I need some help...

[flyboydk]

A friend of mine wants me to look into some options for an aircraft for his business traveling. I don't really know too much about what would fit his needs. He says about 2-3 flights a week, based out of Scottsdale AZ probably, longest trips would be to Jackson Hole, Wyoming or Bend, Oregon, but also a lot of shorter trips to San Diego and Flagstaff AZ. I don't think he would be taking more than 2 or 3 passengers. Any suggestions?

 

[tarp]

Money & Time:

How much of each does your "friend" have?

Minimum for mountain flying - 235HP and IFR capable - so a $100,000 to $280,000 C-182 will put him in a very slow (135-140kt) airplane.

C210 is the choice for a lot of single pilot businessmen. Turbocharge it for mountain flying and possibly pressurization.

Malibu from Piper? TC Bonanza?

Twin engine - start with a TC Baron and start working up to the cabin class series. I used to run a C-340 - a beautiful, fast airplane but it was like owning a classic Jaguar, 2 days in the shop for everyday on the road. Used to be a joke that the numbers on Cessna twins equalled the hourly operating cost. (i.e. $340 per hour wasn't a bad estimate!)

You can spend millions in a heartbeat. There are fractional programs for Jets and everything down to King-Airs.

Your "friend" has to put a dollar sign to current travel expenses and then put a dollar sign on time. Let's say he's a typical business traveler with no control over when he is flying. Last minute business tickets run in $1,000 per ticket range. If he's flying three associates around on 3 trips, that's $9,000 per week or a hefty chunk of change.

Is he tired of Security Check-ins and is losing gobs of productivity time changing planes to get to small city destinations? Then add the cost of this time to the travel expense. Now, is there an airplane or fractional program that will deliver more productivity for the same amount of cash?

Its just all dollars and cents with just a hint of convenience. Usually, the smaller airplane is going to cost more in real dollars. However, the ability to go point-to-point at will is worth something and the ability to work either in private or in a small group meeting while travelling has great value for executives.

NBAA has a "TravelSense" software that costs about $800 that will perform travel cost scenarios for flight departments - it allows big companies to decide whether to use commercial flights or their own corporate aircraft to do a trip.

Like everything else in his business, your friend just has to do a CBA (Cost Benefit Analysis). The fractional guys would love to have another client. Cessna, Piper, Beech will send brochures in an instant. There are tons of aircraft brokers looking for another sales lead.

 

[flyboydk]

Thanks for your suggestions.