Its Fractional King Air Time

[rajflyboy]

I have thought about this equation for years. King Air 350's used in fractional ownership.

Start up with 105 orders and wants to be attached to a jet provider

I have thought for years about how well the King Air would work in certain areas of the country.

Oh well. Now we will see If I was right or wrong because its "King Air Fractional" time.

What do you think?

http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-n...s-card-founder-back-king-air-350i-flight-club

 

[el raton]

Been done before. Can't remember what Raytheon called their fractional.

 

[ProFracPilot]

Been done before. Can't remember what Raytheon called their fractional.

It was Travel Air.

That sucking sound you hear is the vacuum of turbo prop fractional demand left from Avantair that is about to be filled by Wheels Up.

 

[Photoflight]

Isn't alpha flying doing this already?

 

[DirtyBeech]

It's a bit of a step down from Avanti to Pilatus I would think. From a near jet to a single engine B200.

 

[johnsonrod]

Good news for unemployed Avantair pilots IF they want to stay in the business and they like that lifestyle. Personally, I'd look to the airlines as retirements increase if you have the minimums and a few internal connections - but that's just me. As I mentioned a few times, Spirit is hiring fractional pilots.

Regardless, it is an interesting concept! The King Air 350 is definitely big, versatile and fun to fly from what I hear... Hope the economic model they are proposing works.

 

[brokeflyer]

With crappy management it don't matter what plane you use.

 

[ksu_aviator]

Not likely to be that successful. For $125K a year you can get your own airplane, crew it and fly it more than 30 hours. There are tons of King Air 350 operators in the US that offer more than just the 350.

 

[johnsonrod]

Who thought Marquis Card would be that successful at first? You never know. A lot of it is about branding and positioning. The fact that Avantair has sunk has created a market opportunity at the lower-price end of the spectrum. This guy wants to fill the void with a brand. It's all about building a brand... Plus, there may be many ex-Avantair owners who will be interested at the beginning based on the similar price level and product class. Regardless, he will mitigate his risk by starting in the Northeast and seeing how it goes before expanding...

The complimentary "wheels down" service sounds interesting and could become a differentiator depending upon what it offers. This CEO sounds like he actually understands quality service based on what I have read. He successfully built and sold Marquis Card - he has a track record. Is he the same guy who married the founder of Spanx?

 

[rjacobs]

For $125K a year you can get your own airplane, crew it and fly it more than 30 hours.

Bull ********************.

Show me the math.

I have broken down a King Air 200 flying 200 hours and it was somewhere in the 500k range all said and done with full crew costs, mx, hangar, hourly operating, cleaning, charts, etc... and that was with the crew managing the airplane, hotels, rental cars, etc... not including any airplane payments which could possibly be another ~500k(assuming a 5 year term on a 2.5 million purchase price on a used -200).

A 350 would be even more in all respects.