A New Fractional Vision Explored

Isabel Goyer

Friday, August 01, 2003 at 08:00 AM ET

Verified

AirShares Elite Cirrus SR22 Program

Key Takeaways:

AirShares Elite is a fractional ownership program focused exclusively on the Cirrus SR22, providing a more affordable entry into high-performance aircraft ownership compared to buying a whole plane or dealing with typical rentals.
The program handles all management details, including maintenance, scheduling, and taxes, offering convenience and "red-carpet treatment" to owners who purchase shares (e.g., 1/8th for an equity cost, plus monthly and hourly fees).
A core advantage is AirShares' single-fleet approach, where all SR22s are identically equipped, increasing aircraft availability for owners across multiple locations and standardizing training.
The author, embarking on a 9-month evaluation, had a positive initial experience with comprehensive training and benefited from the fleet concept when an airplane issue was resolved by swapping to another identical aircraft.

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Part 1 of a 3-part series on the AirShares Elite small-airplane fractional ownership program, here on flyingmag.com.

Last year I did a long-term evaluation of a small-airplane fractional ownership program run by OurPlane. During the nine-month period, I was for all intents and purposes an OurPlane owner, flying a new Cessna 182 along with the rest of its part owners. In short, the experience was a good one, and it confirmed my suspicion that fractionals could be a big part of airplane ownership in the future. As I discussed in that series of articles, the basic concept, if it can be successfully executed, makes a lot of sense, as it allows pilots like me who couldn’t afford an entire new airplane to get into the game. It also lets people for whom the money isn’t the deciding factor get less than a whole airplane and have it professionally managed in the process.