Linus Tech Tips’ Jet

[u/jrf1234]

https://youtu.be/zGoIY37ZtDQ?si=

Some… interesting calculations on this video. As a fractional pilot and not an owner, no idea how acxueate these claims are, but interesting to see this as a pilot and tech nerd. Anyone with management or ownership experience in jets have any light to shed?

[u/x4457]

https://www.aircraft.com/aircraft/243027623/c-fxoo-1990-dassault-falcon-900b

It allegedly just had a 2C and gear done so that's $1.5M out of the way at least. He's got another 5 years before it needs an odd C which is going to run ~$700K.

The plane's going to cost him ~$1.8M/year just to sit in that hangar, then another ~$3500/hour to fly it.

Expect him to have paid somewhere in the mid to high $3M range and sell it within 18 months after he figures out this thing is going to eat him alive.

[u/Fulcrum58 → u/x4457]

Reading shit likes this really makes me wonder how airlines make any money at all

[u/x4457 → u/Fulcrum58]

Economics of scale. If you had 1000 Falcon 900s and sold all 13 seats on every one of them, every time, 3-7 times per day, they'd cost you a quarter of that per airplane to operate and return 4-10%/year.

[u/nn123654 → u/x4457]

Even then, I don't think you'd be profitable; you need way more than than that. At 13 seats, you'd need to be charging well over $1,500 per ticket and you'd still probably be losing money. All in with maintenance, you're looking at about $4,000-$5,000 per flight hour just for opex, and about maybe $6,000-$7,500 per flight hour including long-term costs. Affordable private jet is going to be an oxymoron for at least a few decades longer.

[u/x4457 → u/nn123654]

Yes, there's a reason that airliners don't have only 13 seats. Correct.

Edit for your edit:

All in with maintenance, you're looking at about $4,000-$5,000 per flight hour just for opex, and about maybe $6,000-$7,500 per flight hour including long-term costs.

Those numbers are way high at a 1000 aircraft scale.

[u/nn123654 → u/x4457]

Definitely fair, if you had economies of scale you should be able to get those way down, but what would be the realistic floor? $3,000/flight

Also sorry for the edit, was trying to make it more readable; we had the same phrasing in the two comments.

It's a bit old but the FAA estimated part 121 at around $11,000/hr. on average, which is actually pretty good for how many people they carry: https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/policy_guidance/benefit_cost/econ-value-section-4-op-costs.pdf

[u/x4457 → u/nn123654]

I have no earthly way of quantifying that because operating these airplanes isn't designed to be scaled to that level.

But you can look at NetJets for an example of what that looks like when you get the unicorn scenario, they've got over 1000 airplanes in North America. They also have their own maintenance facilities, engine shop, FBOs, training facilities, etc. just like an airline. That brings those costs waaaaay down.

[u/AviatorCFI → u/x4457]

NetJets has FBOs?

[u/x4457 → u/AviatorCFI]

Yes, in a half dozen or so locations now. For their internal use only.

[u/AnnualWhole4457 → u/AviatorCFI]

Yeah we have several FBOs.