On Your Six
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2004
- Posts
- 4,507
On Your Six,
As a former Netjets pilot, I will tell you that rich people will NOT "throw their money" at will. In fact, many of them are the cheapest a-holes out there. Rich people fly Netjets at any cost because the current perception is Netjets the safest and most reliable corporate airline. If that perception ever changes, Netjets will fail the next day. Nothing is written in stone, even Netjets, my friend. In fact, Netjets has some major flaws, such as most of their profits are from selling new shares - what happens when their growth flattens (and for more than just 18 months, like it did in '04)?
My favorite line from that article:
Instead of emulating the corrective steps taken by Delta Air Lines (nyse: DAL - news - people ) and AMR (nyse: AMR - news - people )'s American Airlines, Southwest's mangement simply implemented “modest cost-cutting” and other minor measures, he said.
Classic.
I appreciate your perspective because you have seen it. Sure, wealthy people can be cheap bastards - I know this. That being said, sales at Netjets have increased (Marquis Jet cards sell pretty well) and the 135 market continues to grow. It is a general statement - the number of millionaires in the US continues to grow and grow. Obviously there will be cycles but the added burdens of airline travel (long and annoying lines due to TSA checks, crowded airline terminals, sick passengers coughing in your face, etc.) will likely not be reduced any time soon. Flying on a private airplane is not cheap, but it beats any airline experience. My owner spends a ridiculous amount of money on travel, cars, entertainment, etc. and he is a small fish in the NYC area.
Not all rich people spend their money lavishly (I agree with you), but more people with money will open up to private travel (VLJs will be popular) because of the terrible airline experiences that are so pervasive nowadays - flying on airlines to crowded airports sucks (and having to push old ladies over on SWA flights to ensure that you get your coveted window seat in the back only makes it worse). Netjets is not a bad choice for pilots with the intensifying competition found in the airline industry these days. No other fractional can compare to Netjets in terms of worldwide fleet (NJA, NJI, NJE, NJME, EJM), infrastructure, etc.
Now, back to the SWA discussion...