NetJets’ New Fleet Upgrade Grounds Their Competition
Published Aug 7, 2013 on Pilot Jobs
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Flying business jets for a living is a rewarding option for pilots employed in the aviation industry. Business Aviation is making a comeback as well as the Airline Industry, and facing the challenges of the deepening pilot shortage. A recent announcement reports that demand by business travelers for Business Jet Operator NetJets continues to strengthen, according to the latest report of parent company Berkshire Hathaway.
The second-quarter earnings news from the company led by billionaire Warren Buffett shows that, in the first six months of this year, NetJets “experienced increased sales of fractional aircraft shares and its earnings increased primarily due to improved flight-operations margins, fractional-sales margins and reduced net financing costs.”
The company is in the early stages of a fleet upgrade that is expected to include the purchase of 670 aircraft for$17.6 billion over 10 years.
“Nobody has ever done what we’re doing,” CEO Jordan Hansell said previously of the purchases and complete fleet makeover. The upgraded fleet is one of the factors that has helped NetJets increase revenue, said Scott Liston, an aviation analyst with Cincinnati-based Argus International. And NetJets has done so despite a slight decrease in the overall number of hours flown by business jets, he said.
“They’re selling new (ownership) shares as a result of a continuous supply of new aircraft of various popular and requested aircraft types,” he said.