Fractional flying dropped 10.6 percent in April

[pilotyip]

Who put you in charge of the thread direction police?

No one, public form, public comment, don't want public comment don't post in public. Sounds pretty simple to me.

 

[jetlag7]

Changing gears a bit and addressing the original thread post...

From today's AIN Alert

U.S. Bizav Traffic Down Slightly in April

Business aircraft activity in the U.S. fell for the third consecutive month, with flying hours down slightly by 0.4 percent ..... Part 135 was the only operational category to experience a gain in flying activity, ...... while fractional flying dropped by 10.6 percent..... the turboprop segment experienced the only decline last month, decreasing by 5.7 percent from a year ago..... Fractional turboprop flying saw the largest drop, falling 22.6 percent year-over-year.

How does this square with all the comments that everyone is flying the wings off the aircraft? Granted Avantair may be down, but they wouldn't impact the overall numbers that much.

Charter looks very good!

Wonder why things are what they are?

The article doesn't say "Charter flying is up" it says "Part 135 flying is up."

All of the fractional operators operate under 135 from time to time.

The article does state the only drop in Fractional flying (22.6%) was due to Fractional turbo-prop flying.... Makes complete sense considering Avantair suspended operations temporarily....

So yes, I believe they did in fact impact the numbers... and Yes, we are "flying the wings off of the aircraft" -- it just seems we're operating more of our flights under Part 135 than 91K...

 

[CA1900]

The article doesn't say "Charter flying is up" it says "Part 135 flying is up."

All of the fractional operators operate under 135 from time to time.

Yup. In particular, any of those 1/32nd shares we sold must be operated under part 135, because 91K does not apply to airplane shares smaller than 1/16th.

 

[gret]

Not sure that Avantair had any operations suspended during the reporting period. The number of a/c they have (I think less than 5% of the frac fleet) wouldn't have a meaningful impact on the overall frac numbers anyway.

The article doesn't say that any particular company or industry segment was up or down, they are only reporting the level of flying under Part 135, 91, or 91K.

 

[X-rated]

Unions in this country were started in part to ensure safer working conditions. Then take your anti-union stance to the next step. Compare fatal accident rates of unionized and non-unionized business jet professionals in the US and worldwide.

Thanks, but I will take the safer worker conditions my union ensures without fear of company retribution for calling fatigues or writing up broken airplanes. Once upon a time RTS publicly stated he was happy to have a unionized pilot group for just that reason.

I fully understand once a company driven by profit gets to a certain size, a union inevitably becomes a necessary evil for a number of reasons including safety. But, your statements above are a generalization and confirm your lack of understanding about just how good many non-union corporate jobs are. Safety is not a marketing slogan where I work, and we are not influenced by a need to be profitable. Throw in a very wealthy and slightly nervous pax/owner and you'd be amazed what a true safety culture looks like.

I've got no problem with unions especially in aviation, but if you can't immediately think of 3 really negative things about belonging to one, you're probably an extremest who has lost all perspective. I have no doubt there are plenty on this forum who fall into this group. This place is the barrio for union Kool-Aid drunks.

 

[jetlag7]

Not sure that Avantair had any operations suspended during the reporting period. The number of a/c they have (I think less than 5% of the frac fleet) wouldn't have a meaningful impact on the overall frac numbers anyway.

The article doesn't say that any particular company or industry segment was up or down, they are only reporting the level of flying under Part 135, 91, or 91K.

How many Fractional turbo-prop operators are out there? I can only think of one -- Avantair.

Sure, the article doesn't mention them by name but it does say "By aircraft category, the turboprop segment experienced the only decline last month....." It goes on to say that Fractional jet flying is in fact up... Large-cabin jet flying led the pack with a 4.9-percent year-over-year gain, with midsize and light jets recording increases of 2.5 percent and 1 percent, respectively.

It continues to discuss gains in Part 135 charter jet flying, but doesn't break down the data by operator so we really have no way of knowing who is actually doing that flying -- the exclusive "jet Charter companies" or "Fractional providers" operating Part 135 charter flights???

Interesting article - thanks for posting. I just wish the data was more specific...

 

[pilotyip]

I've got no problem with unions especially in aviation, but if you can't immediately think of 3 really negative things about belonging to one, you're probably an extremest who has lost all perspective. I have no doubt there are plenty on this forum who fall into this group. This place is the barrio for union Kool-Aid drunks.

Yes but by posting this you have proven you are 100% anti-union, you did not rally for a strike vote therefore you do not care about the brother hood. Union can do no wrong, managment can do no good. That is the fantasy world of FI.

 

[imacdog]

Not really, YIP. We just see the BS you try to spread and you don't like your arguments getting shot down. Not many here claiming unions are perfect, but no one believes your story about how a union caused you to have a less than stellar career.