Shaircraft CEO, James Butler, has been offering expert advice to Business Jet Traveler’s readers since the publication launched ten years ago. During that time, he has helped protect the interests of jet travelers as this temperamental industry has boomed, struggled and reinvented itself several times over. As BJT looks ahead to what’s to come in the next ten years, Butler offers an optimistic prediction, particularly with respect to fractional and leasing options.
“In the next decade, the benefits of flying privately through shared-use investments like fractional will remain compelling,” says Butler. “We’ll see the major fractionals grow to take better advantage of economies. At the same time, niche programs that serve discrete itineraries, especially on the East and West U.S. coasts, will survive.”
By now, Butler knows the needs and concerns of private flyers like the back of his hand. He says, “As private flyers increasingly hesitate to take on the resale-market risk for shares in high-time, pre-owned aircraft, they may look to cabin that risk by leasing rather than owning, which also eliminates a major upfront capital cost while offering the same flying experience. To be sure, the transfer of the resale risk to the provider is baked into the lease cost. Nevertheless, subject to changes in tax law, leasing may become more the rule than the exception.”
One thing that won’t change over the next ten years is the critical importance of having an expert sitting on your side of the table before you commit to any jet program.
Related Article: “Flying Privately: Once a Luxury, Now a Necessity” – Robb Report
