Starting A Fractional At Your Home Airport

by ANN Contributor Thomas P. Turner

If a fractional program does not yet exist in your area, you might try to attract an existing program to set up a location.

In response to ANN's survey, Mike Huffman, Vice President of Flight Operations for OurPLANE, Inc., provided this idea of the market needed to support a fractional:

"We typically look for a market that has at least 5,000 to 6,000 licensed pilots (in the state). It is also important to have a local need for the factory-new aircraft that we offer... at some locations, it is possible to rent factory-new aircraft, i.e. Cirrus SR22 or Cessna 182T Nav III. We tend to do well in markets where the only aircraft available to rent are older, tired) aircraft...[which is] typical of most locations.

"Our leaseback program offers groups in smaller areas to get up and running faster than our traditional program (where we collect names until we have enough local interest to contact everyone to see if they are still interested). We also need to see the potential to place at least two aircraft at a given location (to help maximize availability for all owners)."

ANN also received this response:

"I was involved in establishing a fractional ownership program. The program ended when we could not sell enough shares to pilot/owners. I believe this may be because pilots perceive that they may not have an airplane when they need or want one, and because pilots like being able to own an airplane all alone."  -- Prospective fractional manager

A Trip To A Fractional Ownership Operation

Several years ago I visited Airshares Elite in Atlanta, GA. The company I was working for at the time owned two Beech Barons, and was considering replacing them both with a single-engine turboprop. We still had the need for a second airplane at times, however, so we were looking into the possibility of buying into Airshares Elite as it was just starting up. At the time the program had a couple of Cirrus SR20s; they were expecting their first SR22 the day after my visit.

Even in its infancy "AE" was impressive. I was shown the exclusive AE pilots lounge and flight planning areas, all part of program membership. The airplanes (AE had a couple then-new Cessna 182s in its stable at the time, as well as the Cirrus SR20 I flew) were kept in a very clean, dedicated hangar adjacent. My tour guide explained how all pilots must have required initial and recurrent training, and how aeronautical charts and even headsets were part of what the program provided.

My dilemma was that my office was about a two-hour drive from the closest AE airport. The manager explained that AE would fly the plane up to me to meet me on my schedule, but that I would have to return the ferry pilot to his home base first before proceeding on my trip, then return via the AE airport to pick up a pilot who would fly it back after I returned to my home airport.

AE was to make very little on those "deadhead" portions of the trip, but it was still an additional expense my company would have had to cover; the time of side-trips to the program's home airport negated flying's advantage over driving.

In the end, we determined that our physical remoteness from a fractional home airport made total program costs too great to be worthwhile.

FMI: Tell Us What YOU Think