If you are operating an air charter this is probably one of the most important articles you’re going to read. One of the things that we hear about on a regular basis is private jet charters losing money. We all have heard about Wheels Up, Jet It and now even flyExclusive. While each of these stories is unique but why do they lose money ? So we ask do you need to make a profit with your aircraft ?
Great question, right. You would think the short answer is yes.
As a company that has been marketing in the aviation industry for over 40 years, we’ve learned a thing or two. One is how to make a profit and work with everyone from a single person business all the way up to some of the largest corporations in the world.
Now back to that core question about making money with your aircraft. Here I am talking about a Part 135 charter operator.
Regardless of what type of aircraft you own, you need to know exactly how much it costs you to operate that aircraft. Then beyond that, there are the hidden surprise costs of an unexpected mechanical failure. Those you can’t predict.
If you use older aircraft, you can plan on having surprises. Just like an old car, things will break unexpectedly. That can wipe out several months of profit on that aircraft.
In broad terms its management. The management of the actual aircraft and how you use it (your business management) will make you operate at a profit or loss. Most of the direct private direct operators have NOT figured this out.
If you operate jet cards or rate cap programs you try to build so much profit into each hour that it seems you can’t lose but you still do. So why ?
While we’re not going to give away every secret here, we will tell you this: You must operate your aircraft like an airline or a cargo operator. No, don’t fly cargo or have unrelated passengers, not that. There are several very specific changes that are the secret sauce we can teach you. And additionally, you must bring down your costs to acquire a new customer (see our article on this).
If you’re losing money, we’ll show you how to reverse that. Send us an email at hello@blueislanddigital.com