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Fractional Airplane


Can fractional air work on small private airplanes too? A fractional airplane if you will. Think airplane timeshare. During the past thirty years (more or less), it has been tested on many occasions. The nomenclature has altered but the idea has continued principally as is. Fractional airplane is to assume a fractional aircraft ownership and while also sharing fractional cost of purchase, taxes, maintenance, insurance, etc. The owners have a company to oversee the executive airplane and maintain scheduling of the aircraft. As they require it, the owners reserve the private plane; all on a first-come first-serve basis.

Altogether, that resembles a fair plan, but in the past, it did not always function correctly. Times have changed, and with them, the financial prospects of owning and maintaining fractional planes. Let us all know that today expenses are higher than ever, thus one must know they have the means to own an private airplane. Indeed, with this unchartered environment, a slew of fractional companies have formed fractional airplane ownership programs.

In spite of the term fractional airplane being employed, these little programs of fractional aircraft differ from those provided for jets in several important ways. The jet aircraft ownership seldom fly on private jets they purchased; rather they almost always use an identical private aircraft that is the most handy to the location requested. Fractional private jet proprietors obtain guaranteed availability, somewhere within a four to ten hour timeframe. This functions, evidently, because jets can quickly be moved in time to meet the guarantees. Moreover, professionals pilots are used for fractional jets, for conspicuous reasons.

Unfortunately, none of this holds true in fractional airplane ownership programs. It should be that fractional plane ownership partners should be allowed to pilot any manner private planes, but the reality is there are few private aircraft available in these fractional airplane "fleets." With fractional airplanes, assured availability of the shared aircraft is not guaranteed. If other owners have the private aircraft booked up, then latecomers are up the proverbial creek. Availability can also be cut down by maintenance. Should a fractional airplane be in the shop and another private airplane not be available, that places one on the outside looking in again.

Some fractional airplane programs provide differing levels of plans. Each level has its prerogatives, but basically the levels come with ascending amounts of flight time and scheduling preference. Of course, the higher the level the more flight time and the more preference in scheduling an aircraft. But also with higher levels come higher monthly fees, higher of maintenance fees, and as higher acquirement cost. A perk of a fractional ownership airplane over a fractional private jet is that fuel is part of the package. Fractional jets come with fuel as an extra per trip expense. Another perk is that some fractional airplanes have a resale factored into the plan. That is the airplane will be sold after a set period of time and the profit will be distributed among the shareholders. Fractional jets do not have this opportunity.