GRAHAM WARWICK / WASHINGTON DC
Fractional ownership company steps up charter venture drive as US DoT approves operations
Boeing and NetJets plan to launch a charter venture using Boeing Business Jets (BBJs) operated by the fractional ownership company, which has seen sales of shares in the long-range, large-cabin aircraft dry up as the economy has stalled.
The initial operation will involve as many as four aircraft which will be taken from NetJets' core fleet of company-owned BBJs.
Details of the planned venture, which is to be known as BNJ Charter, have emerged, with tentative approval from the US Department of Transportation (DoT) of the company's application for authorisation to begin operations.
The charter company was formed last April as a subsidiary of BNJCo, the 60:40 joint venture between Boeing and NetJets that manages aircraft on behalf of participants in the BBJ fractional ownership programme.
BNJ plans to provide domestic and international charter services as a supplement to NetJets' fractional programme. The majority of customers are expected to be NetJets' share owners.
Boeing and NetJets were unable to provide information by late last week, but according to DoT documents, the services are designed specifically for customers that require a BBJ for only a short time, or cannot justify the costs of full participation in the fractional programme. A one-eighth share in a BBJ costs $6.1 million.
NetJets launched the BBJ fractional programme in 1997 and has placed orders and options for 29 aircraft. Completion problems delayed delivery of the first BBJ until October last year and seven aircraft are currently in service.
But NetJets acknowledges that it has sold relatively few shares, and that the majority of BBJ flights are upgrades for owners participating in the company's Gulfstream IV/V fractional programmes.
According to DoT documents, BNJ's operations would be limited to around 50h a month, or about 600h in the first year of operations, using one primary aircraft, with the fleet building to four aircraft by the end of the first year. The 18-passenger aircraft would be dry leased from BNJCo, with crew to be provided by NetJets.
As NetJets' fractional fleet is operated under Part 91 rules governing private aircraft, BNJCo has applied for a Part 135 air operator's certificate. The US Federal Aviation Administration has recently approved Part 135 operations with large transport-category aircraft such as the BBJ, provided they have 30 seats or fewer, clearing the way for BNJCo to receive its certificate.
Source: Flight International
