Rule buying two one way tickets is not 100% true all the time anymore. There is absolutely no logic in airline pricing making all the above calculation a result driven exercise…..
I’m not looking to justify cost for flying. Instead I’m trying to look a bit further and last month I had a reason to write this on the cost of acquiring capabilities:
http://www.stephan-schwab.com/2015/05/01/costs.html
To me it does not come down to the price for traveling in order to be cheaper than alternatives. It is more a question of being able to do something in a flexible way. Not everybody has a need for flexibility.
I don’t know … while i find all this interesting, i never got the impression that the private a/c makes me “flexible” … or only in the sense that i never know if i will get somewhere in time. Not even the Cirrus with anti ice, oxygen and all whistles and bells is a real “business tool”. You need at least a TP for that. I planned three business trips this year – and drove two times. Other IFR pilots (probably more brave) have a higher rate, I know.
Indeed, pilots turbo/FIKI aircraft, with high (IFR) hours and lots if cojones seem to make very high dispatch rates, almost 100%.
What I don’t agree with is that an aircraft doesn’t give flexibility. My trips are a marvel of flexibility. Like it here? Stay a day longer. Don’t like the place? Leave the same day. The only other way to do that is to take the car. Which rules out places a little farther away.
The good thing in my case is that I don’t travel to meetings but instead visit for two or three days every week for a while. I’m betting that with the aircraft I can easier help clients in a larger area and move easier from one to the other during the same week than by airline or train.
If I need to reschedule due to WX that’s not a problem in my case.
Oh, Bosco – we were talking about business trips! There’s no “stay a day longer” or “come a day later” with most businesses I know … When I fly for fun, ok, no problem. But if I HAVE to be back the next day?
Close to 100 % dispatch rate in Germany needs cojones like basketballs in a non-turboprop :-)
There is a repo auction for some DA42s with half time components and a base price of EUR75-85K which might fit the bill.
That is interesting. I recall seeing similar prices at the bottom (or top, if you like) of the Thielert crisis. They didn’t last long. Where are these planes from? FTOs which went bust?
Close to 100 % dispatch rate in Germany needs cojones like basketballs in a non-turboprop :-)
I know SEP/MEP pilots who “always fly”, and some of them get away with it for a long time. However the only way to do 98-99% means departing and arriving in TSRA conditions (plus any stuff enroute) and for that you need radar. So a number of twins or a PA46 would qualify, but the unpressurised twins would find the enroute phases hard, because a warm front will typically go up to FL250.
Thanks, but no thanks. I’ll be dead long enough without departing into Thunderstorms. I know some of these guys too, but I don’t see why I should do that.
Peter, yes the DA42s are linked to a repo of a Dutch FTO fleet. I believe the auction is quite imminent.
Flyer59 concur, and I would suggest the dinky toy radar dishes of a small piston might be the equivalent of bringing a letter opener to a knife fight. Weather radar is for heavy iron multi crew. A strikefinder is helpful for strategic planning and giving cells a wide berth, although in some cases once they start popping up you could find yourself surrounded and the strikefinder may not guarantee a trouble free route to clear conditions.
I have done this calculation a few times recently out of interest.
For me there are three factors – not just cost, but time and convenience.
On time GA almost always wins if you factor in all the other elements – getting and from the commercial hub, the time before the flight and clearing out the other end etc never mind the inevitable delays.
On convenience there is no contest.
On price in a twin it is always impossible to compete one up, with four to six the twin is ahead, three is usually about break even. For example close to Dublin from the South Coast is around £1,000 return in a typical twin all costs included, typically £260 return assuming you arent booking weeks ahead by a reasonable carrier. In time its a couple of hours GA compared with maybe 1.15 commercial, but then you are almost never in the hold GA, and can avoid all the additional time involved with going to and from a commerical hub which much more than compensates. Of course you can make arrangements at a few hours notice. This all assumes find a cheap alternative to the major hub that works for where you are going.
For me there are times when you are more than happy to let someone else worry about the weather etc if you are on a specific and restrictive timetable so cost aside that is the most signifcant factor.
