Fractional Ownership

Fractional ownership is a time share that gives you access to your aircraft for a guaranteed number of hours a year any time you need it, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, on just a few hours’ notice. The concept is the brainchild of Richard Santulli, a former mathematics professor. He bought an Executive Jet in 1984 and noticed that many people needed jets on a regular basis, but not quite enough to justify buying one outright. So in 1986 he started the NetJets program, offering partial ownership of private jets in units of 50 hours. The idea struck financial guru Warren Buffett so much that he acquired Executive Jet in 1998 for Berkshire Hathaway, adding the muscle and resources of his huge conglomerate to an already groundbreaking company.

Being a fractional owner guarantees an almost-new aircraft every time you fly. (However, Flight Options also offers cheaper packages using preowned aircraft.) The average age for the NetJets and Flexjet fleets is 2.5 years (according to Boeing, the average age of commercial U.S. airliners is 12.4 years). Fractional ownership aircrafts are meticulously maintained. Some operators like NetJets overhaul their interiors every nine months. For those who are extra conscious of their safety and time and can afford to pay a price for it, Fractional ownership holds promise.

Fractional Ownership also gives you an option to choose the kind of jet you would to fly in. Some operators offer only certain brands of aircraft. Flexjet, a division of Canada’s Bombardier Aerospace, has a fleet of Bombardiers: Learjets, Continentals, Challengers, Global Express jets. Flight Options (now merged with Raytheon Travel Air) has new Raytheon-built Beechjets and Hawker 800XPs plus their older fleet, which includes Citations, Falcons, Challengers, and Gulfstreams. The NetJets fleet includes the cream of the crop from several manufacturers: Citations, Falcons, Hawkers, Gulfstreams.

Normally, fractional ownership involves an up-front purchase price (starting around $420,000) in addition to monthly management fees and hourly fees every time you take off. The size of your share guarantees you a set number of hours of flying time in a particular type of aircraft. A one-sixteenth share, for instance, entitles you to 50 hours; one-eighth, to 100 hours; a half share to 400 hours.

The idea of fractional ownership has proved to be wondrous for the operators and users alike. Today, NetJets has expanded to 440 aircraft, over 2,100 pilots, and a control-center staff of over 900 (including ten full-time meteorologists). If it were a commercial airline it would probably rank sixth or seventh in the country. Surprisingly, 20 percent of NetJets owners are individuals (including Tiger Woods and Pete Sampras), and 50 percent are privately held companies rather than major corporations.