Fractional ownership of aircraft

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Fractional ownership of aircraft is an arrangement in which multiple owners share the use and costs of purchasing and operating an aircraft. Several management companies provide fractional ownership programs for aircraft, including NetJets, Flexjet, Cirrus Aviation Services, and AirSprint. Alternatively, owners can join together to purchase their aircraft, independently of any management company.

Fractional aircraft ownership allows individuals to purchase a share of an aircraft, instead of the entire aircraft itself. The price for this share is pro-rated based on the market price of a full aircraft. As a result of this purchase, owners have guaranteed, limited access to the plane or a similar one in the operator's fleet, proportional to the size of their share. Monthly maintenance fees and occupied hourly operating fees are required of fractional owners. Typically, the latter is charged only when an owner or guest is on board, not during the plane's travel to a pickup point or its return to its home base after a flight.

For shared aircraft that are part of a large management company fleet, owners have access to the full fleet of planes and may upgrade or downgrade for specific flights.^[1] Ownership contracts are typically for five years. At the end of the contract, the owner can sell their share either back to the company or to another owner waiting for a position. Most fleet management companies charge a "re-marketing fee" for the final sale.

In some cases, several individuals purchase and operate their chosen aircraft as an independent group without going through a commercial operator. If one individual then decides to sell their share, it may be purchased by the remaining owners or sold outside the group to another individual. The details will vary from group to group as it is subject to whatever terms were in the original contract.