Business Jet Traveler Buyers’ Guide 2022

travelers, advice on how to handle the most complex tax regulations, news about flight providers and their programs, and much more. BJT Waypoints (available at bjtonline.com/subscribe) also provides information about special events, webinars, and other reader offer- ings. We have a lot of exciting content planned for the rest of this year and 2023, and, as always, we’re thankful to have you along for the ride. Up Front Jennifer Leach English Editorial Director jenglish@bjtonline.com CURT EPSTEIN covers FBOs as well as sustainable aviation initiatives for BJT sister publication Aviation International News, where he is a senior editor. In 2018, he won an Aerospace Media Award for Best Business Aviation submission. Here, he highlights the findings from AIN’s latest annual FBO survey (page 40), which provides feedback from readers who regularly utilize private airports about the best places to land and refuel. MARK HUBER has reviewed aircraft for us since 2005 and has been recognized in the Aerospace Media Awards and the American Society of Business Publication Editors’ Azbee Awards. In this edition, he provides us with recommendations on the best aircraft for your needs, budget, and mission (page 6). JEFF WIEAND has written for BJT about taxes, laws, and finance since our very first issue and has won nearly a dozen editorial awards. He is a senior vice president at Boston Jet Search and a member of the National Business Aviation Association’s Tax Committee. Be sure to read his latest insights about financing an aircraft in today’s crazy market (page 28) and what you need to know before you hire someone to manage your jet (page 44). JAMES WYNBRANDT, who is known for his in-depth and easy-to-understand reporting, covers preowned aircraft and lift providers for BJT and has won 14 edito- rial prizes, including the National Business Aviation Association’s Gold Wing Award in 2019 and 2021. Be sure to check out his roundups of new private lift offerings (page 30) and enticing cabin upgrades (page 38). Contributors to This Issue !"#$% &'()*+ Curt Epstein Jeff Wieand Mark Huber James Wynbrandt CY CYR Unique and Innovative Interior Solutions That Enhance The Overall Cabin View the Interior Showcase: w w w. D unc anAviation . ae ro/inte riors-showc ase 6 BJTonline.com | Buyers’ Guide 2022 2020 Which wings are best for your mission? It’s a question almost as old as powered flight itself. No one aircraft does everything well. But depending on your needs, some are better than others. For 17 years, I’ve covered the new and used markets for Business Jet Traveler and flown some remarkable airplanes. Here are my suggested mission-aircraft pairings, which aren’t necessarily the latest models but are the best fit in my view for the stated criteria. They’re not all quite the aviation equivalent of savoring a bottle of 1959 Chateau Lafite Rothschild with chateaubriand at Restaurant Paul Bocuse in Lyon, but some can get you pretty close. Best Aircraft for Long-distance Travelers Bombardier Global 7500 Bombardier has delivered more than 100 of its new $75 million flagship large-cabin, long-range jet since 2018. The aircraft can fly unrefueled for 7,700 nautical miles at speeds up to Mach 0.925 (10 passengers, four crew, average cruising speed of Mach 0.85). The Global is the pick in this category for two main reasons: the wing and the cabin. The new- design thin wing is very efficient at cruise speeds and features a high-lift system with leading-edge slats, allowing the aircraft to have slower approach speeds and use less runway. While the cabin has the same cross section as the older Global 6000, it has been stretched by more than 11 feet, allowing for up to four distinct living zones. Yielding 2,637 cubic feet of cabin space, the Global 7500 is designed for comfort with features including a galley that is 20 percent larger than that on the older Global 6000, with double convection/microwave and convection/steam capabilities; a mid-cabin/self-serve galley; redesigned and larger crew rest areas; pan- oramic passenger windows that give the cabin an airy feel; improved heating and cooling; redesigned seats; a center lounge/media room with 42- to 50-inch flat- screen monitors; adjustable color LEDs in the ceiling; a conference/dining table that seats six; a private state- room; an optional stand-up steam shower; a robust environmental-control system; and a capacious, 195-cubic-foot baggage hold. Runner-up Gulfstream G650ER After its introduction in 2012, the long-haul, large- cabin Gulfstream G650 quickly became a popular Which airplane should you charter or buy? Many factors affect the answer, so our reviewer offers multiple picks. by Mark Huber The Best Aircraft for Your Needs Bombardier Global 7500 Best ride for the world’s elite. More than 200 were deliv- ered during its first four years of production to cor- porations including ExxonMobil, Bank of America, and Walmart; global potentates from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, and Kuwait; and a variety of bil- lionaires. What sells the G650 is the trifecta appeal of speed, range, and cabin size. In 2014, Gulfstream began offering a 7,500-nautical-mile (at Mach 0.85) variant, the G650ER. The extra-range option adds a few million dollars to the price. While the G650ER shares the G650’s cabin, avionics, and systems, software for the fuel-quantity measuring and flight- management systems had to be updated to account for the extra fuel and performance gains. Its speed and range notwithstanding, the G650’s most appealing feature is undoubtedly its super-sized and refined cabin. The aircraft features 28 percent more cabin volume than Gulfstream’s former flagship, the G550, itself a long-range 12- to 16-passenger jet; total cabin volume is 2,138 cubic feet. The G650’s cabin door is more than six feet high, and the cabin is eight feet, six inches wide; six feet, five inches tall; and nearly 47 feet long. A cavernous 195-cubic-foot baggage com- partment is accessible through the rear lav. All that space means room for larger seats, windows, and monuments. The single executive seats are 28 inches wide—two inches wider than those in the G550. The signature oval windows are the indus- try’s largest at 28 by 20.5 inches. Gulfstream can configure the cabin for up to 19 passengers in any of 12 standard floor plans, with forward or aft galleys and with or without a dedicated crew rest area. The conference area is expandable from four seats to six by replacing the center cabin credenza with two single seats. With forward-galley layouts, a stateroom is an option just forward of the aft lavatory. Customers can also opt for floor plans tailored to their tastes. Best Aircraft for Flying into the Wild Pilatus PC-6 Porter Yes, it’s ugly. Almost as ugly as a trailer park pri- vacy fence bolted atop a 1986 Plymouth Voyager minivan. But few airplanes can haul as much into runways that are high, short, and often sloped as the legendary Pilatus Porter. More than 600 were produced from 1959 through 2019. More than half of those are still flying. The high-wing, turboprop single gained fame during the Vietnam War when it was used in covert missions deep in the jungle by CIA contractors. A version built for the U.S. Air Force was fitted with a 20-mm Gatling gun and named the “Peacemaker.” Able to take off and land on runways well under 1,500 feet long, the Porter churns along at an unim- pressive 125 knots but can carry up to 10 passengers or 3,373 pounds of payload over 870 nautical miles with auxiliary underwing fuel tanks. Its fixed main landing gear was designed for abuse. It can also be mounted onto floats for amphibious operations. The structure is decidedly low-tech and no- frills, which makes for easy field repair. And just like a minivan, it sports a pair of giant sliding or hinged doors on both sides of the fuselage for easy loading. The pilot can also drop that microfilm canister through a trap door beneath the cockpit. Models produced after 1984 are known as the B2 variant and came standard with the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-27 stuffed into the air- plane’s enormous nose. The aircraft has held its value remarkably well. A 30-year-old model can easily fetch more than $700,000 and those made toward the end of its production run are routinely listed for close to $2 million. With the Porter, you’re not arriving in a fashion statement, you’re flying in a survival tool. Runner-up Viking 400 An airplane that can go virtually anywhere, do anything, and operate in the most extreme weather—and that could sell for twice what you paid for it after 30 years— might sound like a fantasy. But the iconic DHC-6 Twin Otter turboprop twin, which de Havilland Canada pro- duced between 1965 and 1988, is just that. Gulfstream G650ER Pilatus PC-6 Porter Best 8 BJTonline.com | Buyers’ Guide 2022 2020 “It’s a great system” “This works way better” “It worked amazingly well” “It was a good experience all around” “Rock solid” “I’ve had better connection here than my entire time in Vegas” LEARN MORE ABOUT THE SMARTSKY DIFFERENCE. NATIONWIDE COVERAGE, DONE RIGHT. Your expectations for connectivity shouldn’t change when you’re in flight. SmartSky’s nationwide coverage includes more towers for dense, overlapping coverage. Patented beamforming assigns a separate connection per aircraft for unparalleled performance and security. But don’t take our word for it: The above image represents approximate coverage provided by SmartSky network towers as of August 2022 and is not a guarantee of service availability. Actual coverage may vary and is subject to change. Comments from actual passengers on flights across the country. SmartSkyNetworks.com 10 BJTonline.com | Buyers’ Guide 2022 2020 In 2005, Viking Air of British Columbia pur- chased the assets of Bombardier’s Commercial Service Center, including the product-support and spare-parts business for the Twin Otter, allow- ing Viking to work directly with operators. In 2006, it acquired the aircraft type certificate from Bombardier; and it restarted production in 2010, rechristening the Twin Otter the “Viking 400” and incorporating more than 800 changes and improve- ments. They include more powerful 750-shaft-horse- power Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-34 engines, robust Honeywell Primus Apex glass-panel avionics, and a modernized electrical system. Air condition- ing and full de-icing systems are options. The 400 can pop off a runway and clear a 50-foot- high obstacle in less than 1,500 feet, and with auxil- iary fuel tanks can stay in the air for nine hours; max- imum cruise speed is 182 knots at 10,000 feet. The cabin isn’t pressurized, but the airplane will climb to 25,000 feet, and supplemental oxygen is available for passengers and crew. The main cabin entry measures 50 by 56 inches, and the cabin dimensions are gener- ous: more than 18 feet long, nearly five feet high, and more than five feet wide. Best Aircraft for Pilots on a Budget Mitsubishi MU-2 Marquise A high-performance, twin turboprop with very- light-jet speeds and room for nine passengers for as little as $500,000. That’s what you get with this stretched version of Mitsubishi’s legendary MU-2 twin turboprop. Used MU-2s also cost less than half as much as comparable used turboprops, are built like tanks, and enjoy the best product support of any used business aircraft. The MU-2 was in a state of constant evolution over its 20-year production run between 1966 and 1989, but it basically comes in two flavors: short- body, which seats six or seven; and long-body, which seats seven to nine. The long-body mod- els have a six-foot-longer fuselage and give up 10 knots of airspeed (down to 305 from 315). The most recent versions of the short and long bodies are referred to as the Solitaire and Marquise, respec- tively, and these are the most desirable MU-2s on the market. Power comes from a pair of Honeywell/ Garrett engines that are compact and incredibly durable, with long intervals (5,400 hours) between recommended overhauls. Runner-up Daher TBM 700B The TBM 700 is a single-engine turboprop from France that first flew in 1988 and was certified in 1990. The six-seat, 295-knot pressurized aircraft is mostly metal but uses some composites on the control surfaces. It zips along in the relatively less congested airspace between 20,000 and 30,000 feet, where the odds increase for more direct routing and, conversely, for running into rotten weather. Moreover, it will burn only about half as much fuel as a very light jet or twin turboprop, and it climbs like a rocket. Plus, it’s a great short-runway performer. At maximum takeoff weight, the 700B will lift off from sea level in 2,133 feet. The 700B debuted in 1999 (Serial Number 126) and Socata (now Daher) built 100 of them dur- ing the model’s three-year production run. It was the first TBM to feature the oversized rear door, separate pilot door, plusher executive interior, and factory air conditioning. But, aside from the Piper Meridian/M500, the TBM has the least spacious cabin of any six-passenger turbine model. Most baggage is stored behind the rearmost row of seats in a cargo net and, if you require a bathroom, you need to ask the pilot to land. That said, TBMs enjoy a deserved reputation for ruggedness and their rakish appearance oozes speed, even when they’re parked on the ramp. Shop carefully and you can find a good used one for around $1 million. Best Viking 400 Mitsubishi MU-2 Marquise Daher TBM 700B Comlux Completion | Sabena Technics | Jet Aviation | HAECO Private Jet Solutions ACJ SERVICE CENTRE NETWORK NO ONE KNOWS YOUR AIRCRAFT LIKE WE DO · Maintenance and upgrades, optimising comfort and performance. · Dedicated Airbus corporate jet specialists. · MRO facilities strategically located across the globe. · Delivering an aircraft that flies efficiently, reliably and beautifully. acj.airbus.com CORPORATE JETS B E A U T I F U L LY E N G I N E E R E D E X P E R T LY M A I N TA I N E D Best Aircraft for Short Hops Piper M600 Piper’s M600 is ideal for an owner-pilot transition- ing out of a piston-engine-powered aircraft or for a corporate flight department needing short-hop or short-field supplemental lift. The $3.5 million single-engine, six-seat turboprop builds on Piper’s M-series fuselage, which dates back to discontin- ued models of the 1960s. No one would call the inside of this airplane voluminous: the cabin interiors for all M Class Pipers measure 12 feet, four inches long; four feet, two inches wide; and three feet, 11 inches tall. An M600 with a full bag of gas (270 gallons) has a sparse remaining available payload of just 422 pounds, about enough for the pilot, one pas- senger, and a bit of luggage. Still, on runs of 250 nautical miles, you could conceivably go seats full in an M600. Carrying just the pilot, the M600 has a range of 1,658 nautical miles (no reserves), Maximum cruise speed is 274 knots. This is an airplane that can easily use runways shorter than 3,500 feet and does particularly well under high- altitude/high-temperature conditions. Fuel burn at cruise power is 39 gallons per hour. Runner-up Daher Kodiak The $2.5 million Daher Kodiak is a niche, no-frills, single-engine turboprop designed to get in and out of tight spots under harsh conditions. The unpres- surized aircraft gained certification in 2007 and since then more than 265 have been delivered. The basic aircraft features a 45-foot-long high wing mated to a rugged aluminum fuselage with a large 54-by-57-inch rear cargo door, heavy-duty and high-riding fixed landing gear, a time-tested Pratt & Whitney PT6A-34 series stuffed in the nose, and Garmin’s G1000 series glass-panel avionics in the cockpit. The Kodiak has a maximum cruise speed of 183 knots, seating for nine passengers and one pilot, 248 cubic feet of cargo space without the passen- gers, and an endurance of close to 10 hours when you pull the power back to 95 knots. At 174 knots, the airplane will get you about 1,000 nautical miles of range. It comes standard with fixed landing gear but can be mounted on aluminum or fiber- glass straight or amphibious floats. A new version of the Kodiak, the 900 model, was released at the EAA AirVenture show in July. Both versions will continue to be available, but the $3.5 million 900 offers a 3.9-foot fuselage stretch and a top cruise speed of 210 knots, thanks to its PT6 engine with an additional 150 shaft horsepower. Best Aircraft for Family Vacations Embraer Legacy 650E When you are traveling with children, one air- craft attribute trumps all others: cabin space. And the $27 million Embraer Legacy 650E twin- jet has an ample amount—1,410 cubic feet. The cabin is 43 feet long, six feet high, and just under seven feet wide with seating for up to 14. There is also a cavernous 240-cubic-foot baggage hold that can swallow up to 1,000 pounds of stuff. Priced like a super-midsize jet but with the roominess of a large-cabin model, the 650E builds on its predecessor, the Legacy 650, and adds the Honeywell Ovation Select cabin entertainment and management system (because children must be entertained). The typical executive cabin features a forward galley and closet; four large executive seats (for the grownups) arranged in a facing group sharing two foldout tables; four slightly smaller seats with a conference table and Best Piper M600 12 BJTonline.com | Buyers’ Guide 2022 2020 Daher Kodiak 900 Best 14 BJTonline.com | Buyers’ Guide 2022 2020 an opposite-facing credenza; and an aft stateroom area with two more large single seats (perfect for those timeouts), a foldout table, and an opposite- facing divan or couch. The divan is available with a berthing top that slides out to create a comfort- able sleeping surface. The six large executive seats recline, track forward, and aft and swivel. The lava- tory contains a generous wardrobe closet, ideal for in-flight clothes changing. Runner-up Pilatus PC-24 Powered motion delights children of all ages, so you may well have kids who enjoy dirt bikes, snowmo- biles, and the like and want to take them along on vacation. If so, you want a light jet with a mammoth cargo door big enough to swallow such toys. This is your ride. The Pilatus PC-24 is a flying SUV with a pair of jet engines can land on short grass or dirt strips. Pilatus calls it a “Super Versatile Jet.” Tranches of $12 million (price new) Pilatus PC-24s, representing several years of production, sold out even before the first aircraft rolled off the assembly line. Over its first four years of production, the company delivered 250 of them. Want to order a new one? Get ready to wait. Want a used one? Get ready to pay up to 122 percent of the price of a new one, according to the aircraft valuation service Vref. This airplane is genius on almost every level: it can be flown single pilot. The Williams International FJ44-4A engines have automatic thrust reserve and a quiet power mode in place of an auxiliary power unit to provide ground power. The engines help propel the PC-24 to 45,000 feet in less than 30 min- utes and achieve a maximum cruise speed of 440 knots at 30,000 feet. Range with four passengers is 2,000 nautical miles. The 501-cubic-foot passenger cabin has a flat floor and is available with layout choices that include executive, commuter, combi, medevac, special-mission, and quick-change con- figurations; you can also opt for an externally ser- viced lavatory (forward or aft) and any of several galley setups. The executive configuration features comfortable seating for six to eight. Best Aircraft for Potentates Boeing BBJ 747-8i Production of the latest passenger variant of the venerable 747 quad engine jumbo jet began in 2011 and ended just a few years later. In total, Embraer Legacy 650E Best Pilatus PC-24 Boeing BBJ 747-8i Boeing bagged a mere 155 orders for the 747-8, and more than two-thirds of those were for the cargo-only variant. The last of those will be pro- duced this October. Airlines and VIP customers claimed the rest. Those sold as dedicated Boeing Business Jets amounted to a scant eight. Outfitting those aircraft routinely took 36 months after the aircraft left Boeing sans paint and interior. In VIP configuration it can carry 100 passengers 9,260 nautical miles nonstop. That’s 22 hours in the air, long enough to exhaust the duty times of two flight crews and require a third. The aircraft offers a spacious 4,786-square-foot, 20-foot-wide cabin, a cruising speed of Mach 0.86, and a dash speed of Mach 0.92 or 533 knots/614 mph. Designers looked at all the 747-8’s interior space and drooled dollar signs, imagining two- story ballrooms, dramatic open lofts, and vaulted and trayed ceilings. A few VVIP 747-8s were fin- ished to this level of opulence. The Qatari royal family took two to add into its livery of a dozen converted airliners. But both were placed onto the resale market before long. One airplane had flown only a little over 400 hours. Finding a buyer at mar- ket price—around $567 million—for such a flying palace is nearly impossible, so one of the airplanes was gifted to Turkish President Recep Erdogan. Runner-up Airbus A340-500 The Airbus A340 quad-engine jets come in four main variants—the Dash 200, 300, 500, and 600 models—starting with footprints that are nearly 200 feet long and a wingspan of almost 200 feet and proceeding to 247 feet long and a wingspan of 208 feet, with maximum takeoff weights of 606,000 to 840,000 pounds. The larger A340-500 and 600 vari- ants are powered by the Rolls-Royce Trent series 500 engines, with 54,000 pounds of thrust each. The 500 was the world’s longest-range commercial aircraft at its introduction in 2002, able to carry 313 pas- sengers 8,650 nautical miles; in VVIP configuration, that range can be increased to 9,900 nautical miles. This is an airplane so large that you can bring along your spouse, lots of friends and relations, dozens of children, their nannies, tutors, your but- ler, cooks, valets, stewards, footmen, personal aides, security staff, translators, deputy ministers, a dozen pesky reporters, and all their truckloads of stuff. There’s room inside for an elevator, three kitchens with ovens big enough to roast a whole goat, a fully equipped operating room, and a secure communi- cations suite in the cargo hold. What’s not to like? Best Aircraft for Bargain-hunters Hawker 4000 The super-midsize Hawker 4000 represents an opportunity to purchase a relatively new aircraft for under $4 million, but there are some caveats in terms of aircraft condition, maintenance, and parts availability. Hawker Beechcraft produced 76 of these jets before it declared bankruptcy in 2012. Textron Aviation, which acquired the company’s assets two years later, did not resume production, and support for the aircraft is some - thing less than robust. Many parts for the 4000 can be hard to come by and generally need to be made to order by Textron. Approximately 67 of the airplanes are still in service. Airbus A340-500 Best For more information, please contact: Mike Cole, ATP, CFI Senior Vice President O: 847-268-1312 | M: 630-399-0826 mcole@wintrust.com Wintrust Commercial Finance Aviation Group is a division of Wintrust Asset Finance Inc. Banking products provided by Wintrust Financial Corp. banks. wintrust.com/wcf C OMMERCIAL F INANCE AVIATION GROUP • Advance rates up to 85% • New & preowned airplanes • New & refinancing options • Fixed, floating & swap loan options • Amortization up to 25 years FINANCING FOR FLIGHT 16 BJTonline.com | Buyers’ Guide 2022 2020 The 4000’s stand-up, flat-floor cabin features seating for eight or nine passengers in double- or single-club configuration plus a half club opposite a three-place berthing divan. A forward cabin galley, two forward closets, and a rear cabin lavatory with walk-in baggage compartment with external access complete the layout. The 100-cubic-foot baggage compartment can be accessed when the aircraft is flying below 41,000 feet. The 4000 was the first busi- ness jet designed around Honeywell’s Primus Epic integrated electronic flight deck and Honeywell’s cabin-management system. The aircraft features some fly-by-wire controls, including those for the rudder and spoilerons. It needs 5,088 feet of runway at its maximum takeoff weight of 37,500 pounds. The range is 3,393 nautical miles. Runner-up Learjet 35A Learjet produced more than 600 model 35A light jets between 1976 and 1993, and used ones trade today for $400,000 to $1 million. More than 400 are still in service and the aircraft continues to be supported by parent Bombardier, which shuttered the Learjet brand earlier this year. The airplane requires a two-pilot crew and offers seating for up to eight passengers. This is a jet built for speed. The cabin measures a tight 12.9 feet long by 4.9 feet wide by 4.3 feet tall and volume is just 268 cubic feet. The sparse 40-cubic-foot baggage hold is something of an afterthought. There is no lav per se. Rather, a privacy curtain in the front of the aircraft can be undone and a cushion on one of the regular seats folds up to reveal a pool of blue water below. If you are shy, this is not the airplane for you. Two Honeywell TFE731-2-2B engines power the 35A, which can fly at speeds up to 464 knots and has a brisk climb rate of 3,500 feet per minute, a service ceiling of 51,000 feet, and a range of 2,400 nauti- cal miles. But bring your gas card. The 35A burns up to 200 gallons per hour and has a fuel capacity of 931 U.S. gallons. Numerous modification kits were fitted to the aircraft from both the factory and third-party pro- viders that can increase gross weight, improve range and handling, reduce approach speeds and runway requirements, and add baggage capacity via wing lockers. Similarly, a variety of instrument panel modernizations are available. Best Aircraft for Environmentalists Dassault Falcon 8X The 8X long-range trijet builds on the features and Hawker 4000 Learjet 35A Best Have you ever wondered what it takes for a person to be entrusted with the operation of a multi-million dollar bizjet and the lives of all souls on board? Certainly, pilots of business aviation aircraft must complete a few years of training; learning systems, regulations, and procedures while gaining valuable experience flying various types of aircraft. Many even earn a Bachelor’s degree on the way. But after all that training is complete and the pilot starts flying high-net-worth passengers, how does he or she continue to stay sharp? After all, do you remember how to calculate the area of a circle or diagram the structure of a sentence, assuming you’re not an engineer or English teacher? The point is, if it’s not something you do every day, you’re not likely to have the skills at hand when a situation warrants that skill. It’s the same with flying, and that’s where simulator training comes in. While federal regulations require business aviation pilots to undergo recurrent training to stay proficient, FlightSafety goes beyond to help prepare pilots for situations not covered in the regular proficiency checks like unstable approaches, emergencies that can’t be simulated in the aircraft, and recognizing when to go-around. Who do you want for your pilot? A proficient pilot, or a prepared pilot? BEYOND PROFICIENT... TO PREPARED! BJT SPECIAL ADVERTISING INSERT 2022 Working in your bizjet’s cabin, you notice subtle changes that indicate the airplane is in descent. Sure enough, the seatbelt sign illuminates and you fasten your seat belt for landing. As the landing gear extends, you know you’ll be on the ground in just a few minutes. But then you hear the engines spool up again and there’s the unmis- takable feeling of acceleration. You realize the aircraft is climbing and you may think, “What’s going on?” If you’ve never experienced a go-around before, it can be a bit startling to rapidly transition from the descent to level off or climbing. Sometimes the startle factor develops into irritation or anger at the delay. But a go-around is a normal maneuver that pilots practice often, and if your pilots perform one, it’s a good bet that something wasn’t right, and the safest choice was to climb to a safe maneuvering altitude and fly another approach. “Pilots know they are flying some very high-net-worth individuals that often expect perfection,” said Richard Meikle, executive vice president of operations and safety for FlightSafety International. “A go-around may be perceived by some as less than perfection, when in reality it might be exactly what is needed. It should be a moment for praise: thanks for doing what you needed to do to keep us safe.” ANATOMY OF A GO!AROUND Transitioning an aircraft from landing configuration to climb configuration involves several steps, and a go-around is one of the busiest “normal” procedures that pilots practice. It involves making the decision to go-around, applying power to arrest the descent, pitching up to begin climbing, retracting flaps and landing gear at appropriate times, communicating with air traffic control, and possibly reprogramming the navigation system. Most business aircraft today have features to assist the pilots; depending on the aircraft, pressing the Go Around bu#on may automatically increase the thro#le, disengage the autopilot, or command it to fly a missed-approach pa#ern, and/or set pitch a#itude and altitude guidance indicators on the flight deck. “Although it’s an uncommon procedure, there is nothing unsafe about a go-around,” said Meikle. “It’s essentially a modification of the same procedures used during takeoff.” Go-arounds are uncommon because once the aircraft is THANK YOUR PILOT ON THE NEXT GO!AROUND FLIGHTSAFETY AND PRESAGE GROUP STUDYING PSYCHOLOGY OF GO!AROUNDS TO ENHANCE AVIATION SAFETY configured to land in a stabilized approach, the reasons for not landing don’t occur often. One of the most obvious reasons for going around is another aircraft or vehicle unexpectedly appearing on the runway. Air traffic control may also request a go-around for spacing between aircraft or other reasons; they may leave the aircraft high, resulting in the crew not being able to continue to a touchdown in a stable condition. Weather can throw more curve balls on final approach. A thun- derstorm even 20 miles away can generate strong downdrafts, hail, and gusty winds that can destabilize an approach. Fog or mist can hamper visibility; depending on the airport approach minimums and the equipment on board, if the pilots cannot physically see the runway by a certain minimum altitude, they must perform a “missed approach” and either try again or divert to another airport. PRESSURED TO LAND The hardest go-around decision for a pilot to make, however, is when the approach is just subtly destabilized: a li"le too fast or too slow, a li"le too high or too low. Perhaps ATC requests required maneuvering that resulted in a destabilized approach; a switch to a different runway, vectors to avoid traffic, requests to maintain a slower or faster speed than normal, or direct the crew to maintain a higher altitude than normal can all result in the aircraft not being in exactly the right configuration when it passes through the decision “gates” established for safety. Feeling the pressure of wanting to get the airplane on the ground—whether because of pride, perceived peer or profes- sional pressure, or continuation bias—pilots sometimes try to salvage unstable approaches rather than go around to set up again, especially at high-traffic airports. Usually there’s suf- ficient runway length to absorb a slightly unstable approach, and the pilots get the aircraft stopped in time. But for as many as two aircraft per week worldwide, the runway length or width is not enough for the resultant landing and the airplane rolls off the runway in what’s known as a runway excursion. “The vast majority of runway excursions are the result of a land- ing continued from an unstable approach that should not have been allowed to continue,” said Meikle. “Despite the publication of stabi- lized approach criteria, the go-around from an unstable approach rate has not shown any material difference for quite a few years.” According to Meikle, less than 2 percent of unstable approaches result in a go-around. And while only a fraction of the other 98 percent of unstable approaches result in runway excur- sions, Meikle and his team at FlightSafety want to understand the psychology preventing pilots from making go-around decisions that could prevent more runway excursions. “With runway excursion events continuing in the business air- craft sector, we have to do more to address the root cause,” Meikle said. “By focusing on the decision-making leading up to touchdown in training, we can directly a"ack the threat in flight operations.” STUDYING PILOT PSYCHOLOGY To understand the pilot psychology regarding go-arounds, FlightSafety has partnered with Presage Group, a world leader in predictive human behavior in the workplace, to study aviation go-around decision-making by two-pilot Gulfstream G550, G600, and G650 business jet crews. The study, which began during summer 2022, builds on a previous Citation Jet Pilots Association / Presage /FlightSafety endeavor that studied single-pilot go-around decision-making in 2020-21 and led to CJP’s Safe to Land Initiative in 2022. “The focus of the [Gulfstream] study is the management of environmental instability,” Meikle said. “Some of the approaches will be completely normal with no reason to go around, and others will have just a minor variation to cause the instability. After each one, the pilots will be debriefed on their decision- making process and the factors that led them to go around or not…Once a pilot gets past expectation bias from being in the study, it really becomes an interesting scientific experiment. When I went through it [for the CJP study], it was some of the most powerful time I’ve spent in a simulator in my career.” Presage’s Gulfstream pilot study will take place through early 2023 at FlightSafety’s Savannah, Georgia Learning Center where “Although it’s an uncommon procedure, there is nothing unsafe about a go-around. It’s essentially a modification of the same procedures used during takeoff. ” half of the 20 participating crews will receive new procedures and guidelines developed and updated from the earlier CJP study. The other half will serve as a control group, using their own experi- ence to determine which situations require go-arounds. Each crew will perform about 10 approaches with a mix of varying environmental difficulty. At the end of the study, Presage will use its proprietary methods and intellectual property to make key rec- ommendations to be rolled out in future FlightSafety curricula. “Using our psychological tool to understand human behav- ior in the moment adds an important capstone to conventional procedural development, which goes beyond what normal operators do. It’s a switch in thinking,” said Piyush Gandhi, vice president of operations and business development at Presage in a press release about the Gulfstream study. “When this meth- odology was deployed with the Citation Jet Pilots Association, also in partnership with FlightSafety, the results were revolu- tionary. We intend to do the same for Gulfstream operators.” The various Gulfstream models chosen for the study will help gauge whether a difference in control methodology affects pilots’ decisions to go around; in most two-pilot crews, either pilot can initi- ate the go-around. The G500 contains control columns where the pilot and copilot each have their own control yoke on top of a column directly in front of each pilot. The columns move together and can be seen out of each other’s peripheral vision. The G600 and G650 contain side sticks that are essentially out of the normal field of view. “If I’m the non-flying pilot, and I can see the control column moving relatively quickly in my peripheral vision while monitor- ing the aircraft’s flight path, I can tell that the pilot flying the air- plane is dealing with more instability than in a normal approach,” said Meikle. “But in a side-stick situation, it’s very difficult to sense what the other crewmember is doing as their hand movements are much smaller and the side-stick is out of the normal field of view. By using the two different platforms in the study, we’ll see if that factor influences the go-around decision-making process.” Another interesting comparison will be the difference in go-around tendencies between the Citation pilots and Gulfstream crews. Besides the single-pilot/dual-pilot difference, the smaller Citations are about one quarter the weight of a Gulfstream 600 and pilots can make the go-around decision lower and later than Gulfstream pilots. “It’s going to be a very interesting comparison because the Citation and the G600 are almost the bookends of the business aviation sector,” said Meikle. “There’s real strategy in having the same vendor do both studies because now we’re using the same methodologies with minor variations to accommodate the differences in the fleets, and we may find that one has a particularly unique characteristic that triggers a follow-on study in a different category of airplanes like the super midsize.” TAKING THE DATA A STEP FURTHER After the study has been completed and analyzed, Presage and FSI will develop course content and scenarios to use exclusively in FlightSafety training. During this phase, FSI will also pull in additional insights gathered from its partnership with GE Digital, which collects and ana- lyzes anonymous and aggregated flight data from more than 300 operators and 1,300 business aircraft. “We already have some great insight to approach stability and trouble spot airports through the GE Digital partnership that we address in training,” said Meikle. “For example, we’ve seen that sometimes air traffic controllers insist the aircraft maintain higher speeds to the final approach fix. While this helps the controller, it can put the pilot in a less stable position because newer aircraft are very hard to slow down on short final. They can find themselves coming in high and fast which if not managed correctly, or a go-around is not initiated, could result in an overrun of the runway. Now we can focus the training even more precisely on stable approach criteria, and soon we will add the psychology of the go-around decision by combin- ing the insights from GE Digital data analysis of actual flights with the results of the Presage go-around studies. All this will further enhance the effectiveness of FlightSafety training. “By be#er preparing pilots to manage situations they may experience in the real world, we’re enhancing aviation safety,” said Meikle. “If just one crew makes the go-around decision that they might not have done otherwise—result- ing in a non-event instead of a runway excursion with potentially catastrophic consequences—then we’ve done our job and every penny we’ve invested in the Presage stud- ies and the GE Digital Partnership will be worth it.” YOU’RE IN GOOD HANDS When was the last time you had to take a test that put your job on the line? A multifaceted, multi-hour assessment of your physical skills, decision-making ability, and systems knowledge that, if you failed, could cost you your employment? Depending on the type of operation and their crew position, pilots may be required to take a check as often as every 6 months or a infrequently as every 24 months. If the pilot cannot demonstrate proficiency in any of the required maneuvers to the examiner during the annual checkride, he or she cannot fly in the commercial operation again until they are retrained and a subsequent proficiency checkride is satisfactorily completed. BEYOND THE REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS While the FAA regulatory requirements may seem strict— especially to those in professions that don’t require such formal testing—some in the industry feel they’re not enough. “Virtually all the pilots involved in accidents have been legally proficient,” said Brian Moore, senior vice president of operations at FlightSafety International [Moore has since been promoted to CEO and director of operations at FlightSafety Textron Aviation Training]. “That’s why we’re not satisfied with just meeting the regulatory requirements. It’s not about just checking the boxes and sending the pilots out there but training to achieve the highest level of preparedness and safety.” FlightSafety has provided simulator training for busi- ness aviation pilots since A. L. Ueltschi, a pilot for Pan American Airways, founded the company in 1951 under the premise that business aviation pilots should have access to the same high-quality training as airline pilots. Today’s high-fidelity full-motion simulators allow pilots to expe- rience scenarios that can’t or shouldn’t be performed in the aircraft, from equipment failures to extreme weather to difficult approach and runway configurations. “FSI has a relentless focus on enhancing the quality of our course, the realism of the simulator, and the quality of our instructors with the goal of helping each pilot become more proficient and prepared out in the field,” said Moore. Each recurrent training course combines several hours of “ground school”—including a refresher on aviation rules and regulations plus aircraft-specific systems training—with flying procedures and maneuvers in the simulator under the watchful eyes of an experienced FlightSafety instructor. Both the FSI courseware and the instructors go beyond the regulatory checkboxes by introducing scenarios that provide a deeper understanding of aircraft systems and codependencies. FIGHTSAFETY PREPARES PILOTS AND AVIATION PROFESSIONALS TO HANDLE THE EXPECTED AND UNEXPECTED PARTNERSHIPS KEY TO CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT Some scenarios have developed out of FSI’s partnerships with aviation industry leaders. Working with GE Digital data analysts since late 2021, a team of FSI safety experts work with instructors to address trends and insights from the aggregated data of more than 1,300 business aircraft, incorporating the insights into FSI courseware as appropriate. For example, the team created a 15-minute brief focused on stable-approach execution after GE Digital data pointed to a correlation between unstable approaches and aircraft overrunning the runway. “We’re so excited about the partnership with GE Digital because we’re interested in where the data indicates the industry is struggling, and then targeting those issues from a training standpoint,” said Moore. “If we can focus on what’s happening out there in the real world and provide enhanced training in those areas, those pilots will be more prepared to handle those situations in real life.” Another key partnership involves working with the Presage Group, a leader in predictive human behavior in the workplace, to conduct studies on go-around decision-making by single-pilot and dual-pilot operations. The single-pilot study, conducted at FSI in conjunction with the Citation Jet Pilots Association, resulted in the association’s Safe to Land Initiative, which was rolled out in January 2022. A second study initiated by FSI focuses on dual-pilot crews in Gulfstream G500/G600 and G650 aircraft, with insights and comparisons between the two studies to be incorporated into FlightSafety Gulfstream training sometime in 2023. “We invest heavily in internal instructor training to enhance not only their technical knowledge but also their teaching manner by incorporating the latest in adult learning theory,” said Moore. “We help the instructors with their approach to identifying areas of improvement with individual pilots to help them become more prepared out in the field.” FlightSafety instructors are also encouraged to remain actively flying in business aviation to bring that experience back to the classroom. Instructor safety groups pool their knowledge and experience to identify gaps and help shape curriculum. For exam- ple, after a high-profile 2020 helicopter accident, an FSI instructor safety group developed an Inadvertent Flight into Instrument Meteorological Conditions for Rotorcraft spotlight, which was subsequently incorporated into all recurrent rotorcraft training. “About a month after we rolled out the Inadvertent IMC cur- riculum, a helicopter pilot from a state agency who went through the course with his tactical officer was flying a night mission and had an encounter with inadvertent IMC,” said Moore. “He applied the training and was able to recover back to base. He wrote us a long le"er crediting the FSI training with saving their lives.” EXECUTIVES IN BACK NEED EXECUTIVE!LEVEL EXPERTISE UP FRONT Simulator training is not cheap, and there are times when aircraft owners or operators balk at the cost of sending their crews every six to 12 months. But doing so allows them to build a higher degree of skill and experience than flying alone provides. In a continuous-improvement environ- ment like FlightSafety’s, pilots benefit from the wisdom of instructors and shared experiences of other pilots. “Who do you want flying the airplane?” asked Moore. “Someone with a basic-level knowledge who has done just enough to check the boxes, or a PhD-level individual who knows the aircraft inside and out, and who’s been training in a simulator in all sorts of scenarios?” Moore likened the need for professional pilots to the need for professional translators in a business situation. “If you’re going to Paris for personal reasons but you don’t know any French, you can generally get by with Google Translate,” said Moore. “But if you’re conducting high-level business negotiations in French, you need a top-notch translator fluent in English and French who also understands terms specific to your business or industry.” FlightSafety provides ample opportunities for pilots to continue sharpening their skills and expanding their knowledge beyond the classroom. FSI maintains an exten- sive library of online courses in topics such as navigation, international procedures, human factors/crew resource management, avionics, safety, and security. These are available to any pilot, with many courses under $250. “ We help the instructors with their approach to identifying areas of improvement with individual pilots to help them become more prepared out in the field. ” “These courses are geared towards rounding out pilot knowl- edge and refreshing them on specific types of operations,” Moore said. “Recently, we completely overhauled our international proce- dures course to capture recent operational changes in the region.” FlightSafety’s Master Aviator program recognizes those pilots who a!end training at least every eight months (ini- tial, recurrent, or prior-experience course) and complete a certain number of supplemental simulator, eLearning, or LiveLearning courses. The aircraft-specific program covers 21 models from Airbus Helicopters to Gulfstreams, so pilots can earn Master Aviator status in more than one aircraft. MASTER!LEVEL EXPERTISE FOR NON!PILOT AVIATION PROFESSIONALS Though FSI is known for its simulator pilot training, it also pro- vides in-depth training for other aviation professionals, including cabin and flight a!endants, aircraft schedulers and dispatchers, and maintenance technicians. Maintenance technicians can earn Master Technician certificates in six areas: airframe, avionics, cabin systems, composites, engine-specific, and management. “The core training for technicians is just as intensive as our pilot training,” said Moore. “Recently we’ve even intro- duced virtual engine simulators that allow technicians to practice taking apart engines, installing line replaceable units, and troubleshooting scenarios. Large corporate flight departments can come to FSI for one-stop shopping: pilot, cabin crew, and maintenance personnel training are at the same intensive level, ensuring a high level of proficiency and preparedness across their entire flight department.” CONFIDENCE FOR BACK!SEAT DRIVERS FlightSafety has even developed courses for the VIPs in the back of the corporate airplane and spouses of single-pilot owner-operator aircraft. The Executive Emergency Training course is tailored to business aircraft passengers to provide a basic understanding of aircraft systems, onboard emergency equipment, and security and safety procedures. These can be especially important for international operations. “We send instructors all over the world, so we conduct risk assessments to determine the risks going into various areas,” said Moore. “We look at health risks, safety, security, and much more, and roll those into the executive training.” For spouses and family members who fly with single-pilot operators, FSI offers the Confidence Builder program. This program incorporates classroom training with simulator time to train non- pilots on how to get the aircraft back on the ground safely if the pilot becomes incapacitated, as recently happened on a Cessna Caravan flying from the Bahamas to Fort Pierce, Florida. A passenger with no previous flight experience landed the single-engine aircraft in Palm Beach, Florida, based on guidance from an air traffic control- ler after the pilot became sick and fell unconscious in the air. “The passenger kept his composure and air traffic control did an amazing job of coaching him back on the ground,” said Moore. “Our Confidence Builder course does exactly that—shows what to do, how to contact ATC, and how to manipulate the gear and power levers to land safely. And then they fly a few scenarios in the simula- tor to gain the confidence that they could do it for real if they had to.” RESERVE YOUR COCKPIT FOR THE SKY’S MOST ELITE There’s training to check a box and training for excellence. When training to meet a requirement, the result is proficiency. When crew train with the best—to be the best—skills are sharpened, preparing them for anything. It’s like this: Proficient is capable. Prepared is unshakable. Which do you prefer your pilot to be: simply capable or completely unshakable? To discover more reasons to train with the best, call +1.201.584.8262. Or visit at FlightSafety.com today. Buyers’ Guide 2022 | BJTonline.com 17 flight characteristics that have made the Dassault Falcon 7X popular, adding increased utility and luxury and a 43-inch fuselage stretch. The aircraft has a fast cruising speed of Mach 0.9, a range of 6,450 nautical miles (with eight passengers and three crew, at Mach 0.8), 500 more than the 7X. The extra range—courtesy of an additional center-fuselage fuel tank and a lighter, redesigned wing—enables the 8X to fly nonstop from Hong Kong to London, Paris to Singapore, and Beijing to Los Angeles. The reworked wing also keeps the 8X competitive on short runways; it needs 6,000 feet to take off fully loaded but can stop in 2,150 feet. The Pratt & Whitney Canada PW307D engines have been optimized to offer 6,725 pounds of thrust each, with a 5 percent thrust increase and lower emissions. Dassault claims the 8X is up to one-third more fuel-efficient than other offerings in this class. Runner-up Eclipse 550 Eclipse manufactured nearly 300 of its very light, six-seat twinjets between 2006 and 2017. The airplane offers 1,125-nautical-mile range, 370-knot top speed, and low direct operating costs. Pilots routinely see fuel burns at maximum cruise alti- tude of less than 60 gallons an hour and can easily use runways shorter than 3,000 feet. Production of the Model 550 began in 2013. Some of these are remanufactured Model 500s and these updated versions host a variety of improve- ments and sell used for between $1.8 million and $2.3 million. Like the original model 500, the 550 is certified for single-pilot operation. Cockpit avionics upgrades include synthetic and enhanced vision; sharper, more powerful display screens; a sepa- rate avionics standby display unit; dual integrated flight-management systems; and autothrottles for smoother, more efficient engine operation. The air- craft also adds new electronic antilock brakes. An upgraded cabin features higher-grade, piped leathers; finished carpets; more robust table and cup-holder attachments; better handrails; a one-piece headliner that improves aesthetics; a portable server; iPad and Bluetooth connectivity; and an intercom system for pilot-passenger com- munications. Still, the passenger cabin is somewhat tight, the luggage compartment is little better than a shelf, and there is no lavatory. Best Aircraft for Travelers in a Hurry Cessna Citation X+ Cessna manufactured 29 Citation X+ aircraft between 2014 and 2018. It is an updated version Eclipse 550 Best Dassault Falcon 8X 18 BJTonline.com | Buyers’ Guide 2022 2020 of the original Citation X that was made between 1996 and 2012 and sold 313 copies. Both the X and X+ are rockets. The X+ was the fastest production business jet you could buy with a top speed of Mach 0.935 and a cruising speed of 528 knots, seating for eight to 12, and a range of 3,460 nautical miles. A near-supersonic top speed isn’t the Citation X+’s only standout feature. It also boasts a new Garmin G5000 avionics glass cockpit; an updated, mood-lit, and uber-connected cabin; ellipti- cal winglets; and more powerful Rolls-Royce engines, a tad more speed and range, and better brakes than its predecessor offers. But it could not overcome the birth defects that it inherited from the airplane’s first generation, the original Citation X, which hit the market in 1996. Those include a narrow, stoop-over cabin replete with a 1960s-style trenched center aisle, complex hydraulics, and direct operating costs that are 25 to 33 percent higher than those of a stable of competing super- midsized aircraft—business jets that have wider, taller cabins and burn a lot less fuel. The Citation X+, posting economic numbers that were increasingly hard to defend, never found a sustainable audience. You can purchase a good used one for less than $12 million. Ten of the 29 buyers were upgrading from old Citation Xs. Like the supersonic airliner Concorde and the Mach 3 plus SR-71 U.S. spy airplane, the X+ fell victim to the actuary’s knife. The X and X+ are one-trick ponies that were built for speed. And the trick got old. Runner-up Gulfstream G500 In October 2014, Gulfstream Aerospace formally launched two large-cabin jets designed to replace its G450 and G550 models: the G500 and the G600. The top speed for both aircraft is Mach 0.925, the same as for Gulfstream’s G650ER. With the introduction of the G500 and G600, all the company’s large-cabin models will pay homage to the need for speed. Possible nonstop city pairs for the G500 include Istanbul to Cape Town, South Africa; Los Angeles to London; and San Francisco to Tokyo. The aircraft has a range of 5,300 nautical miles at Mach 0.85. The spacious 1,715-cubic-foot cabin can seat up to 13 across three living areas. BJT Cessna Citation X+ Gulfstream G500 PREMIER JET CARD ALL INCLUSIVE JET CARD sales@premierprivatejets.com | www.premierprivatejets.com | (772) 247-3071 Atlantic At Stuart Jet Center | 2580 SE Aviation Way, Stuart FL THE BENEFITS OF OUR EXCLUSIVE CARD: ! No Hidden Fees, All Inclusive Pricing ! Earn Bonus Hours with Referral Program ! No Long-Term Commitments ! Guaranteed Availability ! No Expiration Dates To Learn More, Scan The QR Code PREMIERPREMIER PRIVATE JETS READERS’ CHOICE SURVEY BUSINESS JET TRAVELER’S 12 TH ANNUAL Here are the results of our 2022 Readers’ Choice survey. Our thanks to the 1,289 of you who took the time to share your opinions and experiences. As promised, we have made a contribution for every completed survey to Corporate Angel Network, which arranges flights on business aircraft to treatment centers for cancer patients. Note: Percentages don’t always total 100 due to rounding and because respondents were allowed to select multiple answers for one question. 70% I don't fly privately and have no plans to do so* I don't fly privately and have no plans to do so* I haven't flown privately but am considering it I haven't flown privately but am considering it Less than 3 years Less than 3 years 3–10 years 3–10 years More than 10 years More than 10 years 10% 4% 8% 8% 29% 24% 14% 13 % 19% More than 100 hours 76–100 hours 51–75 hours 25–50 hours Less than 25 hours FLYING PRIVATELY How long have you been flying privately? About how much flying do you do in a typical year? *Readers who selected this response were not asked any of the questions that follow. 20 BJTonline.com | Buyers’ Guide 2022 2020 68% 19% 13% I have long been able to afford flying privately but just happened to begin in the last two years. I have long been able to afford flying privately but just happened to begin in the last two years. Changes to my financial situation allowed me to begin. Changes to my financial situation allowed me to begin. The pandemic provided the impetus. The pandemic provided the impetus. 41%Fly in my own aircraft Fly in my own aircraft 16% Fly via a fractional-aircraft share you purchased Fly via a fractional-aircraft share you purchased 42% Fly via a corporate-owned aircraft Fly via a corporate-owned aircraft 23% Fly via a jet card or membership club Fly via a jet card or membership club 45% 0 10 20 30 40 50 Fly via charter Fly via charter 37 46 12 5 37 46 12 5 21 48 22 9 21 48 22 9 33 51 13 3 33 51 13 3 28 53 16 3 28 53 16 3 39 42 16 3 39 42 16 3 14 44 35 7 14 44 35 7 12 44 38 6 12 44 38 6 30 47 20 3 30 47 20 3 51 38 8 3 51 38 8 3 22 39 30 9 22 39 30 9 22 46 25 6 22 46 25 6 26 41 23 10 26 41 23 10 27 44 23 6 27 44 23 6 20 42 23 15 20 42 23 15 17 45 28 9 17 45 28 9 Clay Lacy Aviation Clay Lacy Aviation Exclusive Jets Exclusive Jets Executive Jet Management Executive Jet Management Flexjet Flexjet Jet Aviation Jet Aviation Jet Edge Jet Edge Jet Linx Aviation Jet Linx Aviation Million Air Million Air NetJets NetJets Nicholas Air Nicholas Air PlaneSense PlaneSense Solairus Aviation Solairus Aviation VistaJet VistaJet Wheels Up Wheels Up XO XO 3.13 2.81 3.14 3.05 3.17 2.64 2.62 3.04 3.38 2.74 2.84 2.83 2.92 2.67 2.70 Which statement best describes your decision to begin flying privately? Please indicate which of the following you have done in the past two years or plan to do within the next two years (check all that apply) LIFT PROVIDERS Excellent Good Fair Poor Weighted Average* Please indicate your overall impression of each of these lift providers. (Asked of all respondents) Note: results exclude those who responded with “don’t know/not sure.” *Determined by assigning points to ratings: Excellent (4), Good (3), Fair (2), Poor (1). Buyers’ Guide 2022 | BJTonline.com 21 Aircraft model choices Aircraft model choices Availability of aircraft on short notice Availability of aircraft on short notice Customer service Customer service Peak-day policies Peak-day policies Value for price paid Value for price paid Overall satisfaction Overall satisfaction Clay Lacy Aviation Clay Lacy Aviation Exclusive Jets Exclusive Jets Executive Jet Management Executive Jet Management Flexjet Flexjet Jet Aviation Jet Aviation Million Air Million Air NetJets NetJets PlaneSense PlaneSense VistaJet VistaJet Wheels Up Wheels Up XOJet XOJet 63 34 3 42 50 8 58 34 8 42 45 13 28 62 10 50 45 5 63 34 3 42 50 8 58 34 8 42 45 13 28 62 10 50 45 5 67 25 8 33 33 17 17 42 50 8 33 42 17 8 42 33 17 8 50 42 8 67 25 8 33 33 17 17 42 50 8 33 42 17 8 42 33 17 8 50 42 8 56 44 38 53 9 66 28 6 38 47 16 34 47 19 44 56 56 44 38 53 9 66 28 6 38 47 16 34 47 19 44 56 63 38 45 48 5 2 59 34 7 36 41 21 2 33 40 25 2 49 44 7 63 38 45 48 5 2 59 34 7 36 41 21 2 33 40 25 2 49 44 7 62 36 2 35 53 12 72 22 6 34 53 13 29 49 20 2 53 39 8 62 36 2 35 53 12 72 22 6 34 53 13 29 49 20 2 53 39 8 47 49 5 47 49 5 83 17 40 53 5 2 41 41 16 2 68 30 2 47 49 5 47 49 5 83 17 40 53 5 2 41 41 16 2 68 30 2 71 27 2 1 63 31 5 1 72 24 3 1 40 39 20 2 29 46 24 1 54 43 3 1 71 27 2 1 63 31 5 1 72 24 3 1 40 39 20 2 29 46 24 1 54 43 3 1 69 31 46 46 8 69 31 31 46 23 62 38 62 38 69 31 46 46 8 69 31 31 46 23 62 38 62 38 65 35 62 27 12 46 42 8 4 36 52 12 27 54 19 46 46 8 65 35 62 27 12 46 42 8 4 36 52 12 27 54 19 46 46 8 43 50 5 3 30 50 15 5 53 38 5 5 15 53 25 8 20 60 13 8 30 58 5 8 43 50 5 3 30 50 15 5 53 38 5 5 15 53 25 8 20 60 13 8 30 58 5 8 36 50 7 7 36 43 14 7 57 21 14 7 14 57 21 7 21 57 14 7 29 57 7 7 36 50 7 7 36 43 14 7 57 21 14 7 14 57 21 7 21 57 14 7 29 57 7 7 3.58 3.34 3.50 3.29 3.18 3.45 3.50 2.83 3.25 3.00 3.08 3.33 3.56 3.28 3.59 3.22 3.16 3.44 3.63 3.36 3.52 3.11 3.05 3.42 3.60 3.22 3.66 3.21 3.04 3.45 3.42 3.42 3.83 3.30 3.20 3.66 3.68 3.55 3.67 3.17 3.03 3.50 3.69 3.38 3.69 3.08 3.62 3.62 3.65 3.50 3.31 3.24 3.08 3.38 3.33 3.05 3.38 2.75 2.93 3.10 3.14 3.07 3.29 2.79 2.93 3.07 LIFT PROVIDERS Please rate the company with which you have the most experience. (Respondents each rated only one provider.) Excellent Good Fair Poor Weighted Average* Note: We received insufficient response to provide meaningful results regarding companies that are not listed above. *Determined by assigning points to ratings: Excellent (4), Good (3), Fair (2), Poor (1). 22 BJTonline.com | Buyers’ Guide 2022 2020 45 46 8 1 45 46 8 1 56 36 7 56 36 7 38 48 10 4 38 48 10 4 44 42 11 2 44 42 11 2 45 45 10 1 45 45 10 1 74 22 2 1 74 22 2 1 43 41 13 3 43 41 13 3 33 42 19 5 33 42 19 5 56 34 9 2 56 34 9 2 21 48 25 7 21 48 25 7 43 47 9 1 43 47 9 1 46 40 12 2 46 40 12 2 28 49 21 2 28 49 21 2 16 42 30 12 16 42 30 12 Airbus Airbus Airbus Helicopters Airbus Helicopters Bell Bell Boeing Boeing Bombardier Bombardier Cessna Cessna Cirrus Aircraft Cirrus Aircraft Dassault Falcon Dassault Falcon Embraer Embraer Gulfstream Gulfstream Honda Aircraft Honda Aircraft Leonardo Leonardo Pilatus Pilatus Robinson Helicopter Robinson Helicopter 3.35 3.19 3.34 3.25 3.44 3.31 3.04 3.49 3.28 3.70 3.04 2.82 3.30 2.62 AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURERS Please indicate your overall impression of each of these aircraft manufacturers. * Determined by assigning points to ratings: Excellent (4), Good (3), Fair (2), Poor (1). Excellent Good Fair Poor Weighted Average* Wilson Has You Covered In M E M P H I S ! CLT 704-359-0440 MEM 901-345-2992 CHA 423-855-2299 HOU 713-649-8700 wilsonair.com American Family Owned and Operated Visit us at NBAA-BACE TITAN Booth #4619 Buyers’ Guide 2022 | BJTonline.com 23 PREFERRED AIRCRAFT If you could regularly fly on any of these aircraft, which would you choose in each category? 59% 21% 12% 5% 3 % 1% Pilatus PC-12 Pilatus PC-12 Cessna Caravan Cessna Caravan Daher TBM series Daher TBM series Piper M600 Piper M600 Epic E1000 Epic E1000 Daher Kodiak Daher Kodiak 0 20 40 60 82% 18% Beechcraft King Air Beechcraft King Air Piaggio Avanti P180 Piaggio Avanti P180 0 20 40 60 80 100 Single-engine turboprops Twin turboprops 56% 31% 8% 5% Embraer Phenom 100 Embraer Phenom 100 Honda Aircraft HondaJet Honda Aircraft HondaJet Cirrus Vision SF50 Cirrus Vision SF50 Eclipse 550 Eclipse 550 0 20 40 60 Very light jets (VLJs) 32% 22% 21% 18% 6% 1% Embraer Phenom 300 Embraer Phenom 300 Cessna Citation CJ4 Cessna Citation CJ4 Pilatus PC-24 Pilatus PC-24 Bombardier Learjet 70/75 Bombardier Learjet 70/75 Hawker/ Beechjet 400 Hawker/ Beechjet 400 Nextant 400 /400XTi Nextant 400 /400XTi 0 20 40 Small-cabin/light jets Beechcraft King Air 350 24 BJTonline.com | Buyers’ Guide 2022 2020 34% 27% 25% 14% Cessna Citation Latitude Cessna Citation Latitude Embraer Praetor 500 Embraer Praetor 500 Gulfstream G150 Gulfstream G150 Hawker 800/900 Hawker 800/900 0 20 40 Midsize-cabin jets 37% 30% 21% 12% Bombardier Challenger 350 Bombardier Challenger 350 Gulfstream G280 Gulfstream G280 Cessna Citation Longitude Cessna Citation Longitude Embraer Praetor 600 Embraer Praetor 600 0 20 40 Super-midsize-cabin jets 50% 29% 22% Gulfstream G500 Gulfstream G500 Dassault Falcon 7X Dassault Falcon 7X Bombardier Global 5500 Bombardier Global 5500 0 20 40 60 Large-cabin jets 48% 26% 15% 10% Gulfstream G650/ G650ER Gulfstream G650/ G650ER Bombardier Global 7500 Bombardier Global 7500 Dassault Falcon 8X Dassault Falcon 8X Gulfstream G600 Gulfstream G600 0 20 40 60 Ultra-long-range/heavy jets Gulfstream G500 Buyers’ Guide 2022 | BJTonline.com 25 66% 23% 10% Boeing BBJ (any model) Boeing BBJ (any model) Airbus ACJ (any model) Airbus ACJ (any model) Embraer Lineage 1000 Embraer Lineage 1000 0 20 40 60 80 57% 30% 12% Sikorsky S-92 Sikorsky S-92 Airbus Helicopters H175 Airbus Helicopters H175 Leonardo AW189 Leonardo AW189 0 20 40 60 42% 31% 11% 10% 5% 2% Bell 505 Bell 505 Airbus Helicopters H130 Airbus Helicopters H130 Leonardo AW119 Leonardo AW119 Robinson Helicopter R66 Robinson Helicopter R66 MD Helicopters MD 500 series MD Helicopters MD 500 series Enstrom Helicopter 480/480B Enstrom Helicopter 480/480B 0 20 40 60 49% 31% 14% 6% Bell 427/429 Bell 427/429 Airbus Helicopters H135 Airbus Helicopters H135 Leonardo AW109 series Leonardo AW109 series MD Helicopters MD Explorer MD Helicopters MD Explorer 0 20 40 60 39% 26% 17 % 10% 8% Sikorsky S-76 series Sikorsky S-76 series Bell 412 Bell 412 Airbus Helicopters H145 Airbus Helicopters H145 Leonardo AW139 or AW169 Leonardo AW139 or AW169 Airbus Helicopters H160 Airbus Helicopters H160 0 20 40 60 26 BJTonline.com | Buyers’ Guide 2022 2020 Bizliners Light, single-turbine helicopters Large, twin-turbine helicopters Light, twin-turbine helicopters Medium, twin-turbine helicopters Sikorsky S-92 PERFORMANCE WINGLETS INCREASE REDUCE FUEL BURN Looking for a way to reduce your carbon footprint? Blended Winglets are the fuel-saving option that makes a practical impact on sustainability now, while improving performance and operational flexibility at the same time. They’ve saved billions of gallons of fuel and millions of tons of C02 emissions. SEE HOW IMPROVED WINGTIPS MEAN GREEN TRIPS AviationPartners.com +1.206.762.1171 Sales@Winglets.com 28 BJTonline.com | Buyers’ Guide 2022 2020 L ike many others in the private aviation field, bank officials had cautious expectations for 2022. After all, the hot business jet market had to cool off at some point. Yet, as of this writing, supply-chain problems, the war in Ukraine, and various economic woes have all failed to halt the ravenous appetite for acquiring aircraft. The increase in demand vis-a-vis supply lately appears to have resulted more from the pandemic than from the tax benefits of bonus depreciation. “We con- tinue to see strong interest among high-net-worth clients seeking to buy aircraft and avoid the airlines,” says Peter Bullen at Key Equipment Finance. Jet prices have increased simply because the number of people wanting to own them, charter them, and purchase shares in them has dramatically increased. Business jet financiers are secured lenders that view the aircraft as loan collateral. Unlike houses, which in good neighborhoods have steadily appreci- ated over decades and indeed centuries, aircraft are, ineluctably, wasting assets. Over time, their technology becomes outdated, they wear out, and their value declines accordingly. They reach a point where virtually no one wants to buy them for transportation and the most they are good for is to be sold for parts. Historically, the value of business jets has been a function of what buyers are willing to pay for them and how much sellers are willing to sell them for. In a normal market, aircraft lenders can make reasonably safe estimates and assumptions regarding the value of their collateral and how fast it is likely to decline, but nothing about values seems safe right now. Instead of going down, jet prices have been rising. Lenders all have sto- ries about being asked to finance the purchase of an aircraft at a price that is 20 or 30 percent higher than it was a short time ago. Can a jet really be worth that much more than it was last year? And if so, how much of that value can it hold onto and for how long? As Keith Hayes, senior vice presi- dent and national sales manager for PNC Aviation Finance, remarked, “One of the biggest jet financing questions today is: What will the value of the jet be when the loan matures?” Lenders have traditionally relied on professional appraisals of preowned aircraft they are asked to finance, but appraisals are generally based on actual transactions. If prices in these transactions are overblown, or if there’s a danger that inflation, a recession, or other economic calamities will cause the value of business jet collateral to plunge, the aircraft could easily be worth less than the outstanding principal amount when the loan comes due. This is not only a problem for the bank; it puts borrowers in a difficult spot because they won’t be able to pay off the loan by just selling the aircraft. Purchase prices may not reflect values Aircraft lenders have various strategies for dealing with this situation. Some have pulled back somewhat from assuming that purchase prices agreed to by buyers and sellers reflect actual values. One banker I spoke with identified three levels of value: the pre-pandemic antiquated value (too low), the prices at which jets are currently selling (too high), and the value of business jets in a “low inventory” market where demand exceeds supply (a middle ground). He sug- gested that his bank is often basing its lending decisions on the middle ground, which recognizes legitimate “low inventory” reasons for higher values without assuming that a jet must be worth what the client is paying for it. Thus, if you pay $20 million for the aircraft, the bank might lend 90 percent of, say, $16 mil- lion, if it thinks that represents the “low inventory” market value. Another option is for the bank to adjust advance rates and require a larger downpayment, thereby reducing the loan amount. Advance rates of only 75 or 80 percent of the purchase price are not unusual today. The lender may also want a shorter amortization schedule (10 years isn’t uncommon now), thereby causing the principal to be paid back more quickly. (But not too quickly; lenders continue to seek prepayment penalties for the first three or four years of the loan term, typically five to seven years these days). Note that advance rates and amortization are connected: the lower the advance rate, the longer the amortization schedule banks can tolerate. For Financing a Business Jet in Today’s Volatile Market Concerns about future values and interest rates can make it harder to find attractive loans. by Jeff Wieand Buyers’ Guide 2022 | BJTonline.com 29 buyers who are flexible regarding advance rates, PNC still offers asset- based jet financing. Keith Hayes reports that a large percentage of PNC’s jet financings in 2022 still involve non- or limited-recourse loans with no financial disclosure. Aircraft loan agreements also often have loan-to-value covenants that apply periodically, and in the current market, this could be an annual event for some banks. The covenant can require that if the aircraft’s value falls below what the covenant requires, the borrower is obligated to provide addi- tional collateral or pay down the loan principal until the covenant is satis- fied. Needless to say, this is not a right that banks look forward to enforcing, and at least one bank told me it is no longer using loan-to-value covenants on aircraft financings. Supplemental financing is also a possibility. One bank I spoke to has provided separate financing for the gap between the (presumably inflated) actual purchase price and the (more realistic) price the institution was will- ing to finance. The gap financing would likely have a short amortiza- tion fuse—a couple of years, say, allowing borrower and lender to revisit the situation when the gap loan comes due. Finally, for especially creditworthy borrowers and for banks focused on credit rather than collateral, the lender can simply rely on the borrower’s ability to pay and not worry that the asset may go under water. Prebuy inspections matter more Of course, if the borrower fails to prepay an aircraft loan, the lender has the option of having recourse to the collateral. Thus, another concern for lenders in the current market is the condition of the aircraft. Traditionally, a retail jet purchase included a comprehensive prebuy inspec- tion at a manufacturer or manufacturer-authorized service center—a Level III or IV Prepurchase Evaluation at Bombardier or a standard or premium- package Aircraft Records and Condition Survey at Gulfstream, for example. In the current market, however, many buyers have agreed to cut back on the prebuy, often drastically, or to forgo a prebuy altogether. This may be acceptable to the purchaser, but it is unlikely to be acceptable to the bank. As several bankers mentioned, dispensing with a prebuy is unacceptable. A lender may not require the most comprehensive prebuy imaginable, but for most banks, some reasonable due diligence on the aircraft is a must. Buyers testing the waters with their bank before cutting a deal on an aircraft should understand its expectations in this regard. Where closing quickly is important, some banks have also been open to permitting prebuys to occur after closing, especially if there is a purchase price holdback to cover the cure of discrepancies. The need for a prebuy disappears when you’re purchasing a factory-new aircraft from the manufacturer, though of course you should still conduct a delivery inspection. But like sellers of preowned aircraft, business jet makers have been affected by the strong demand; prices have gone up and delivery dates have been pushed out. You will often have to wait two to three years to take delivery of an aircraft that is completed to your requirements. The role of inflation This year, inflation has been a source of worriment for both aircraft buyers and banks as it steadily drives up interest rates and shows no sign of stop- ping. Here in the U.S., LIBOR has generally been replaced by SOFR (secured overnight financing rate), an improved published benchmark based on actual transactions, as well as other indexes like BSBY. SOFR has risen from about five basis points at the end of 2021 to close to 150 basis points as of this writing, putting floating rates in the 3 percent range. Fixed rates, on the other hand, are currently in the 4 or 5 percent range. Accordingly, whereas almost all aircraft buyers chose floating rates last year, as Ford von Weise, head of aircraft finance at Citi Private Bank notes, fewer jet buyers are doing so today. The continued availability of 100 percent bonus depreciation still motivates business jet buyers. However, you can take depreciation for tax purposes only on an aircraft you own, which rules out an aircraft lease if depreciation is important to you. However, the bank or leas- ing company that acts as an aircraft lessor can generally use the tax depreciation (including bonus depreciation) on most U.S. aircraft in its leasing business and can take this into account in setting lease financing costs. This also saves the lessee from having to worry about satisfying the requirements for tax depreciation, in the first year and going forward. In this market, leases offer another advantage to the lessee: the opportunity to walk away from the aircraft when the lease terminates. If the value of your leased Falcon 7X plunges before your lease ends, that won’t be your prob- lem. Banks are still haunted by the 2009 recession, which caused a dra- matic drop in aircraft prices, leaving many bank lessors with overval- ued business jets. That could happen again soon, which is why lease rate factors are reportedly up 10 to 15 percent this year. As a result, leases may be more expensive for the lessee, but they still pass the residual value risk on to the lessor. An issue many lessees have with an aircraft lease is getting out of it. Aircraft financed by loans can be sold and the loan paid off at any time, though there are usually penalties for doing so in the first few years. A lease may have one or two early-buyout options, and many can be cancelled pur- suant to monthly termination values on a schedule to the lease, which would typically not commence until three years after the loan begins. However, termination values aren’t exactly designed to be good deals for the lessee. Still, owning a business jet is unlikely to be the best investment a business jet owner ever makes, so it’s a good idea for most buyers to consider letting the bank put up the cash so they can invest their own money elsewhere. Early signs of a changing market Lenders do report initial signs that the business jet market is changing. Steve Day at Global Jet Capital, for example, is seeing corporate clients tak- ing a more cautious stance in the face of high jet prices and seeking flexible interim solutions to their short-term planning challenges. Jim Crowley at BciCapital (City National Bank of Florida) is also witnessing price correc- tions, generally model-specific, and a slowing down of the jet acquisition process. A saner market may be in the offing. Given the complex situation today, buyers seeking to finance a busi- ness jet purchase should reach out to banks they have a relationship with, but obtain additional proposals as well. They should also seek professional acquisition assistance to help them buy the right aircraft at the best price. A listing of banks and finance companies offering business aircraft loans is available in the company directory at BJTonline.com. BJT $ 30 BJTonline.com | Buyers’ Guide 2022 2020 Business aircraft flight activity set records in the first half of 2022, according to data from Argus, WingX, and legions of operators and brokers, and the market has responded with new card and fractional offerings, revamped access programs, enlarged aircraft fleets, and more. Here are some of the latest developments. Access in the Americas California-based Clay Lacy Aviation has added six large-cabin jets to its charter fleet: a Dassault Falcon 900EX EASy and Bombardier Global 5000 in the New York market; and in California, a Gulfstream G650ER based at Silicon Valley’s San Jose International Airport and a Gulfstream G550 and two Embraer Legacy 600s at Van Nuys and John Wayne Airports, where Clay Lacy operates FBOs. Having estab- lished a national footprint with its 2020 merger with Key Air, based at Connecticut’s Waterbury-Oxford Airport, Clay Lacy plans to open an FBO at that field next year. •••••••••• Elite Jets—which serves North, Central, and South America and the Caribbean with four Phenom 300s and a Legacy 500—recently added a dozen employ- ees, more than half of them pilots. Meanwhile, the Florida-based company has earned International Standard for Business Aircraft Operators (IS-BAO) Stage 2 certification and renewed its Argus Platinum safety rating. •••••••••• On-demand charter operator Executive Fliteways, based at Long Island, New York’s Islip-Macarthur Airport, has added more long-range jets to its fleet, includ- ing a Gulfstream G550 and GV and a Falcon 7X—all available for complex, inter- national flights. The company also operates a new Embraer Praetor 600 and a Phenom 300, plus three Learjet 60s. The Praetor and one Learjet are based in South Florida. The fleet additions follow the company’s purchase in late 2020 by James Prinzivalli, a 25-year company veteran, who reports that more fleet addi- tions are forthcoming. •••••••••• Flexjet has ordered 50 jets—which will bring its fleet total to 231 aircraft—for its fractional shareowners. The new jets will include Embraer’s Phenom 300, Legacy 450, and Praetor 500; Bombardier’s Challenger 350; and Gulfstream’s G450 and G650. Flexjet’s new helicopter division uses a dozen Sikorsky S-76 medium twins from Associated Aircraft Group, the New York–area operator acquired last year by Flexjet’s parent, OneSky Flight. Operations will be seasonally located in the Northeast and in Florida year-round. In addition to fractional helicopter own- ership opportunities, the company offers complimentary helicopter hours for Gulfstream G650 fractional owners, as well as add-on fractional, lease, and charter access to the rotorcraft. What’s New in the World of Private Lift As demand from travelers accelerates, flight providers are expanding fleets and rolling out innovative programs. by James Wynbrandt Clay Lacy Aviation Flexjet Elite Jets Buyers’ Guide 2022 | BJTonline.com 31 North Carolina–based membership and on-demand fleet operator flyExclu- sive has introduced a Cessna Citation CJ3+ fractional ownership program, ordering 30 of the light jets to launch the offering, with options for another 60 over the next three years. Share plans start at 40 hours of access annually. Owners will pay the same daily and hourly rates featured in flyExclusive’s Jet Club and Partnership programs but with no monthly management or repositioning charges or daily minimums. Owners will also have access to the company’s 85 light, midsize, and super-midsize jets through preferred fractional pricing. •••••••••• Augmenting its rotorcraft charters, Orlando, Florida–based HeliTeam has introduced a fixed-wing charter arm, Speedbird. Offering access “from one of the most convenient and in-demand locations,” according to the company, Speedbird operates Citation CJ2, CJ3, and Beechjet 400A light jets, the Citation X midsize jet, and the Beechcraft King Air 350 turboprop. HeliTeam provides aerial application, electronic newsgathering, firefight- ing, and external load and utility transport services using a fleet of turbine airplanes and helicopters. •••••••••• Houston-based aircraft management firm and charter operator Cockrell Resources has been rechristened Houston JetDirect to reflect an increased emphasis on the charter end of its business, which has been experiencing higher demand. Based at William P. Hobby Airport, the Argus Gold and Wyvern- registered company operates a Bombardier Learjet 45 and 75, a Cessna Citation Sovereign, a Bombardier Challenger 300/350, and a Falcon 2000LX. Following the success in Europe of its designated point-to-point route card, InstaJet has launched in the U.S. the JetAhead jet card, providing route-based full- or multiple-day lift access on 10 routes, including East Coast flights between New York and Miami. InstaJet sources sufficient lift on a daily basis for the fixed routes. With sufficient advance booking, passengers can pay as little as $8,000 for the exclusive use of a light jet for one day. •••••••••• Anticipating an increase in business flight activity, Omaha, Nebraska–based Jet Linx has reintroduced its Enterprise Jet Card membership, which is designed for corporate clients and was suspended last October to ensure that the com- pany had sufficient capacity to serve existing customers. Also reintroduced: the Tier II Executive Jet Card, for leisure travelers with less frequent lift needs than the company’s Tier I membership provides. Meanwhile, building on its new southern Florida presence, Jet Linx has opened a terminal at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport, its 20th branded ground facility, and acquired Southern Jet in Boca Raton, Florida. Southern Jet’s charter fleet includes a Challenger 300, two Hawker 800XPs, and three Learjet 60s, and it will serve as Jet Linx’s 21st facility. •••••••••• Business aircraft consultancy Mente Group has launched Four Corners Aviation, an access management firm. Four Corners’ tailored Freedom pro- grams provide clients with what it claims are “all the benefits of their own scal- able aviation department, without the hassles of ownership such as administra- tion, accounting, and uncertainties.” Based at Stewart International Airport in New York, Argus Platinum–rated Four Corners operates a fleet that includes Citation, Phenom, Challenger, and Gulfstream jets. •••••••••• Long noted for its model-specific light jet and midsize jet cards, fleet operator Nicholas Air has introduced a card for access to the super-midsize Challenger 300 family and recently added four factory-new aircraft to its fleet within 90 days to support the new and current card programs. Super-midsize jets are among the most in demand, with few options for travelers seeking guaranteed access, notes Nicholas Air president Peder von Harten. Nicholas offers three jet card types: Blue, Rise, and Lite. Blue cards are for model-specific access (15-hour minimum). Rise cards, for clients need- ing a wider range of aircraft, offer access to the entire fleet at preset hourly prices (account deposits start at $200,000). Lite cards, for clients with flexible Jet Linx Nicholas Air flyExclusive Your mission is our inspiration. Every investment we make—in advanced technology, precision manufacturing and worldwide customer support—is an investment in you. THE GULFSTREAM DIFFERENCE 34 BJTonline.com | Buyers’ Guide 2022 2020 schedules and agnostic model preferences, offer access at lower hourly rates. Nicholas also provides fractional ownership plans, starting at 100 flight hours per year for shareowners. The 25-year-old, family-owned company’s fleet—boasting an average air- craft age of five years or less—includes the midsize Citation Latitude; Citation CJ3 and Phenom 300 and 100 light jets; and PC-12 turboprops. The customer base is 95 percent east of the Rockies and south of the Mason-Dixon line, but Nicholas Air also serves California, Mexico, and the Caribbean, and well as Boston and New York. •••••••••• Charter operator PrivateFlite Aviation, with bases in Sellersburg, Indiana, and Fort Worth, is offering point-to-point charter on Argus Platinum–rated midsize Challenger 300, Citation X, Sovereign, and Excel twinjets; Hawker 400XP and Nextant 400XT light jets; and Pilatus PC-12 turboprops. The net- work includes more than 225 aircraft in a dedicated floating fleet. •••••••••• Jet card provider Sentient Jet is rolling out a service enabling cardholders to arrange charter flights via text messaging. The user-authenticated service will provide quotes and an option to book flights automatically in less than 60 seconds, according to the company. More light lift is available in the Yellowstone-Jackson Hole area as Phenom 300 charter operator Summit Aviation, based at Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport in Belgrade, Montana, has doubled its fleet to 10 of the Embraers since the beginning of 2021, with more on the way. Summit, founded in 2001, took three 300Es last year and two this year, and two more are slated for onboarding next year. For customers needing a larger platform, Summit brokers flights through partner charter operators. •••••••••• This summer, Tailwind Air introduced seaplane service from New York City to Provincetown, Massachusetts, via Boston Harbor, on Cessna Caravan sin- gle-engine turboprops. Operating through September 6 this year, it charges $795 for the Manhattan–Boston Harbor segment and another $275 to Provincetown. Tailwind also has seasonal seaplane service from New York to East Hampton, Sag Harbor, Montauk, and Shelter Island on Long Island, and offers a Fast Lane Club for commuters and discount prepaid ticket books. •••••••••• Verijet, which operates an all-Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet charter fleet, this summer expanded service to the Northeast, with destinations including Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts; Montauk, New York; and Newport, Rhode Island. Airports in the region available for service are within a 600-nautical-mile radius of the New York metro’s Westchester County Airport. This follows the addi- tion of service to select Caribbean locations earlier this year by the Opa-Locka, Sustainability Initiatives Bizav-focused carbon offset services specialist Azzera, launched this year, cre- ates and manages tailored compliance programs that meet the requirements of emissions regulations including the EU Emissions Trading System (EU-ETS), Swiss ETS, U.K. ETS, and ICAO’s Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) offsets. Azerra’s service is aimed at small to midsize operators, for which “selecting and implementing top-quality offset solutions can be very complicated,” the company says. With offices in Montreal and Zurich, Azzera also provides direct access to the voluntary carbon offsetting market and aims to become a centralized spot-trading carbon market exchange. A new carbon offset program from flyExclusive in partnership with 4Air enables members of the charter operator’s Partners and Jet Club programs to opt in to carbon offset solutions for their flights, with offset programs funding forestry projects along the East Coast U.S., a major flyway for the North- Carolina company. Booking platform Mirai Flights has launched an environmentally focused program aimed at filling empty-leg segments. The U.K.-based company, founded in 2021, says it has already saved more than 200 tons of CO2 by reducing the wasted emissions that empty legs create. The AI-based app uses alerting tools, online booking takes less than a minute, and empty legs are of- fered at up to 70 percent off standard rates, says the company’s non-executive director, Evgeny Chuprov. NetJets reported that since it launched its expanded sustainability pro- gram in October 2020, it has offset more than 2.7 million tonnes of CO2 and purchased nearly nine million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel. In March, it announced a partnership with Lilium, which is developing an all-electric verti- cal takeoff and landing vehicle. VistaJet announced a new sustainability initiative this year, pledging to be carbon neutral by 2025, and now offers clients global access to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The operator also released a whitepaper, “A 2022 Action Handbook for Change in Business Aviation,” which recommends increased adoption of SAF and of greenhouse gas emissions auditing and reporting. The whitepaper notes that more than 85 percent of VistaJet’s customers have adopted voluntary carbon offsetting plans. California’s Sun Air Jets, which operates some 10 midsize to heavy jets, has partnered with 4Air for an evaluation of the charter operator’s emission levels and offsetting measures. Sun Air Jets’ Camarillo Airport and Van Nuys Airport facilities are both NATA-certified Tier 1 Green Aviation Businesses, featuring technologies including solar-roof arrays, EV charging stations, refillable water stations, and motion-sensing and LED lighting. Wheels Up and Hertz have partnered to offer members access to the rental agency’s electric vehicles, including Teslas and Polestars. The cars are avail- able at more than 100 general aviation airports, and plans exist to expand the program to more than 500 airports in the coming months. Wheels Up members will also have access to a dedicated Hertz Private Aviation Specialist at the Wheels Up call center for reservations assistance. The partnership comple- ments a Wheels Up program that allows members to offset their carbon footprint in the air. London-based online charter marketplace Victor has teamed with Finland-based SAF producer Neste to enable customers to purchase the fuel when booking charter trips on the Victor platform, representing anywhere from 5 to 100 percent of a flight’s fuel load. However, the SAF is actually used in the fleet of one of Neste’s partner airlines, where it replaces conven- tional jet fuel. —J.W. Buyers’ Guide 2022 | BJTonline.com 35 Florida–based company, which now provides flights that cover most of the East and West Coasts. Established in 2020, Verijet focuses on providing sustainable travel and highlights the single-engine Vision Jet’s reduced carbon footprint, emit- ting over a ton less CO per hour than other light jets. The charter company has partnered with carbon credit provider 4Air to further offset its footprint. •••••••••• Vista Global Holdings, parent of Malta-based VistaJet and U.S.-based XO, has continued expanding its global fleet with the acquisitions this year of large-cabin jet operator Jet Edge in the U.S. and German charter powerhouse Air Hamburg. The jets the two charter-management companies operate will augment the owned and operated charter fleets of VistaJet and XO and will bring Vista’s global fleet to some 350 aircraft, predominantly super-midsize, large-cabin, and ultra-long-range jets. Jet Edge’s fleet consists primarily of Bombardier Challengers and Gulfstreams. Air Hamburg, Europe’s largest private jet operator by number of flights (more than 18,000 in 2021), manages 44 aircraft, including a Dassault Falcon 7X and Embraer Legacys and a Lineage 1000. Jet Edge Reserve Program Members and AdvantEdge aircraft management clients will benefit from Vista’s broader global fleet and be able to t