Business Jet Traveler

Dassault Falcon’s Falcon 900EX
May 15, 2013
Dassault Falcon’s Falcon 900EX
More than a decade ago, I was standing on a ramp at a California airport with an investment banker and his Dassault Falcon 900. Between incessant taps on his Blackberry, he was discussing the airplane and how he used it.
When Are You Ready for Your Own Jet?
May 14, 2013
When are you ready for your own jet?
When is it time to buy your own jet? Part of the answer involves tax numbers, depreciation data, return on investment projections and the like; but if those are the sorts of factors you’re pondering right now, you should put down this article and pick up some of the many BJT features that address such concerns in detail.
BMW M5
May 14, 2013
BMW M5
Like the four models before it in their day, the fifth-generation M5 is the standard-bearer of BMW’s craft. It’s also a striking value among new performance cars.
Last-Minute Moves
May 14, 2013
Last-Minute Moves
A quality air charter provider should be able to have you in the air within two hours of receiving a call for a pop-up, or last-minute, domestic flight. [See “Taking Off in a Hurry”] But what if you need to alter the passenger manifest or amend your destination shortly before takeoff?
The Best Blue Marlin Fishing in the World
May 14, 2013
The Best Blue Marlin Fishing in the World
I sit in the fighting chair aboard the 33-foot charter sport-fishing boat Reel Addiction, mesmerized by the churning wash of a stream of white bubbles into the clear, sapphire-blue South Pacific Ocean. Behind and above me on the bridge, at the helm, is skipper Steve Campbell, a 60-year-old tanned and sinewy ex-New Zealander.
The Flight Department Company Trap
May 13, 2013
Setting up an LLC just to own and operate your jet could mean asking for trouble.
If I owned a business jet, my worst nightmare would go something like this: my airplane is involved in an accident and I get sued for zillions of dollars in damages.
A Tale of Two Continents
May 13, 2013
Gulfstream 550 (photo courtesy of Gulfstream)
It’s too early to predict overall sales for 2013, but one key indicator—the number of aircraft for sale—continues to tick lower, suggesting that a recovery is still ongoing. In fact, the number of available jets and turboprops is now at its lowest point in roughly five years.
Starting a Flight Department
May 13, 2013
Starting a Flight Department
When it comes to outright aircraft ownership, you basically have two choices: hire a management company to handle operations and maintenance or set up your own corporate flight department. Done right, either option will afford you convenience and safety. What it really comes down to is cost versus control.
Learjet 70/75
May 13, 2013
Learjet 70/75
The latest generation of “little Lears” represents a big departure from what Bill Lear envisioned when he started his iconic company 50 years ago. The original Learjet 23 forced passengers to trade comfort for speed in a cramped cabin with few amenities and limited range. My, how times have changed.
Daymond John
May 13, 2013
Daymond John
When he launched his FUBU clothing line in 1992, Daymond John was a 23-year-old waiter and taxi driver with no college education, no business training, no manufacturing operation, no contracts with retailers and no money to speak of.

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Quote/Unquote

“When you get into the larger aircraft it becomes like a hotel, with dozens of staff supporting the plane based in a galley area down below. You have very comprehensive cooking facilities, and on larger aircraft we have looked at theatres, with spiral staircases and a Steinway grand piano. The limitations for what you can put inside a plane are pretty much the limits of physics, and even money cannot always overcome that. Even so, people are still always trying to push [the limits]. ”

-Howard Guy of Design Q, a UK-based consultancy