"Larry Dighera" wrote
I don't know about that. We just scrapped a business trip via GA due to
cost differential - going GA would have been $1,300 just in fuel, via the
airlines the same two people could go for $500 total and not have to
worry
about potential delays due to winter weather.

Perhaps if you had been able amortize the cost of that flight over
four seats instead of two (as is possible in the PA28-235/6) it might
have worked out better.

We have six seats as well (light twin), but only two people needed to go on
this trip which is typical of most of our trips (1 or 2 people). We have
considered getting a fast single, but we also occasionally need the
load-carrying capacity, room, and speed of a light twin.

It has always been the case for us that airline travel was cheaper than
travel by GA, but in the past we could justify the differential due to
convenience and traveling on our own schedule. The gap is getting so
wide
now that it is becoming increasingly difficult to justify anymore.

I hope you're not intimating that airline travel is getting easier for
passengers. Given the security indignity and delay, and other airline
delays, the cost of GA travel is becoming more attractive, IMO.

No, you're right - airline travel is certainly not getting easier and I
agree that those issues are worth something, just not $800 in direct costs
in the case of this trip.

We do have trips that involve bringing delicate test equipment or
transporting our products for demos, and in those cases going via airlines
is impractical or out of the question entirely in the post-9/11 environment.
Those trips are just not the norm anymore.

BDS