by Dan Kilkeary, former Jetcraft Senior Vice President of Sales - Americas

Private aviation, especially in today’s chaotic and often stressful travel environment, offers many benefits for both leisure and business travelers. But how do you decide when to invest in chartering, or whether you should purchase a private aircraft? Here are some parameters to keep in mind when weighing the options of chartering versus buying.

Advantages of Chartering an Aircraft

If you only fly private a few times a year, then chartering can be a more economic choice. With numerous charter options available today, you can choose exactly the type of plane that fits your travel needs for each specific trip. Keep in mind these three benefits to chartering an aircraft:

Flexibility—a charter affords you the ability to decide when, where and how to fly. In the end, chartering is ideal when flight usage is sporadic and needs are difficult to predict.

Variety—chartering offers the option to ch...

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Aaron Kreissler, Director of MRO Sales, Jet Aviation

How long have you been at your current organization?

I have been at Jet Aviation for 26 years.

What are your responsibilities within your organization?

I am responsible for MRO and Completion Sales, Marketing and Customer Care for Jet Aviation in St Louis, which includes a few different groups of people. We have a regional sales force working in the field that is the primary face of Jet Aviation to our customers. The Internal MRO Sales team is made up of highly technical individuals who produce our proposals and advise customers. These are the folks that answer the questions when a customer or industry partner is evaluating modifications to prospective aircraft, and they are also constantly educating me. The Completion Sales team handles project management for all completions and is the customer’s single point of contact throughout the process. Marketing has both a tactical and strategic role. Finally, our Customer Care team ensures that every customer who comes to St Louis feels like they are a member of the Jet Aviation family.

What do you love most about your job? What is a typical day like?

Every week, even every day, is a relay race. We’ll have a different person starting off and even a different anchor, but without the full team we would not win.

I love that no day is a baseline day. We have friends all over the globe, reaching out to us no matter what the hour, sometimes with projects we could not have dreamed up. I love when we work together to come up with an amazingly effective and unique solution.

Why did working in the Business Aviation industry interest you, and how did you get started?

I grew up in a small town and business jets were for the extremely elite, but I did not know much about them. Everything though was a Lear: a Gulfstream, a Challenger, a Jetstar; I thought they were all Learjets. When I began working with Sabreliner I started to learn about other business aircraft, but it was the career move to Midcoast where my eyes were opened to the breadth and benefits of business aviation.

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Product Overview

The Challenger 850 is derived from the Bombardier CRJ200 commercial airliner. It can accommodate up to 50 standard class seats as a corporate shuttle, but is often configured to accommodate 14-16 passengers with an executive configuration.

As of February 2017, 43% of the Challenger 850 aircraft were purchased pre-owned by their current owners, the other 57% new. Currently, 8.7% are for sale with the majority of those (67%) under an exclusive broker agreement. When for sale, the average time on the market is 744 days.

Brief History

The Challenger 850 was first manufactured in 1996 as the Challenger SE (Special Edition) and rebranded in 2006 as the Challenger 850. Production ended in 2012 following completion of 71 deliveries.

Worldwide Appeal

There are 69 Challenger 850 aircraft in operation today. All of these are wholly owned with none in shared or fractional ownership. 11.9% of the Challenger 850 aircraft are currently leased. Europe and Asia have the largest percentage (39% each), followed by North America (19%).

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The Asia-Pacific market continues to show signs of business aviation growth, and we are tracking promising activity throughout the region. Jetcraft’s 10 Year Market Forecast predicts Asia-Pacific will remain one of the most active of the emerging markets (and the third-largest business aviation market behind North America and Europe), accounting for 10% of unit deliveries from 2016-2025 (789 units). As we closed 2016, the best year in our company’s 55-year history, Asia-Pacific accounted for approximately 20% of our results, on par with Europe.

One of the key drivers for Asia-Pacific’s business aviation sales activity, from our perspective, is a greater acceptance of pre-owned aircraft among buyers as well as an increase in the number of first-time sellers in the market. It remains a region where buyers are inclined to purchase new aircraft, but there is a significant shift in attitude, where buyers are acquiring pre-owned aircraft in greater numbers and with growing confidenc...

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Ryan Shannon, Corporate Council, Jetcraft
Location: Minneapolis, MN, USA

How long have you been at Jetcraft?

Close to 5 years (since June, 2012).

What are your responsibilities within the global Jetcraft team?

I handle most of the day-to-day legal matters for Jetcraft, including internal corporate matters, vendor agreements, employment agreements, etc. I also work on aircraft acquisition and sale matters, with a primary focus on Jetcraft’s owned aircraft inventory and trade transactions.

Describe a typical day or week in your role.

I spend the majority of my time working on aircraft transactions. This entails drafting letters of intent, aircraft purchase agreements and ancillary documents, and negotiating the terms with buyers and sellers. I begin a typical day by reviewing emails and prioritizing my workload, and then drafting or revising various agreements related to our pending aircraft transactions. In the run-up to a closing, there is a lot of email and telephone correspondence with my colleagues and other parties as we get everything in place. I also spend a fair amount of time coordinating with Peter Antonenko (COO) and Chad Anderson (President) on deal matters and taking direction from them on which ones need focus.

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Product Overview

The Gulfstream G450 is a direct descendent of the Gulfstream G400/GIV-SP series. It comes with upgraded engines (Rolls-Royce Tay 611-8C) with FADEC, and redesigned thrust reverser, nacelle and pylon that, coupled with aerodynamic improvements, increase range and payload.

As of November 2016, 33% of the Gulfstream G450 aircraft were purchased pre-owned by their current owners, the other 67% new. Currently 8.5% are for sale with the majority of those (76%) under an exclusive broker agreement. When for sale, the average time on the market is 244 days.

Brief History

Flight-testing of the Gulfstream G450 started in April 2003 and FAA certification was completed in August 2004. A total of 342 Gulfstream G450 aircraft have been manufactured, all are still in operation today. Production of the G450 will end in early 2018 as Gulfstream transitions production to its new G500.

Worldwide Appeal

There are 342 Gulfstream G450 aircraft in operation today. Most of these are wholly owned (321) with 5 in shared and 16 in fractional ownership. 15% of the 342 are currently leased. North America has the largest percentage of G450 aircraft (58%), followed by Asia (29%) and Europe (9%).

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The business aviation industry today is showing continued signs of growth, and improved business conditions are creating a favorable environment for individuals and corporations who may have postponed such transactions during the economic downturn to again consider making the high-value investment of procuring an aircraft.

As with any purchase, paying cash is the easiest way to close a transaction. Another option may be for owners to complete an aircraft trade-in transaction which can free up capital so the owner can move more quickly toward acquiring a model more suitable for their changing needs. Some experts, however, advise that even if an individual or corporation has enough cash available or an asset they can trade in, it may make more financial sense in certain instances to either finance or lease the aircraft.

Many aircraft financing institutions focus on the ability of the client to repay the financing. It does not mean they do not care about the aircraft itself, but r...

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Karen Watkins, Jetcraft
Location: Minneapolis, MN, USA

How long have you been at Jetcraft?

I joined the Jetcraft family in September 2014 as an Administrative Assistant. My role is office administration in our Minneapolis office. I directly support the President, COO and transaction team.

Describe a typical day or week in your role.

Part of what I love about my job is that no two days are ever the same. My daily tasks vary each day depending on the needs of the company. I do everything from assisting with processing aircraft closing documents to answering calls to booking company travel.

What do you love most about your job?

The industry as a whole is so interesting and exciting that I find it difficult to pinpoint what I love most. There are so many things about my job that I truly love! One unexpected thing that this job has given me is the opportunity to see parts of the world I had only dreamt about before, which I am truly grateful for.

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Product Overview

The Hawker 850XP is identical to the Hawker 800XP except it has upgraded avionics, a redesigned cabin interior (within the same 551 cubic foot space), and includes winglets that have increased its range by 140 nautical miles with four passengers and available fuel. The balance field length is shorter at 5,640 feet and the long range cruise speed has increased to 402 kts from 389 kts over the Hawker 800XP.

As of December 2016, 67% of the Hawker 850XP aircraft were purchased pre-owned by their current owners, the other 33% new. Currently, 8.1% are for sale with a portion of those (50%) under an exclusive broker agreement. When for sale, the average number of days on the market is 450 days.

Brief History

Certified in 2006, the Hawker 850XP is the third member of the 800 series. A total of 100 Hawker 850XP aircraft have been manufactured with all but one in operation.

Worldwide Appeal

There are 99 Hawker 850XP aircraft in operation today.  Most of these are wholly owned (97) with 2 shared. 17% of the 99 are currently leased. North America has the largest percentage of Hawker 850XP aircraft (63%), followed by Asia (17%) and Europe (11%).

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