Story ID: 
Fractional Aircraft Companies Offer Creative Solutions
By: Matt Thurber
Caption: As the recession tightens its grip on the economy, fractional aircraft providers have stepped up their marketing efforts not only to sell more shares but a
Word Count: 164
As the recession tightens its grip on the economy, fractional aircraft providers have stepped up their marketing efforts not only to sell more shares but also to encourage shareowners to fly more. “In this tough economy, the pressures on all parts of the aviation business have been extreme,” said Bob Knebel, Flexjet v-p of sales. To help stimulate growth, Flexjet has introduced a new walk-away lease program, which lets buyers who might not want to make a capital purchase lease a fractional share and exit the lease at any time with 90 days’ notice and with no penalty. The share-lessee pays the standard monthly management fee and hourly rates, and the occupied hourly rate is slightly less than the per-hour rate for a Flexjet 25 jet card. Meanwhile, CitationShares has responded to declining aircraft values with a new residual-value guarantee. The fractional provider will “guarantee that all new purchases of pre-owned aircraft shares will retain 100 percent of their value on a three-year contract,” the company said.