Part 2 of a 3-part series on the AirShares Elite small-airplane fractional ownership program, here on flyingmag.com.
What's the ideal airplane? For most of us, it's the one that goes a few knots faster, travels a little farther or carries a bit more weight than the one we're currently flying. As in the rest of life, however, such improvements in utility and convenience come at a price. Want more airplane? Be prepared to pay more for it.
Which is why fractional ownership, at least at first glance, is so appealing. If you can't use the whole airplane, why pay for all of it? Moreover, if you can afford the whole airplane but don't need it, why not take that same amount of money and put it toward part of a much more capable airplane? The hoped-for result is getting a lot more airplane for a lot less money.
While this sounds too good to be true, today there are a handful of companies that will indeed sell you part of an airplane, and they'll manage it for you as part of the deal. Last year I completed a successful, long-term evaluation, flying a share of a brand-new Cessna 182 as part of the OurPlane program. I'm now in the middle of a similar long-term test of an AirShares Elite Cirrus SR22.
New Pricing Plans
Since I began the evaluation, the program has evolved. AirShares is now offering lease options, which allow pilots to get into a Cirrus with less money down, and it's introduced a program to put pilots in the left seat of an existing SR20. The program is designed, says AirShares, to help pilots build time toward SR22 ownership. Because of insurance and proficiency requirements, to fly an SR22 in the AirShares program, pilots need 350 hours of total time and to be working on an instrument rating. SR20 ownership, in contrast, requires just 100 hours total time and a private pilot certificate with no instrument rating needed. AirShares plans to start the program at Danbury (Connecticut) Airport with an existing SR20. Cost of the lease, which provides 75 hours of flying time a year, is $5,000 up front, $80 an hour and $780 per month. The lease customer can renew the agreement annually, and the $5,000, a one-time fee, is partially refundable depending on how long the customer stays in the lease.
The company has also introduced lease options for its brand-new SR22s, at either the 50-hour or 75-hour annual usage level. The up-front cost is the same $5,000 as for the SR20, but the hourly operating cost of $90 and the monthly maintenance fees of $785 (50 hours) and $1,120 (75 hours) are substantially more.
