Let’s face it — the average airport terminal or commercial passenger jet isn’t exactly conducive to creativity and concentration. Flight delays, long security lines, and noisy cabins are more than just mere sources of frustration. They can derail your ability to focus and get work done.
Taking time to focus
In spite of the many practical benefits of private air travel for business, many people tend to dismiss one of the most important advantages — the increase in productivity. For most corporate executives, creating opportunities to tackle business issues isn’t a luxury at all; it’s an essential time management tool.
Psychologists refer to the state of highly creative energy output as “flow.” The quiet and distraction-free benefits of private air travel create the perfect environment for achieving flow. Flying privately eliminates noise. The traveler can disconnect from chirping cellphones and concentrate on the more strategic or aspirational aspects of running a business.
Collaboration and confidentiality
Today’s private jet is nothing less than a fully equipped office and meeting space where executives work through complicated, strategic business initiatives. Conducting meetings in the air allows employees to work through confidential or sensitive issues in privacy.
Back on the ground, the executive who flies by private jet is more focused and better prepared to initiate the next client meeting, the next project, or the next presentation. The increase in productivity is a competitive advantage for the organization. Balanced against the cost of leasing or renting a corporate jet, private air travel is definitely worth a closer look.
Halloween is coming near, and people of all ages start thinking about scary things. While being chased by a chainsaw-brandishing, hockey-masked psychopath through the woods is universally terrifying, most other fears are individualistic in nature. The fear of spiders, of confined spaces, of public speaking. And then there’s pteromerhanophobia, the fear of flying.
Now is a good time to address this phobia if you have it, especially with the holiday travel season coming up. Remember, you are not alone: 1 in 6 Americans say they have a fear of flying. Some pretty famous people also report a fear of flying: Aretha Franklin, Billy Bob Thornton, David Beckham, and the Dalai Lama.
Often, people discover that what they’re afraid of isn’t actually flying at all. For many, it’s the confined space that is upsetting, or they’re concerned they’ll have a panic attack. Others confess that they just don’t understand how airplanes work, which scares them. If that’s the case, always feel free to talk to your pilot, or learn how jets fly.
Symptoms range from dry mouth at take off to being physically unable to get on a plane. Obviously, this is a serious condition for some people. The good news is that this condition is treatable. Many people have found unique techniques that help them:
- Listening to music the entire time
Scott McCartney’s article for the Wall Street Journal offers a great starting place to tackle pteromerhanophobia. Even if you’re perfectly at ease in the air, some of these tips might help comfort others.
Treat your pteromerhanophobia so you can enjoy flying, not merely tolerate it.
If you’ve had any experience with the fear of flying, please share your tips with us!
by David J. Wyndham, Vice President and Co-Owner, Conklin & deDecker
Do you own a car, home, boat or plane? Then you are an asset manager.
Most of us think asset management deals with financial assets such as stocks, bonds and mutual funds. But it should also include physical assets. Asset management of a physical asset includes the entire life cycle, starting with its acquisition, continuing during its use and to its retirement or sale.
As an aircraft operator, you are responsible, in whole or in part, for the value of the aircraft. How you operate, care for and maintain the aircraft will have a significant impact on its value.
Regarding an aircraft, anyone who touches it has a part in maintaining its value. When dealing with the asset management of an aircraft, you will make many decisions as illustrated by the following questions:
- When is it appropriate to repair, overhaul or replace parts?
- Which optional service bulletins should you implement?
- When is it time to refurbish the interior and paint?
- When should you sell your aircraft?
Regardless of the many decisions, it is important to recognize that aircraft asset management has four main components:
- Operational — What is needed to keep the aircraft reliable and safe?
- Regulatory — Is the aircraft compliant with applicable airworthiness regulations?
- Financial — What is the market value of the aircraft?
- Ownership — What is the return on the investment and what is the quality of the experience?
Following are some of the more common and important areas in the asset management process to consider that can affect the value of your aircraft.
Proper maintenance is essential. This involves more than just meeting the regulations to have a safe, airworthy aircraft. Regulations set only the minimum standards. To maintain its value, the aircraft must be kept in top operating condition for both the routine care and the major maintenance of the aircraft. Anyone who has gone through a pre-buy can tell you that the aircraft in impeccable condition goes through the process smoothly. Find something amiss in the pre-buy and you keep looking. An aircraft that is well maintained and looks well maintained will command the higher value. Also, who does the maintenance is just as important as what was done. Maintenance is not the place for dealing with the lowest bidder.
Proper maintenance records are required. In addition to the regulations, what would be the value of an aircraft if it were missing all of its maintenance records? Again, the regulations specify what records must be kept and in some cases, for how long. This regulation meets the spirit and letter of the law, but does not sufficiently maintain the aircraft’s value. The more complete and thorough the maintenance record, the more secure the value of the aircraft. Uncertainty causes a loss of value. Proper maintenance records detail the entire maintenance history of the aircraft and what is on paper should accurately reflect what is in the hangar.
If there is damage history, how was it documented and corrected? Was the damage repaired or replaced with new? Has the aircraft been returned to service in the same or perhaps better condition? Damage history, if fully documented and accounted for, need not be the kiss of death for an aircraft’s value. Properly documented damage repair that shows a return to the manufacturer’s specification can negate or reduce the loss of value of known damage history.
Proper record keeping also means proper security of the records. You should have some sort of backup of aircraft records stored off-site. With many operators maintaining their records on computers, this should be easy. Paper records should be scanned, indexed and stored off-site. When the aircraft and records go to an off-site maintenance facility, keep a backup copy locally. Although it’s rare, aircraft do leave the maintenance facility missing some of their records. If that happens, you can get into some expensive arguments about who was responsible and how much the lost records are worth. How much can lost or incomplete maintenance records cost? The answer lies in another question. How much is that aircraft worth if you cannot prove its airworthiness?
Proper upgrades and enhancements can add value. What is the service bulletin status of your aircraft? Beyond the mandatory service bulletins lie a number of optional service bulletins. Which ones add value to your aircraft (i.e., are popular for your model)? Have you added or upgraded the avionics? If so, is the aircraft a unique design or is it brought up to newer standards? In dealing with art, a one-of-a-kind piece is essential to its value. With aircraft, it is not. Non-standard modifications do not add value. They may be essential to the mission, but uniqueness in an aircraft is not a selling point.
Proper record keeping is a common theme here. Impeccable records are important not only in knowing the aircraft is well maintained, but in proving the value of the aircraft. The aircraft itself must be well cared for and match the documentation exactly.
Asset management should be part of the aircraft planning process from the start. All too often, asset management is only considered when it’s time to sell the aircraft. Rather, it is an essential part of the entire life cycle of an aircraft and if properly implemented, it can pay off by enhancing the aircraft’s value.
*This article originally appeared in our newsletter October 2010.
Financing a private jet purchase is only the start of the transaction. Once a company or individual purchases an aircraft, sorting through tax issues and regulatory compliance requires a significant amount of time. You can save time and ensure you get the right answers by contacting a qualified aircraft consultant.
Aviation-information provider Conklin & de Decker offers consultation for complex issues such as taxes, finances and government regulations related to jet ownership.
Financial planning
Conklin & de Decker’s financial analysis starts with a thorough understanding of each client’s aviation needs. Then, the team reviews clients’ current aircraft operating costs and predicts future costs by using life-cycle costing. This detailed analysis lets the company make recommendations that ensure clients get the best value for their aircraft purchases. Conklin & de Decker’s team works with small and large fleet operators, individuals, corporations, government agencies and commercial operators.
Tax consulting
Conklin & de Decker’s tax expertise covers commercial and private aircraft operations. The team ensures clients understand tax impact of aircraft ownership and helps determine how to minimize federal excise tax exposure and state taxes.
Compliance planning
Conklin & de Decker also offers consultation with federal civil aviation agencies to help them perform periodic ownership analyses. The team helps clients ensure they are in compliance with all requirements.
When you need answers to complex aviation questions, Conklin & de Decker can provide expertise and objective information. Contact the team at (508) 255-5975 or email contactma@conklindd.com.
James Bond fever is setting in. Oct. 5 marked the 50th anniversary of the movie franchise, and Bond fans are counting down to the premiere of Skyfall, the newest addition to the 007 collection. The movie opens Nov. 9 in the U.S.
The James Bond series has so many iconic features: gorgeous Bond girls, Aston Martins, shaken Martinis, imaginative gadgets, and, of course, sweet jets!
In 2008, the Smithsonian’s Air and Space magazine reviewed all of the aircraft in the until-then 22 Bond movies. They came up with more than 150 both real and fictional aircraft. That’s about six per movie! (This list does include Connery’s experimental jet pack from 1965’s Thunderball.)
The aircraft in 007 movies generally have some noteworthy characteristic:
- Goldfinger’s private jet, a Lockheed JetStar, in Goldfinger had peepholes into the lavatory so the crew could keep tabs on the occupant.
- Bond flew in the world’s smallest jet, the Bede BD-5J in Octopussy.
- In Quantum of Solace, Daniel Craig as James Bond flies to Austria in a Bombardier Challenger 605.This jet was owned by Ocean Sky, and its involvement in the film was valued around €600,000.
Hopefully, Skyfall will feature some scintillating scenes in the air. In the trailer, I saw a helicopter, trains, motorcycles, sailboat, and a beautiful Aston Martin DB5. With a name like Skyfall, we can only assume some cutting-edge aircraft will appear. However, if Bond starts drinking Heineken instead of Martinis, anything is possible.
Your business is finally starting to pick up, joining in the gradual economic recovery.
You’re needed in five places at once to keep momentum going but find yourself stuck in line, pondering which of the TSA scans (X-ray or pat-down) will be quicker and less humiliating.
Yes, you can easily see the value of owning a private jet. But what do you need to know to get the ball rolling?
Buying a jet is more than adding another vehicle to your company fleet. It’s adding a self-contained “travel division” to your company, introducing essential personnel from an entirely different industry and becoming deeply involved in unfamiliar infrastructure (airports and the airway system).
And unless you’re a pilot, you may not be aware of all of the questions you should ask a seller before the purchase. As with all major investments, consultants can help you along the way: Skip Google and ask friends and colleagues who operate jets to find a trusted consultant or management team to help you find and buy a pre-owned jet. Then audition several of these referrals to find a good fit.
Consider these four points:
- How do you match your business requirements with the right plane? Do you need your jet to transport a handful of people relatively shorter distances, or will it carry more passengers longer distances? Getting carried away with impressive speed or range statistics could lead you astray, as well.
- For what and how often will you use your aircraft? Most buyers will use their jets to fly 80 percent of their missions and charter a plane for the remainder. A broker can help you determine whether you need a jet that flies long or shorter distances, and seats many passengers or just a few.
- To operate your jet, what personnel will you need and how do you find them? Regardless of whether the aircraft is new or pre-owned, you’ll need to arrange for your jet’s care, operation, and storage, as well as the handling of financial, insurance, legal, and other paperwork, to establish a safe, legal, and fiscally prudent flying operation. Most prospective owners can handle a couple of these duties but not all, and that’s another area in which a consultant comes in handy.
- Buy new or pre-owned? You are likely to have a reasonable budget and want to achieve the best value for your money. Buying a pre-owned jet can help achieve that but can be tricky — especially if you do not have an in-depth understanding of the world of aviation or of the many different requirements and possibilities that various types of private jets have to offer.
Jet brokers will help you determine whether you will use your jet enough to justify buying an entire aircraft, or if fractional ownership or using a charter service is more appropriate. Then they simplify and de-stress the process of purchasing an aircraft, personally managing all aspects of the arrangement for you. They can ensure you choose the right private jet for your budget and your personal or corporate needs.
Private jet brokers will entreat you to provide a list of requirements and desires in your potential future jet. They will then take this list and apply it to the planes they are brokering and return with your aircraft options. If none of the options fits the bill, they will search from their contact lists for companies or individuals who might be willing to lease or sell their aircraft. They will also work to secure financing and insurance on your jet, and find capable inspectors who will give the craft their seal of approval.
A good jet broker will not push you into a sale, but provide you with the information to decide whether to purchase the aircraft to begin with, and then be available to answer questions, refer you to resources to help operate and maintain your jet and more.
I was actually kind of surprised at how many search results came up for “very best airport food.” Considering myself somewhat of a foodie, I felt like I’d missed the boat. But then I looked a little closer and realized that all of these sites are talking about major airports. Yeah, so what? How hard is it to pull off sushi in San Francisco or Chik-Fil-A in Atlanta? Chain restaurants were not what I had in mind.
I wanted to find out about the hidden gems in the small, more rural airports spread throughout the U.S. Like Charlie’s Restaurant at Bolingbrook’s Clow International Airport, where you can eat Charlie’s Garbage Omelet and watch planes and helicopters take off.
Or the Southern Flyer Diner in Brenham, Texas. The waitresses wear poodle skirts, and the burgers and malts are homemade. It’s always a good sign when locals drive to the airport for the food! Sweet tea and fried pickles, anyone?
Of course, $100 Hamburger is considered the authority on fly-in food. But restaurants change quickly, and this book hasn’t been updated since 2006. Where to look? If you’re in the Midwest, Charlie Ventura reviews airport restaurants near there. In fact, I’d like to try some chile rellenos at Mi Tierra in the Griffith airport, just south of Gary, Indiana.
I’m hungry! Tell us about your favorite airport restaurant!
Whenever and wherever your aircraft is on the ground (AOG), First Support is available in real time to get it back in the air.
First Support’s global command center — a first for an independent engine service provider — uses satellite-based technologies to deliver pinpoint tracking of people, aircraft and engine assets. This enables ultra-fast and efficient scheduling of resources in response to your AOG needs.
Not only does First Support find the nearest technician, but it also tracks weather and provides videoconferencing so that the technician can get further instructions from First Support specialists. First Support’s instant response and global tracking and scheduling cut your AOG time by hours or even days.
Located at Dallas Airmotive’s facility in Grapevine, Texas, adjacent to the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, the First Support command center is an integrated real-time system that instantly locates and schedules field service technicians, rental engines and mobile response vehicles any time of the day, anywhere in the world.
Every job in progress, availability of all assets and personnel, air and land traffic and any resource conceivable to address your AOG situation are tracked second by second. First Support routes around weather and airport delays.
First Support headquarters in Dallas coordinates its strategically placed Regional Turbine Centers (RTCs) and international Mobile Response Teams (MRTs), which offer emergency response 24/7. Mobile repair vehicles are available to provide on-site engine services within a reasonable radius of their locations.
