To help with surviving in the current economic environment, Cessna has taken control of 92% of CitationShares while Tag Aviation now only owns the remaining 8%, which Cessna is also eyeing. As a result, the company has rebranded itself as “CitationAir by Cessna.” But is the imminent demise of fractional ownership really only a recent development?
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Posted: October 13th, 2009 under Business Models, Industry Trends, Owner News, Profitability.
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Adam Webster and Scott Russell, co-founders of Marcil Technology Group and its subsidiaries, Fractional Forum and RSVPair, have launched the Jet Owner Group, dedicated to “helping aircraft owners better understand their investments, the marketplace and the landscape of management and operations.”
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Posted: October 2nd, 2009 under Owner News.
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Jet Republic, NetJets’ biggest fractional competitor, has suspended all its activities, in turn affecting Bombardier’s Learjet production schedule. NetJets’ slowdown is having similar effects on Hawker Beechcraft and losing many of its clients to private air charter provider International Air Charter (IAC). Meanwhile, the construction of the first airport for private jets in China is underway.

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Posted: August 25th, 2009 under Business Models, Industry Trends, Owner News, Profitability.
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Executive Jet Aviation, an aircraft management company and private air charter provider, was founded in 1964. In 1984, the company was purchased by Richard Santulli and turned into the first ever fractional ownership provider. Renamed NetJets, the company enjoyed much growth and was acquired by Berkshire Hathaway in 1998, Berkshire’s CEO being Warren Buffett who had been a fractional owner with NetJets for three years at the time.
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Posted: August 17th, 2009 under Business Models, Industry Trends, Owner News, Profitability.
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Specific niche markets continue to grow and stay healthy in the U.S. while the business aviation market is left in tatters and luxury shame is only just loosening its grasp. Some aircraft manufacturers are however finding ways to stay afloat. Outside of the States, the U.K. continues to create new routes and projects in anticipation of the end of the recession, and the Middle Eastern and Indian aviation markets are still expanding.
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Posted: July 31st, 2009 under Industry Trends, Owner News, Profitability.
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In the U.S., the recession is not only hitting the general aviation industry hard, but business aviation groups and the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) are also being forced to fight off many propositions said to be unnecessary that would further hinder the industry, on top of having to deal with a tainted image. As this happens, the market in the Middle East continues to grow.
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Posted: July 27th, 2009 under Business Models, Industry Trends, Profitability.
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Terrorism is a very real threat, but are the concerns of organizations such as the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) going too far? That’s what the majority of the general aviation community thought when they announced their proposed security measures for private aviation in October of last year, but the TSA is hoping to tweak their propositions to hopefully put these new restrictions and rules into effect without too much scrutiny.
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Posted: July 21st, 2009 under Industry Trends, Safety, Security.
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Businesses are staying away from private air charter, not because flying commercial is several times less expensive (even with hourly rates being a little more than half of what they were last year), but because of pressures pushed on them by the media, the government and the people.
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Posted: July 6th, 2009 under Business Models, Owner News, Profitability.
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On top of the economic slowdown, the bashing of private jets by the media and the government was “like putting a stake in the heart of general aviation,” according to Jim Retzlaff of West Bend Municipal Airport. This feeling of contempt for business jets could possibly keep a new supersonic jet from being developed.
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Posted: June 26th, 2009 under Profitability.
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Things have been going to hell lately in the business aviation world as well as the world in general, but things continue to look bleak in the future. The possible recovery in the latter part of this year does not seem as likely and it is announced that 2010 will be tough.
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Posted: June 22nd, 2009 under Industry Trends, Profitability.
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