News & Articles

Most people are familiar with time sharing in real estate context. You purchase an undivided interest in a condo in Maui that allows you to use it for a specific week or two out of the year. Real estate time sharing has become increasingly popular as an investment vehicle as recreation property values continue to appreciate. Additionally, as an owner of a real estate time share, you can trade your week or two in Maui for an equal amount at another location by participating in a time sharing swap program. Pretty cool - So does aircraft time sharing mean the same thing?

Actually, when people speak of buying a "time share" in an aircraft they are usually referring to what is commonly known as a fractional program, such as NetJets, CitationShares, FlexJet or Flight Options. With a fractional program, you buy an undivided interest in an aircraft, typically a 1/16 1/8 or 1/4 interest. The ownership of a fractional interest in an aircraft entitles the owner to a specified number of hours per year (based on 800 max hours for the airplane per year). So for example, if you buy a 1/16 interest that would entitle you to use your aircraft for 50 hours per year. With the purchase of a fractional interest in an aircraft, the owner pays an acquisition cost (which is approximate price for the aircraft multiplied by the fraction purchased) and gets added to the title on the aircraft at the FAA registry.

With up to 16 different owners per plane, what happens if everyone wants the plane on Thanksgiving? Luckily, the fractional companies provide and manage interchange programs that allow owners to trade their time on their aircraft into a common pool and to use a corresponding amount of time on available aircraft that are part of the interchange pool. In this way, unless every owner in every plane wants to use the aircraft on Thanksgiving most if not all of the owners will be accommodated.