You're correct that IAH and HOU both have a lot of operations. The
assumption that large companies are in large cities is incorrect. Try to
get a flight into Chapel Hill, NC. You have to go to Raleigh via Charlotte.
How about Tyco Electronics in Harrisburg, PA via CLE. Intel in Folsom takes
a flight to SFO then Sacramento but we usually drive a rental from SFO
because it is faster than making the connecting flight. BMW USA is a flight
to Atlanta and a 1.75 hr drive up past Marietta. Tyson foods is in
Springdale, AR. and so on.

Oh almost forgot to mention that we have to leave the office at 8:00 to make
an 11:00 flight and we're only 11 miles from the airport but its a 45 minute
drive, parking, check-in and security probe. We are 10 minutes from SGR and
15 minutes from IWS.

Insurance scares me the most. I can control the amount of debt we take on.
I can control the flight hours. I can choose an older less expensive jet or
a shiny new one. Insurance I have to take what I can get from the
underwriters and live with all the riders and waivers or pay through the
nose.

This isn't a cost a decision based on cheaper operation, it is a decision
about the improved productivity, better efficiency, better customer support,
more flexible installation scheduling. I'm sure that part of the decision
will also be based on the CEO's ego. Yes it will cost more than commercial,
that's a given. The whole thread was about how much more. I will soon have
a number from some fractional to tell me how much more this improvement will
cost us.

Ed


"nuke" wrote in message
...
I had a brief meeting with my CEO last week. Our company spends 80K -
120K
annually on commercial flights. He knows I am a private pilot and he
asked
me if I could prepare a comparative analysis of alternatives such as
fractional ownership, outright ownership, leaseback or charter.

I don't know jack about jets. My assumption is that I'm looking at a jet
versus a King Air or similar. We're based in Houston and regularly fly
to
both coasts with 3 - 6 passengers. I am looking at a large, empty
spreadsheet. Many manufacturers and brokers offer breakdowns for their
products but I am looking for a non-biased source for several pieces of
information.


Houston is a well-served city by the airlines. Being in the middle of the
country, you've got good access by jet coast to coast if you're going to
major
cities. Since you service Fotune 250 companies, I'd guess that most of
your
destinations are well-served also.

It'll be tough to beat the time factor, even counting the inevitable
standing
in line with the rabble at the airports. Jetliners are fast. There's not
much
in the private sector that's as fast as a 737 and very little that's
faster.

Costwise, you're not even going to get close unless compare first class
accomodations and demand luxury travel with a high-level of service. If
you're
flying 6 big wigs around, that actually might not come out too bad.

Dispatch rate with the airlines is going to be impossible to match with
your
own aircraft. So you'll still be buying tickets sometimes. That's another
reason to look into some sort of demand-based charter or fractional
operation.

You could come out ahead if you do a lot of shorter trips, or if you
frequently
travel between cities that do not have major airports. You may also do
good if
you have to fly a lot of last-minute trips, since the airlines hit you the
hardest for short-notice travel.

One approach that might be interesting is to contact some of the charter
and
fractional ownership operations and ask them to do some of the work for
you and
come up with a number. Just start with all the flights you booked last
year and
ask them to run a comparison, taking into consideration how far in advance
you
scheduled.

The other side of the coin is insurance. Many corporate and life insurance
policies have exclusions for air travel on a non-scheduled operation.





--
Dr. Nuketopia
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