January 2016 Newsletter

Fractional Programs: 2015 in Review

It appears, following a review of current industry data, that the three major fractional aircraft program providers are holding their own. In the last six months many shares have been returned though an equal amount of shares have been sold, making the second half of 2015 neutral in terms of net sales of shares.

NetJets and Flexjet (including Flight Options) continue to add new aircraft types to their fleets after several years of downsizing. However, most of the new aircraft purchases are only replacement aircraft and not incremental additions to their respective fleets. These fractional programs are striving to rationalize their fleets for optimum efficiency and to answer client demand for newer, more advanced and better equipped aircraft (especially cabin amenities such as Wi-Fi, internet, satellite news and TV).

Aircraft Brands:

The fractional provider’s fidelity to specific aircraft manufacturers has also changed. In the past, NetJets was aligned with Dassault, Gulfstream Aerospace, Cessna and Hawker Beechcraft while Flexjet was aligned exclusively with Learjet and Bombardier. Today, NetJets is more closely aligned with Embraer and Bombardier while Flexjet is also aligned with Embraer but now also with Gulfstream Aerospace while still carrying Bombardier and Learjet products.

Top Fractional Aircraft: Citation Excel/XLS:

The Cessna Citation Excel/XLS still retains the number one spot for the number of aircraft in fractional service.  The Embraer Phenom series is ranked second and is growing rapidly.

Current U.S. Fleet Sizes by Fractional Provider:

 

Fractional Provider	Fleet
NetJets*	425
Flexjet	68
Flight Options /Flexjet	58
Total	551

*This number does not include NetJets Europe fleet of 89 aircraft