Why It’s Smarter to Charter in this Day and Age

Air Partner plc - 08 Mar 2016

With most of the S&P 500 still owning corporate jets, we look at why it’s smarter to charter for the value conscious.

Today’s Financial Times features the article “Free flights on the company plane”.  The article also referred to as “The Corporate Jet Files”, is based on analysis of 1,000 US securities filings by the FT.

The article asserts that most companies in the S&P 500 still operate private jets or lease them from a third party, on the grounds of security or time saving.  However, the article doesn’t make the point that nearly all the benefits of private jet use can equally be accessed by simply chartering a jet. In fact, many businesses find on-demand charter to be the most cost-effective method of managing their executive travel.

In this blog we take a quick look around some of the benefits of flying private, and the upsides of chartering.

Aircraft ownership can sometimes provide a barrier to transparency, as it’s hard to understand the actual cost of any individual trip - due to the fixed costs of ownership.  Moreover, ownership or fractional ownership of a corporate jet can lead to a ‘use it or lose it attitude’, and a trend to maximise use of a stationary asset, regardless of the additional costs and depreciation.

Air Partner has successfully arranged one-off charter flights for international corporations since 1961, and also specializes in arranging supplemental lift and global support to corporate flight departments. By accessing all the aircraft types available for charter, a virtual fleet of thousands globally, we can identify the most cost-effective solutions for each mission. Every trip is individually priced and there's no financial commitment beyond that journey, so businesses can compare other modes of transport and make an informed buying decision on each trip, with no hidden costs.

Air Partner also offers a JetCard programme, launched in 2004, which transformed the accepted standards for card programmes. With fully-inclusive, fixed hourly rates, the JetCard is an attractive option for businesses that fly frequently and want complete visibility on their annual travel spend. Unlike other schemes, Air Partner’s JetCard does not mandate an expiry date on the hours pre-purchased and any unused hours can be refunded back to the client immediately, at any time and without penalty. Just as important, trips are costed individually and in their entirety. There's also no upfront arrangement fee, fuel surcharge, or any other system of penalties that obscure the true cost to the user when they book the trip – all benefiting transparency and best value for corporations, their stakeholders and individuals.  

We fully understand the need for corporate executives to access the benefits of flying private, and encourage all of our clients to seek the greatest value from their procurement. It is often “smarter to charter,” across any financial measure, but we at Air Partner offer the complete range of aviation solutions and work with each of our clients to design a private jet program based on their unique requirements and budget, whether it be through on-demand, jet membership or whole aircraft ownership.