Ridden hard and put away wet?
While doing some research today, I came upon an article from BusinessWeek published earlier this year. It raised a serious and somewhat disconcerting issue about fractional jets.
The article, entitled “One Jet, 16 Owners, Big Problems,” discusses some of the problems fractional providers are facing due to growing pains. BusinessWeek claims there are now some 5,000 people with fractional interests in jets, a steep rise from the 730 such people in 1997.
The piece quotes a former FlexJet executive, now a consultant to those considering fractional ownership, who suggests that some of the rising cost is due to the fact that many of the planes in an operator’s fleet were built to be flown about 300 hours a year. But fractional owners are flying them over a 1,000 hours a year, putting undue strain on the aircraft that ultimately leads to more maintenance and downtime. In my mind, it also calls into question some safety issues.
All of this is to say that I intend to take a close look at a provider’s fleet in terms of the age of the aircraft and also how often and far they are flown before buying in. You should do the same.
