Advantages of personal aircraft.
I recently made a post on a ScienceBlogs site where I indicated that high deductibles or co-pays are probably a good thing for managing health insurance costs. I gave my experience as one data point and indicated that I have high deductibles on my car, house, and airplane as well and I end up saving a substantial amount of money. Rather than focus on my proposition that high co-pays are a good way to manage costs, he decided to attack my ability to even comment on the issue, since I am an airplane owner. Several others chimed in as well. I think there is a huge misconception about who owns airplanes and what they use them for. I know dozens of airplane owners and they are split about evenly between people who have regular jobs—electricians, welders, engineers, professors, and lawyers—and those who own their own businesses. All of them own planes that were made in the late 60s or early 70s—so they are at least 40 years old. A large number of them are worth less than a car, but some are worth more. None are worth more than $200,000. Most of the owners have their plane because it lets them do things that they couldn’t otherwise do. The rest of this post is a list of flights that I’ve done or people I know have done lately.
Mike C from CPA
My last flight is typical of the advantage my MU2 gives me. I flew myself, one employee, and 3 clients to LaBarge near Pittsburgh. There were no airline flights capable of making an 11am meeting time, so that would require flying in the night before. We left the meeting at 4pm which would have required a flight after 6pm that got in around 11pm that night. The cost for such a flight would have been $1,197 with the 5 day advance notice we had. All total, about $7,000 for that trip plus around 30 hours total time invested by 5 people.
In contrast, I took off at 8am CDT, flew into KAGC, made the 11am EDT meeting, was back in the air by 4:40pm EDT, and landing in KEVV by 5:30pm CDT. Total cost (using $750/hour for 3.2 hours) was about $2,400 and time away was around 10 hours. The MU2 was a $4,600 cost advantage, and 20 hours per person, for just one trip!
And the LaBarge trip was for a location that is a major hub! Try doing that to some of my recent destinations such as Franklin, PA, or Bluefield, WV and see what the penalty is for an airline flight! Both those trips were 6 people, too.
The airlines cancel about 2% of their flights, I canceled 0% in 2009. I also didn’t lose any luggage, nor had to deal with the TSA. :-)
Canceled Airline Flight
A friend was scheduled to fly out of our small airport and catch a connecting flight in San Francisco to attend a conference. His girlfriend is in sales for a big company and had meetings and dinners set up during the conference. Their flight was delayed for 2 hours and they were going to miss their connection and not arrive until late the next day. We weren’t able to get to San Francisco in time to catch the flight, but we were able to fly to Los Angeles where they caught another flight. She missed most of the opening reception, but was able to attend the rest of the conference.
Passenger pickup
On two occasions recently I picked up and dropped off relatives who were using frequent flier miles to travel on the airlines. Because of the way frequent flier seats are allocated, they couldn’t get flights to and from the same city. One person left from San Francisco and returned to Los Angeles. The other left from Santa Barbara and returned to Los Angeles. Rather than renting cars or taking shuttles I dropped them off. An hour flight and a short cab ride is much easier than a four hour drive and the hassles of picking up and dropping off rental cars. And it’s cheaper.
You can’t get there from here.
It’s a four hour drive from the Central Coast to Bakersfield. Depending on the airplane, it’s around an hour. So when my brother needed to fix a sensor on a farm in the Central Valley it was much more efficient to fly over, borrow an airport car from the FBO, fix the sensor and fly back. Rather than taking a whole day, it took about four hours.
You can’t get there from here. Part II
A good customer is in Stockton and once a year he gets a personal visit. It’s a long hot drive but just over an hour by plane.
You can’t get there from here. Part III
The daughter of a friend got an internship this summer at a local bakery. The roads from the Central Valley are quite dangerous and her father didn’t want her to drive it alone for the first time. He drove over with her and we dropped him off at an airport near his house. It took four hours for him to drive over and forty-five minutes to get home.
You can get there, but it’s a long drive.
I rent out a small airplane, a Cherokee 140, that people use from time to time for short trips. This summer it was used by one person to visit his mother in Napa for the weekend—something you couldn’t do if you had to drive. It also used by someone who took his three kids for an overnight visit to their grandfather in San Diego for his 92nd birthday—again something you couldn’t do if you were driving.
You can get there, but it’s a long drive. Part II
There are no flights to Portland Oregon from our airport, you need to fly somewhere else first. Your could drive for 14 hours or you can fly in 4 hours to visit your grandkids
Business trip
You can get really nice tile, ironwork, and woodwork in Mexico but you need to be there to order it if you want to be sure you get what you want. Having a plane means you can fly to Brown Field in San Diego, catch a cab to the border and walk across. It’s less than a two-hour flight but at least a six hour drive.
Business lunch
Recently someone rented the Cherokee to take his girlfriend to San Francisco for a business lunch. The Cherokee isn’t tremendously fast but it is much faster than driving. She arrived at her lunch relaxed and alert—rather than worn out from fighting traffic for four hours. The whole trip—including the lunch, took just five hours.
Vacation
Airline travel is difficult for healthy people, let alone frail old ladies. A friend in his mid 90s frequently visits friends in nearby states in his airplane. He can get to Phoenix in about the same time it takes for the airlines and avoids all of the hassles associated with airline travel. He also likes to sit on secluded beaches in Mexico and flies down there a couple of times a year. A few hours in his plane, but not possible in the airlines.
Just for fun
The Central Coast is really pretty when it turns green with the rains. We recently took a slow flight up the coast just to enjoy the view.
You can’t get there from here.
My wife had the opportunity to be a visiting artist and show her work at a college just outside of Carson City. We had 36 pieces of artwork and her luggage. Driving time is 8 hours. I dropped her off and flew back home in a total of 4 hours. Flying the airlines with at least one layover would be an all day proposition and cost $800. And then there would be several hundred dollars to ship the artwork. As an added attraction, it was a beautiful winter day and we got to see the snow covered Sierras.