Buyers' Guide » 2009

The smart way to buy charter service
August 1, 2009
Charter operators employ more than 300 makes and models of business aircraft,
Corporate aviation has been hit particularly hard by the economic downturn. But the charter field may do relatively well, according to some industry insiders, as business jet travelers seek less costly alternatives to fractional jet shares and ownership of whole aircraft.
Flying privately without buying a jet
August 1, 2009
Upgrading or downgrading to larger or smaller aircraft tends to be much less
"I just spent eight hours in the Atlanta airport waiting for a delayed airline flight. I missed my connection, wasted a day and had to reschedule the trip. This has happened too often. I want to fly privately and I have brochures from fractional and jet card programs. But I'm not sure which one is right for me and I can see that making the wrong choice would cost me a bundle.
Size Matters
August 1, 2009
With manufacturers adding a dizzying number of derivative models to their lineups, classifying the available crop of business jets is becoming harder than ever. In an attempt to make better sense of the groupings, Business Jet Traveler uses cabin volume as the chief attribute defining the cutoff points for each category.
Give your cabin a facelift
August 1, 2009
“Eighteen months ago, there was some overpricing. Now, it’s a buyer’s market
Many individuals and corporations are deciding to keep the jets they have rather than upgrade. Others are taking advantage of a weak market to buy used models at bargain prices. For those in either camp, interior refurbishment offers an economical way to extend the life of an aging cabin.
Completion and Refurbishment Centers
August 1, 2009
Despite the recent public flogging of owners of private jets for allegedly engaging in wretched excess, we suspect that cabin completion and refurbishment centers have yet to meet an owner who wants a cabin with Naugahyde seats, paper plates and plastic champagne glasses.
Getting Connected
August 1, 2009
If you crave having worldwide access to e-mail after takeoff, there's really only one choice: Inmarsat's mobile satellite communications services. Well, actually, there are two choices, both from Inmarsat: Swift64 and SwiftBroadband. Swift64 provides download data transmission speeds of 64 kilobits per second (kbps) per channel maximum.

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Quote/Unquote

“You want to make sure with a race in which you'll be flying home with other drivers that you don't crash into them. It's happened before, and it can make for a little bit of a tense situation.”

-Racecar driver Helio Castroneves