In some restricted situations, it is. But in most cases for corporations, it is far more expensive than traditional full ownership. However, one cannot ignore the fact that of recent times fractional ownership has been the fastest growing segment of the business aviation industry. There are a number of factors that take the bloom off this rose. There are hidden costs that are never pointed out by some traditional fractional ownership companies that dramatically change the cost equation.
Fractional ownership can be a good thing.
But it requires honesty in the presentation of the real costs involved and ethical behavior by the salesmen representing shared ownership companies that has been sadly lacking with some of the independents. Fractional ownership companies offer a wide range of models giving users the ability to match an aircraft to their pocketbooks. How fractional ownership works Fractional owners pay a proportionate part of the list price for an aircraft, typically one quarter share, and then pay the fractional ownership company a fee for each occupied flight hour and an overall fixed management fee which covers deadhead, maintenance, and administration of the program. Customers seldom, if ever, fly in the actual aircraft in which they have purchased a fractional share. And, due to the large number of aircraft and diversity of destinations of some fractional ownership operations, they seldom fly with the same crew.