Netjets and 200/barrel oil

[JetFumes]

Just curiuos if anyone has any thoughts on how this oil situation will effect the fractionals. I'm considering applying, as I no longer feel that there is a future at Blue. I have thought about NetJets for a long time, but had a hard time giving up the Airline thing. I don't like the slow upgrade at NetJets, but still think it might be worth it. With oil going up and up, I am wondering what the higher ups over there are predicting.

 

[cldsfr79]

Netjets and Oil? Well I will attempt to answer this as best I can although I know others may have a better take on the situation.

Part of what we charge includes the price of fuel, to a certain dollar amount. Once that dollar amount is exceeded, the owners pay the difference. So in the end, it comes down to what the market will bare. What we pay for FBO jet fuel isn't cheap. Right now I have seen prices well over $5.50 a gallon for Jet A. Some places are more, some less. The wealthy always seem to have money, but at a point you may see a reduction in our entry level customers, as well as a reduction in flying. Right now, things are going great. We are still selling planes, selling cards, and there hasn't been a slow down in that aspect. I did hear however that the amount of hours we fly as seen a slight drop off from last year. I'm sure others can add things or correct me if I am wrong.

If you are thinking about getting on with us. Check out our new website for highering www.netjetspilotjobs.com. If I were you I would submit a resume now, and do the thinking later. It may take a month or two to get back to you and even if you get called in for an interview, you can still turn down the job if you come to the conclusion that the job isnt for you. You know all to well that seniority is everything.

 

[realityman]

$200/barrel oil? VERY scary, even for Netjets! But you know, if NJA starts a major downhill slide, where are you going to go anyway? We can absorb price increases more readily than others (airlines, less successful fracs, etc...), so if you see the beginning of the end coming for NJA, it won't be a ball of roses for anyone else in the aviation industry either.

As for upgrade times, yeah, they're getting a bit long here at NJA. But I suspect that will be the case at most places as growth slows along with the economy.

As cldsfr79 mentioned, seniority is everything in this game, so if you're even thinking a little bit about working for us, get the ball rolling now.

 

[gunfyter]

Its not so much what $200 oil does to NJ.

Its what $200 oil does to the economy.

If the economy is crippled we won't grow.

 

[RTRHD]

Its not so much what $200 oil does to NJ.

Its what $200 oil does to the economy.

If the economy is crippled we won't grow.

That's the story. Of coarse if your are a rotorhead off shore ought to be in the money. Right Gun, and they made fun of us.

 

[gutshotdraw]

$200 a barrel oil affects EVERYONE in aviation, regardless of employer. Netjets owners, while better able to weather high fuel prices than most, can reach a price point where their behavior will be affected. Some may not be able to keep flying on their share, some may reduce their flying somewhat, some may shift to a smaller and less expensive aircraft, while others won't give a rip and will keep on trucking as before. The inherent advantage of an organization as large as Netjets is the ability to smooth the peaks and valleys of demand across a large group.

To me, the far greater long-term threat (and one that is closely related to fuel price), is the anti-capitalist, Chicken Little, global warming crowd. The more people they convince that fossil-fuel is destroying the planet, the more pressure there will be to restrict the discovery, extraction, refinement, and use of petroleum fuels. Anytime you restrict supply and create scarcity, the higher the price. And don't kid yourself: there is NO ALTERNATIVE FUEL in existence or on the horizon with the required energy density to be practical on board an aircraft. There are efforts underway to create jet fuel from sources other than crude oil but they closely mimic Jet-A kerosene and offer a very similar carbon footprint and are therefore destructive in the eyes of environmental activists.

Accurate science and facts be damned, Al Gore and his bunch will continue this charade until we're all riding bicycles and every country on the planet has the same standard of living as say, Burma, or Sudan.

 

[skyaddict]

The biggest single cause of $120-$200 oil is the dollar's decline, a product of the Fed's easy money approach to appease the politicians who want to appease the public on the economy, short term. (Bernanke however has had a hell of a time repairing the wreckage left by Greenspan, and given the severity of the task is not doing too badly.)

Hopefully the Fed will now start to very, very slowly ratchet up interest rates again and reap the longer term rewards of a stable dollar- starting with the bursting of this silly commodity bubble. Granted, the dollar has to remain lowish for a long time to rebalance this country's years and years of consuming far more than it has produced- but the dollar slide trend needs to end.

Ironically, to stop creating destructive bubbles, the best thing for the U.S. economy long term is for us to suffer through some pain short term, i.e. we must not not try and dig out of this slowdown/recession or whatever too quickly, otherwise we'll just create another bubble like we've been doing with oil. But sadly, none of the candidates dares to risk acknowleding this, with most voters having blinkers on for the short term.

As for NetJets, I get the impression their growth plan is much more long term and conservative than the airlines, who are much more nervous about market share, the gain or loss of critical gates and slots, and hub fortresses.

When the company starts to nickel and dime costs such as customer and crew food or the weight of junky stock and Jepps that we burn gas carting about- that's when I will start getting nervous.

 

[fischman]

Does the price of gas effect us at NetJets? Yes

Are we going to go out of business? NOT EVEN CLOSE.

We have a healthy balance sheet.

 

[DAS at 10/250]

One thing our owners will not do is go back to the airlines. Their idea of downgrading is going from the X to the Sovereign.

 

[Outta Here]

well we STILL have a waiting list to get a plane(share). Straight from the horses mouth in a finalization meeting to a potential I was at the other day