Fractional jet provider Flight Options ordered nearly $1 billion worth of Phenom 300 light jets from Brazilian manufacturer Embraer. With this order Flight Options, which currently has a fleet of 140 planes, will add 100 jets to its stables ... Read Full Article »

Aside from outright purchase of a private jet, there are four formats of private aviation: Fractional Ownership You buy a share of a plane, with the price pro-rated from the market price of a full aircraft. As an owner, you have guaranteed ... Read Full Article »

Private jet company XOJet has been on the move this week. On September 24th they inked a $600 million deal with Cessna for 30 new Citation X jets – only to be outdone by September 25th’s announcement that the ... Read Full Article »

Forbes writer Lauren Kerensky soundly confirms that private jets are gaining popularity among travel-savvy business travelers. They’re not just items of ultra-luxury anymore. Innovative ways of flying privately have gained footing, as fractional ownership and on-demand charter programs offer viable ... Read Full Article »

San Francisco Bay-Area based private jet company, XOJet, announced a $600 million deal for 30 new medium-sized Citation X jets from Cessna today. XOJet’s fleet is expected to consist of 47 Citation X business jets – the fastest on the market ... Read Full Article »

On the coattails of Avantair’s carbon offset announcement, fractional ownership jet provider, NetJets Europe, just announced a major eco-travel initiative. In addition to regular membership costs, all new and existing private jet clients will be required to pay around €4,000 ... Read Full Article »

How realistic was Vinnie Chase’s Marquis Jet experience? On a recent episode of the HBO series Entourage, a canceled flight leaves star Vincent Chase and his buddies stranded just as they’re headed to Cannes for the film festival. What’s talent ... Read Full Article »

In a move similar to Blockbuster Video’s “No More Late Fees” initiative, private jet provider NetJets will announce today that ferry fees will be eliminated for its fractional ownership customers. As Joe Sharkey observes in the New York Times, this is ... Read Full Article »

Fractional jet card provider Marquis Jet gets the spotlight on webcast Marquis Jet’s founder and CEO Kenny Dichter recently got fifteen minutes of web fame. He sat down with journalist Andrew Shapiro, as part of CIT and Condé Nast Media Group’s ... Read Full Article »

In exploring the fractional jet ownership model, we spoke with a number of clients and consultants, as well as the companies themselves. Our conclusions were guided by two dominant themes: No company has demonstrated a sustainably profitable business model All companies face ... Read Full Article »

Jet Expert is a column from experts in the field like Craig Bowers. Craig is the President of JetForward Aviation, an aviation portfolio management firm. He has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech, and an MS Degree in ... Read Full Article »

An ever-popular subject among travelers, private jets aren’t just oversized toys for the jet set anymore. In a June 14th article, The Economist turned its attention to private jet travel. While noting the growth in private jet use among executives, ... Read Full Article »

Neiman-Marcus and Bergdorf-Goodman shoppers can now earn rewards points toward fractional private jet ownership. Thanks to an exclusive partnership between Marquis Jet and The Neiman Marcus Group, one million InCircle rewards points, can be earned by shopping at the high-end ... Read Full Article »

Is the private jet industry on the verge of a decline? That’s the question posed in a recent article appearing in Business Week. Private Jet travel has boomed in recent years, with business jets sales soaring 185% over the annual ... Read Full Article »

This is a complex topic, so if you’re looking for simplicity in jet travel, download our free decision guide, then contact a provider and let them know you prize simplicity and flexibility. However, if you’re willing to spend some extra time, ... Read Full Article »

A few months ago we commented on the practice of over-charging for jet fuel. In fairness, this over-charging is often to compensate for under-charging elsewhere, as no one’s making Exxon-like profits in private aviation (except Exxon). One reader pointed out the ... Read Full Article »

Delta AirElite and Flight Options have nearly identical cutoffs for Thankgiving travel (see chart, below). Both companies require 5-days advanced booking for high-demand/peak days, making the travel cutoff November 16th for travel on Tuesday, November 21. Delta AirElite’s Fleet Membership can ... Read Full Article »

Last week we mentioned the cutoff for new customers hoping to travel for Thanksgiving. The industry is rolling into the busiest part of the year, with the highest concentration of flight requests: Thanksgiving and Christmas, followed by ski weekends ... Read Full Article »

We’ve noted previously the variety of programs offered by fractional provider Flexjet. Flight Options has also become more aggressive in reconfiguring its fractional ownership and membership program, which the company calls JetPASS Ultimate Travel. JetPASS Ultimate Travel We’ll start with the card ... Read Full Article »

Over at forbes.com, Rich Karlgaard discusses The Private Jet Boom, rehashing the dysfunction of commercial air travel and the disinterest of former first-class full-fare customers. Karlgaard mentions the exciting very light jet (VLJ) developments from Eclipse, Adam, Cessna, Honda and ... Read Full Article »

In preparing our forthcoming Decision Guide to Private Aviation (available here), we’ve spoken with a number of private owners whose plane portfolio resembles their garage portfolio: different vehicles for different needs. An owner of a Gulfstream V may nonetheless purchase ... Read Full Article »

Perhaps the largest appeal of private aviation is that it’s not commercial aviation; it avoids the drudgery, rigidity, inefficiency, inconvenience and even humiliation of modern commercial carriers and airports. Benefits are plentiful and substantive, though some not easily quantified. On a ... Read Full Article »