AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2013 - 80

P&E

OWNERSHIP

LEE SEWELL, an Atlanta pilot and current
owner of a share in a Cirrus SR22 managed
by Ascension Air, said she nearly bought
into a traditional partnership but missed
her chance by minutes. She and her husband, not a pilot but a skilled passenger
who can help out with various in-flight
tasks, have purchased fractions from both
AirShares Elite, the most established company in the managed piston ownership
market, and now Ascension Air, which
launched in 2012 offering brand-new Cirrus
SR22Ts. She reported a positive experience
with both companies, although Ascension
goes a bit further with its customer service—the concierge staff will even sump
tanks as the pilot looks on.
Sewell said both purchase decisions
were informed by careful research, including consultation with tax advisors. She
concluded that for a pilot planning to fly 100
to 150 hours a year, a fraction makes more
sense than a whole airplane; at 175 hours
a year or more, sole ownership begins to
make more sense, she concluded. Neither
of the companies she has available to her
has a clear-cut advantage.

Both companies offered excellent
availability, Sewell said, with unfulfilled
scheduling requests almost unheard of.
Other owners of aircraft shares managed
by various companies (whose contact information was provided by the respective
companies) report much the same: there
is almost always an airplane when needed.
AirShares, Ascension, and PlaneSmart
manage to deliver this kind of availability
by assembling fleets of identical (or nearly
identical) aircraft in one metropolitan area,
sometimes at the same airport.
This variation on the business model
offers convenience, but also a limitation:
it requires a large population with enough
pilots (or potential pilots) able to afford
a first-year outlay that can approach or
exceed six figures for a share in a Cirrus.
(Out-of-pocket expenses can be reduced
by leasing, financing, and tax strategies;
leasing can bring first-year fixed expenses
for the smallest share below $30,000.) It is
unlikely that any of these companies will
be tempted to set up shop in a city or small
town that is unable to sustain more than
one or two aircraft.

“You have to be hub-centric,” said
Ascension President and CEO Jamail
Larkins, who has sold five aircraft in little more than a year, and plans to expand
beyond the Atlanta operation to another
major market soon. He expects the company will eventually grow into 20 cities, two
dozen at most.
Will Stroud, a Dallas pilot and
PlaneSmart customer, said the value of
fleet access was particularly evident when
the aircraft he co-owned was damaged by
another pilot in a fuel starvation accident.
“We were still able to fly the other airplanes in the fleet,” while PlaneSmart
handled the details of insurance claim and
repairs, Stroud said. Like Sewell, he had
researched extensively, studying the range
of ownership options. There is a price to be
paid (fixed management fees for a Cirrus
can top $2,000 per month, depending on
aircraft, share size, and location), but owners who want the ultimate in hassle-free
aviation say it is worth the money.
“It’s certainly not the least expensive
way to own an airplane,” said Stroud, who
owns a real estate company and is looking

AirShares Elite
www.airshares
elite.com

Ascension
www.ascension
air.net

Aviation Air
Access Project
www.aviation
accessproject.
com

DiamondShare
http://diamond
share.com

FlyteOne
www.flyteone.
net

PlaneSmart
Aviation
www.
planesmart.
com

Business model

Managed
fractional

Managed
fractional

Managed
fractional

Single owner
with lessors

Managed
fractional

Managed
fractional

U.S. city locations
(as of May 2013)*

15

1

3

N/A ***

1

2

Aircraft make

Cirrus

Cirrus

Various

Diamond

Various

Various

Used aircraft
offered

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Minimum share

Eighth

Eighth

Sixteenth

One owner, up
to 3 lessors

Eighth

Quarter

Number of
aircraft managed

31

5

3

6

7

27

Fleet access **

Yes

Yes

No

No

Yes

Yes

Maintenance
management

Via FBO

Yes (staff)

Yes (staff)

Purchased
separately

Via FBO

Yes (staff)

Began operation

2001

2011

2012

2011

2009

2003

* May include multiple airports in same metropolitan area
** Multiple identical aircraft in a given location that may be used interchangeably
*** DiamondShare aircraft are individually operated at any airport

80 | AOPA PILOT August 2013

http://www.airshareselite.com http://www.ascensionair.net http://diamondshare.com http://www.flyteone.net http://www.aviationaccessproject.com http://www.planesmart.com http://www.airshareselite.com http://www.ascensionair.net http://diamondshare.com http://www.flyteone.net http://www.planesmart.com http://www.planesmart.com http://www.aviationaccessproject.com

AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2013

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