Elite Traveler Winter 2019

INSPIRE TOP JETS

Fractional ownership Fractional ownership provides almost all the same tax advantages as full aircraft ownership, minus the burdens of hiring a crew and arranging maintenance and storage, among other things. Companies sell shares in their aircraft, then handle the operational and maintenance demands. Shares come as small as 1/16th of a jet for 50 hours of flying, and as large as an entire plane offering 800 hours of flight time a year. Many fractionals even allow sharing the use of aircraft larger or smaller than the one in which you own a share, adding to fractional ownership’s flexibility and appeal. While fractional ownership offers the most tax benefits due to the ownership being shared, all methods of flying privately have certain tax benefits when used for business. For personal use, tax benefits can be limited to depreciation of the aircraft as a personal asset.

NETJETS You need flexibility for personal trips with the family, but also a jet with more business appeal for company trips that come along. If experience and diversity are important elements in your aircraft choice, NetJets should be on your radar as the leader among fractional programs. NetJets tops the field as the world’s largest operator of private jets, flying a diverse global fleet in nearly every size ranging from the light Cessna Citation XLS to heavy jets, like GulfstreamG450s, and the company continues to invest in a wide variety of planes for every mission. Thirty-two years after the launch of its shared-ownership program, NetJets serves more than 7,000 owners annually using more than 750 aircraft on 300,000 flights between 3,200 airports in 150 countries. And at some of the world’s largest events, owners have access to exclusive NetJets parties, including the PGA Tour, The Masters, Snow PoloWorld Cup, Auction Napa Valley, Cayman Cookout, Art Basel and the Super Bowl. netjets.com

FLEXJET

Flexjet entered the fractional jet-ownership market in 1995 as a division of Bombardier Aerospace and weathered the Great Recession of 2008. Now under the umbrella of Directional Aviation, Flexjet serves more than 2,200 owners worldwide. Today, Flexjet markets three programs, but its flagship program is fractional ownership. Offering traditional shares, in 2015 it launched the Red Label program, which dedicates a specific flight crew to each enrolled aircraft, making it feel more like outright ownership. And Flexjet continues to grow. Since 2015, it has taken delivery of 95 jets, from light Embraer aircraft to super-midsize Bombardier aircraft. For those who want to live life at the highest speed possible, Flexjet also holds orders for 20 new Aerion AS2 supersonic business jets, a Mach 1.4 (1,000 mph) aircraft expected to fly in 2023. flexjet.com