Jeffs,

Feel free to move to Babble Talk...

http://tinyurl.com/25wfh7z

Correct me if I'm wrong but it looks like this FBO bought an Eclipse and is using it for charter.

Well, it's no DayJet, but they do say Eclipse Jets (plural).

Have the economics of VLJ air taxi changed recently?

Just for giggles, I got a quote for a same-day, round-trip flight from Monroe, North Carolina to Columbus, Ohio and back.......

........ drum roll please.............

.........estimated 1 hour 37 minutes each way........


only $10,016.66!

Wow~! From my charter working days, even with our unreasonably priced charter service using the cirrus, the price would have been only $2600... plus some standby time. so probably $3,000.
Now (because I left when they didn't listen to me, and they have finally realized that I was right.... but that's a long story) with their new lower prices it would only be $2,000 Total.
Definitely better than 10K plus.

Wow, that's $3100 an hour! I believe you can charter a Learjet 60 for about that much.

That's insane. Why would you pay that kind of money to sit in that tiny airplane? Can't even fit a hot stewardess in there.

After 65 years of failed GA schemes, how is anybody able to raise money for anything like this? I'm just astounded that Eclipse was able to run through oceans of money with a concept that didn't make any sense to virtually anybody with significant aviation industry experience.

I guess it's just that airplane are cool.

Soooooooo......, when do you leave?

Does that include lunch and drinks?

[/quote]Does that include lunch and drinks?[/quote]

I bet not, and they probably charge extra if your how do we say... overweight.

Wow! From my charter working days, even with our unreasonably priced charter service using the cirrus, the price would have been only $2600... plus some standby time. so probably $3,000.
Now (because I left when they didn't listen to me, and they have finally realized that I was right.... but that's a long story) with their new lower prices it would only be $2,000 Total.
Definitely better than 10K plus.

I can get this done for about $1,200. Legally...but not in a jet or a new Cirrus.

Why do people not make money in charter, or at least stay in business? Is it a lack of customers due to high prices, or exorbitant overhead requiring the high prices?

For the charter used as an example three people could buy round-trip tickets from Charlotte to Columbus and have at least $7,500 in change. ???????

When a few $10k "wasted" here and there doesn't matter in the budget, chartering a jet is the way to travel.

After 9-11 insurance has about doubled. Fuel over the last 5 years has been up and down, and insurance penalties for pilots who are not sim trained every year. All this puts charter in the unreasonable category. Some companies will not buy an aircraft it today’s environment because they do not want the stigma that goes with that. So, charter, for however unreasonable it is, is still a benefit.