135 Profit Margin

[fly407]

I know I have seen this thread before so forgive me for asking because I can not seem to find it. What is the break even point for a light twin doing Part 135? In other words how many billable hours per month do you need to stay in the black? And while I am at it what is going rate per hour for a light twin?
Thanks in advance.

 

[ultrarunner]

It's going to vary for every operator based on their fixed-costs. Think about it:

One operator might operate a brand new baron that set them back 1 million bucks.

The next guy operates a 40 year old Aztec that was won in a bar fight.

Completely different cost structure. Completely different break-even points.

Need more infomation.

 

[getonit]

You won't make any money buying an aircraft for charter.
That is the reason almost all chartered aircraft are owned by individuals or corporations. What owners are trying to do is reduce their total costs of ownership, that is all they can hope for. Charter simply does not get the utilization out of airplanes to cover the enormous costs of making the payments on multi-million dollar aircraft. If you absolutely want to get into charter find some rich guy to buy and airplane and tell him he will make money on it, there is a thread somewhere going on about why charter stinks so bad.

 

[flying_gringo]

32.6 hours and $93.22 / hour.

No problem - you'll make a mint.

fg

 

[FlyFlyFly]

I would argue that you would do better to charge $326 an hour and fly 93.22 hours per month.

Oh yeah, and like the other guy said: Get someone else to buy the airplane by telling them they will make money on it.

Oh, and don't forget to run all the bills through a shell company so you can mark up FBO bills, maintenance and parts.

Then you really will make a mint.

 

[heywatchthis]

YEA, charter is a gold mine. I once worked for an owner that thought he paid Netjets too much money so he left Netjets and acquired two aircraft. His plan was to have charter pay for the ENTIRE flight department and still have enough left over to cover his own personal use.

Talk about going down if flames. It was so ugly. I don't care what you do, there has never ever been a successful business model where charter can pay for the airplane.

Say again, what do you mean by break-even point?

 

[climbhappy]

no matter the size of the plane, charter has to be flown with 20 to 30 year plus old airplanes just to lose a little money. look at Pace, champion, sky king.

we all do rescue work for each other even with an onboard mechanic since when they break on the road, they really break.

why do you think a fractional plane is carved up and resold at three times it's acquisition cost?

 

[JediNein]

1. Infinity
2. Too many
3. Too much

If you even consider the time spent with the amount of paperwork and six or more rounds with the FAA to get approved, you are paying to work. Even with using another entity's aircraft, you still end up working for free.

 

[willNOTfly4free]

There is absolutely NO WAY you can own an aircraft for free by putting it on a charter certificate; regardless of the aircraft type. However, charter revenue will help offset the ownership cost a little, in addition to creating revenue for the management company. One of our MU300 owners used his charter revenue to install a new drink bar in his plane. Another MU300 owner is going to use some of his earnings to install new leather covering on the cabin seats. Industry standard is an 85%/15% split of charter revenue income. That is, the a/c owner receives the bigger slice of the revenue pie.