Charter with Lt. twin be a success?

[banned username 2]

A C-414 has 7 seats for pax

Yeah and a REALISTIC useful ability to carry only 5 passengers (including one in the right seat)... Remember piston twins don't have the greatest flexibility when it comes to hauling a lot of people... So just cuz' it has 7 seats doesn't mean you can put 7 fare paying passengers on board...

 

[Flex]

I just talked to a charter operator down the road from where I live. Been in business for about 15 years flying metroliners. Selling them now, insurance is too high. 40K per year. His C402 is 20k a year. Just can't justify it. I was quoted 10k for cargo only, 135 in a beat up old 310. I think passengers would have been more near 14k. I guess you pay for the seat. Perhaps the answer would be to hook up with several individuals and doa fractional ownership with them in your light piston twin. Then the insurance would be less, and of course, your need to go out and solicit business would not be a factor since you fly exlusively for the owners. I think that's what I'd do to avoid high insurance costs. Then you'd be operating it under part 91 as well, and could avoid all the FAA stuff.

 

[cvsfly]

Like many have said here, it is a daunting process to get a 135 certificate. Not to burst anyone's buble who wants to set one up, but know what you are up against, know your motivations for doing so, know your market, and have alot of resources. Insurance is going to be the killer with many operations in the near future. There are still a few who haven't seen their renewal policy yet. You can get high liability policies, but your choices are limited. I was told there are only 3 companies now insuring fro liabilities 100 million or more. Part 135 carries a higher premimum. On a late model BE-B200 with hull at 3.5 mil, 100 million liability and a 10% discount for using 2 pilots on a regular basis we were paying $21k. We renewed in Feb and that same policy went to $43k. We had to lower the liab. to $50 mil and reduced the hull (which needed to be lowered) to below its current value and now we are required to have 2 pilots on PT 91 & 135 flights. We are now paying $32k.
You need to budget 12 mo. for a neophyte start up for the application process and you have to aquire the aircraft before the process is finished. You have to have patience and a "yes sir" mentality to survive the process. I don't know if FSDO's can restrict certificates based on the number of operators in an area any more, but you are supposed to show that you are economically viable to sustain an operation (they don't want to see that you are partial to cutting corners on maintenance, etc).
A successful charter business has an established market that ideally is supprted by its own maintenance, FBO, aircraft sales and management and even flight school. If you are thinking about doing one because you are eager for a job or to build flight time that you will leave to go to the majors, you are barking up the wrong tree. If you have some people that have asked you to explore this subject, pursue a co-owned/shared/fractional aircraft setup. Either way your investors will have to come up with significant capital with little or no return on investment.

 

[jetdriven]

Yeah and a REALISTIC useful ability to carry only 5 passengers (including one in the right seat)... Remember piston twins don't have the greatest flexibility when it comes to hauling a lot of people... So just cuz' it has 7 seats doesn't mean you can put 7 fare paying passengers on board...

insurance premiums are derived from the number of seats on board. An A-36 has six seats but could never carry 6 adults. nevertheless the insurance is higher than an F-33A bonanza, which has only 4 seats. Thats what I was getting at.