the hassles of airline travel, all and many more represent private, secure, productive, non-stressful, and convenient air travel.

Private aircraft travel provides both tangible and intangible beneficial factors.

Intangible Benefits

We have introduced scheduling convenience, the value of time (money), and the potential opportunities that private aviation makes possible. Now let’s think about some intangible benefits of private aircraft use that do not have an attached price tag. 

Private aircraft use results in passengers being more rested, more focused, less stressed, more productive, and getting home in time for important personal and family events.

These intangibles are valued to both businesses and individuals. Any company may benefit from an employee who can better concentrate on the job assigned rather than deal with the issues that come with airline travel. Even though the intangibles may be difficult to quantify, they are obvious to those who choose to employ the use of private aircraft and have experienced the differences.

In a private and more personal setting, you can conduct business knowing that even though the day is busy, you do not have be concerned about the trip home and will make it back in time to spend more time with family.  

Even when traveling for pleasure, you are traveling to get away and enjoy your time off.  Private aircraft travel avoids spending that valuable time with the headaches of airline terminals and travel.

Again, the intangible benefit of convenience becomes tangible when incorporating the use of private aircraft travel.