An aircraft can serve as the ultimate cash generating machine (and sometimes as a successful pursuit). However, will having access to your own aircraft provide you greater financial benefits than having access to charter flights?
For most traditional businesses and high net worth individuals (owners), the convenience of having your own aircraft allows for increased flexibility, enhanced privacy, and maximized time savings. Chartering flights often requires adjusting your travel plans to coincide with the schedule of charter companies. In contrast, you have considerable control over the times you depart and arrive at your destination as an owner of an aircraft. This type of control over your flight schedule significantly increases the ability to create positive outcomes for the companies you are working with that frequently travel to conduct business.
On the downside, with aircraft ownership comes a high level of responsibility. The actual acquisition cost of purchasing an aircraft is only the first step in creating an operational budget; there are several ongoing monthly costs, including: fuel, maintenance, crew salaries, hangar and insurance fees, and regulatory compliance. Before determining whether or not you should make an aircraft acquisition, it is critical that you are fully apprised of what the true costs of ownership will be.
Resources like AviaCost enable operators to further streamline and expedite the process of conducting thorough due diligence on the actual operating expenses associated with owning an aircraft. Leveraging actual operating cost information assists new aircraft owners/operators in determining if an aircraft acquisition meets their overall travel needs and ultimately will assist them in meeting their business financial objectives.
Ultimately, whether aircraft ownership is a tool for conducting business or an expensive means of having high status is determined by how frequently you’ll fly and how effectively you operate/manage the aircraft.
