Effect of current economy?

[FalconPilot69]

How is NJA, CS, Flops, Flex, XOJet and Avantair being effected by the economy? Are you guys seeing any furloughs or reductions in flying?

 

[brokeflyer]

no, in fact our business has picked up a lot.

 

[jonjuan]

no, in fact our business has picked up a lot.

no, in fact ALL fractional growth has slowed a bit relative to 2007. Fractional owner flying has dropped off about 10% from the previous year.

 

[BE40Driver]

Flops going down

FLOPS fired 70 pilots on May 23,2008.

 

[RNObased]

no, in fact ALL fractional growth has slowed a bit relative to 2007. .

Again with the bad info, what is it with you?? NJA sales are up slightly over '07 while YOU are correct for once, flying is down slightly.

 

[GSXR600]

So sales are up but flying is down mmmm....I dont get it so folks are buying shares but not using them???

In todays economy that's kind of hard to believe!!!

 

[imacdog]

Not really. The rich aren't getting any poorer. With airline service cutbacks we are getting new owners, and if corporations downsize their flight departments we get new owners. The good news is, even if they aren't flying as much (and I've heard the figure 1% less this year), we are still getting management fees that pay our salaries.

 

[PigPile]

FLOPS fired 70 pilots on May 23,2008.

And, I'm not sure how much that had to do with the economy.

 

[dime line]

And, I'm not sure how much that had to do with the economy.

NADA. Only ego on schtfngrs part

 

[ProFracPilot]

We are told at FlOps that hours flown are down year over year, and we've had a RIF. At this point, the 70 pilots involved in the RIF were terminated - NOT furloughed (for now) - and this was done out of seniority. As was previously eluded to, the action of the pilot RIF is a direct result of the ongoing union fight and not any real attempt to balance crewing needs. Scheduling regularly leaves green airplanes sitting on the tarmac and there is a standing request to work overtime. You can try to do the math, but it doesn't add up.

Sales numbers for any of the fractionals only tell one part of the story. If this number is up year over year, you'll get e-mails about it and see press releases spreading the good news. The numbers you WON'T hear about are the contract redemptions. It is very difficult to determine the rate of redemptions year over year at any of the big 4 providers. At FlOps, I believe many of these redemptions are being covered by JetPass and now charter contracts. After all, according to our "leadership" (cough, cough) we're no longer a "Fractional Provider", but a "Private Jet Company". You do listen to the weekly messages, don't you?

Hours under contract, being from owners or card programs, are the real key to the core health of a purely fractional provider. Fractional contracts are locked in and long term; card programs are fully redeemable for unused hours - no long term security. Without knowing the exact ratio I think it is very difficult to determine just how healthy the company is. It becomes a bit more complex trying to determine the true financial health at FlOps because we now have charter and aircraft management in the mix.

Thanks in no small part to the airlines, private jet flying - while it may slow some in the flagging economy - will continue to proliferate.