Making the Most of Corporate Jets
Aim for the sky with your corporate airplane purchase
More than 14,000 American companies have a business aircraft. Critics see corporate jets as a symbol of waste and excess, but private business jets can have huge benefits. Corporate private aircrafts can help executives, employees and clients quickly travel to and from hard-to-reach rural locations that are not served by frequent commercial airline service.Purchasing a company jet is a major investment and not a decision to be taken lightly. So you will want to be sure you are making the most of corporate jets by:
1. Figuring out if now is the right time to buy a business airplane.
2. Finding ways to save money on your corporate private jet.
3. Understanding the benefits and risks of buying a used corporate private aircraft.
Decide if you should buy a corporate jet
A basic eight-seat corporate jet can easily start at $5 million. So before you go looking for corporate jets for sale, make sure your company will get a return on that investment. Figure out who would use the jet, where they would go and how often they would fly. Compare that cost to the annual costs of charter flights, and decide if the jet would pay for itself.
Try: BNET has an excellent in-depth article that can help you decide if your company is ready for a corporate jet. Check out eHow to learn about many of the other expenses that go along with purchasing a private jet, such as renting a hanger and hiring a pilot and crew.
Find ways to save money on a new business aircraft purchase
An easy way to save money when buying a business aircraft is to purchase a partial share of a corporate jet. You avoid the huge expense of purchasing a new airplane, then essentially share the associated costs with several other companies. Finally, you can save money on one of the largest expenses -- fuel -- buy purchasing one of the newer, lighter, more fuel-efficient aircrafts.
Try: If you are interested in partial ownership of a private jet, check out Corporate JetShares. The company, based in California, has a website that answers most questions about jet sharing. Washington Post.Newsweek Interactive has detailed information and links concerning fuel efficient corporate airplanes.
Shop for used private business jets
You can save you a great deal of money by purchasing a used company jet. However, finding a used corporate jet can be difficult, and you will need to find someone to give it a complete inspection and test flight before the purchase.
Try: General Aviation Services goes into great detail about all the steps that you should go through before purchasing a used aircraft. AvBuyer has a comprehensive listing of used corporate jets for sale and can give you a good idea about prices.
- If know who your chief pilot will be, involve him or her in the purchase of your company jet as much as possible. The chief pilot will be responsible for the plane on a day-to-day basis and will likely provide good input on a purchase.
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