When I operated an airways capable aircraft my benchmark was to compare the cost to a normal, flexible business class ticket. The comparison sort of worked if you dropped items such as engine/systems overhaul/replacement reserves and used only direct operating costs plus part of annual maintenance, insurance and airport fees. Avgas at the time, with duty clawback, averaged around £1~1.50/litre, and airways charges seemed quite modest. This was over ten years ago. I recall with some sentimentality being able to taxi to the pumps at Dublin International and fill up with the equivalent 60-70p/litre and very modest landing/parking fees. Also business class tickets in real terms have become much cheaper.
Assuming this benchmark might still apply and using a base performance level of 140 knots TAS, 16,000 foot service ceiling, 600nm range with IFR reserves, and reasonable payload of 400 lbs (allowing at least one passenger and some luggage) are there any aircraft that might fit this economically competitive benchmark? I drop any pretense to FIKI or other ‘all weather’ capabilities.
There is a repo auction for some DA42s with half time components and a base price of EUR75-85K which might fit the bill.
The closest I came to a reasonable candidate was a very nice 1966 Mooney Super 21 with HSI and IFR GPS.
For many years, I tried to justify the cost. I now realise, although we may want to twist facts and exclude numbers to push them in the right direction – GA is the ultimate luxury as a means of transport – for those who enjoy it. Note ‘transport’ and ‘flying’ are not related as you can’t travel anywhere meaningful in a Cub or C120. The hourly cost depresses me when I consider the alternative use of funds. I just accept it’s what I enjoy most and entitle myself to ‘enjoy’ a percentage of my income through a hobby.
If you don’t fly to the same major metropolitan airport but choose a nearby GA field instead, you may be able to beat the business class prices in virtually any aircraft; conversely, if you want to land, say, in Gatwick, nothing will do.
A while ago I did similar calculations for my Grumman Tiger (though it only flies 125 kts, not 140). With 2-3 passengers on board, it was perfectly possible to beat even typical last-minute economy class prices on many routes. Business class I would almost invariably beat alone. One thing in my favour may have been the low fixed costs, though.
On business, one rarely flies in two or three.
Also, why take business class as a benchmark? On the typical European haul (1-2 hours by A320, i.e. where piston GA might make any sense as an alternative), flying economy class is more than acceptable, and a Tiger for example will not be more comfortable over the same distance.
What is often more important (price-wise) than business vs. economy is fixed booking vs. flex (cancellable) booking. Just did it today for an upcoming business meeting in Paris; 250 vs. 600. Whether fixed booking is acceptable often depends on the type of meeting. One-on-one meetings often get cancelled/postponed, whereas big (group) meetings / conventions usually don’t.
Hugely depends on the destination and on the services offered.
I would think the “fair” comparison would be the “cheapest” flexible return ticket any airline will offer and which is bought less than 2 days before the flight. Or, even worse, a dayticket (go there in the morning, come back in the evening). Those things really cost money, even if it is seat 49B and all you get is a 18 hour old sandwhich.
I’ve had such trips, repeatedly. Salzburg is my “favorite”.
Lets say, I wanna fly there tomorrow morning for a lunch meeting at SZG and back.
If I opt for direct flights only, then only Intersky is the option. Trouble: they only fly once a day and in the afternoon. So if i want to have a lunch meeting tomorrow, I should have flown 3 hours ago and paid around 400 Euros to be back tomorrow. Um, ok, but that will cost me a night in a hotel (approx 100 Euros) and other expenses such as dinner. So 550 Euros might do it, but I loose two days.
Lufthansa can do better. Much better actually. I can leave Zürich at 0700 lt and be there at 10, hooray, and fly back at 1840 and reach ZRH at 2145. Waidaminute, that is THREE HOURS per trip? Ah, yes, because I get a free changeover at Frankfurt or even Vienna… So 6 hours trip time for what exactly. Price: Flex Ticket: 1222.90 cents. (Ok, if you can be SURE you want to fly that tomorrow, you can book fixed for 332 Euros, but we said flex. Business needs to be that.
Soooo. If I want my meeting with my own 50 year old airplane, lets see. For my 12-1400 meeting I can get an outbound slot in ZRH at 10am, be there at 1130, catch the bus to the city, have lunch, come back to the airport at around 2-30 and be home by 4-30, including driving from the airport. Cost? Flight time is 1:20, times 2 is 2:40 (altogether, not like LH which needs 3 hours one way) and that makes 160 minutes at 4.- => 640 Euros. And if my mate wants me to stay over and fly back tomorrow short notice? Still 640 Euros.
I’ll have the GA flight, thank you.
Whether fixed booking is acceptable often depends on the type of meeting. One-on-one meetings often get cancelled/postponed, whereas big (group) meetings / conventions usually don’t.
A bit off-topic, but we have a company policy to always book the cheapest flight (i.e. fixed ticket). On the bottom line, someone within the firm obviously figured, this saves the company a lot of money – even if some tickets will end up fully paid and unused.
What is often more important (price-wise) than business vs. economy is fixed booking vs. flex (cancellable) booking. Just did it today for an upcoming business meeting in Paris; 250 vs. 600.
On many routes, it’s considerably cheaper to buy two non-refundable one-way tickets at the last minute than a flexible economy return.
we have a company policy to always book the cheapest flight
For planned travel so do we, but for ad-hoc stuff you take what you get. Particularly if you don’t exactly know if you REALLY are back on that particular flight.
On many routes, it’s considerably cheaper to buy two non-refundable one-way tickets at the last minute than a flexible economy return.
Interesting. Maybe on Easy or Ryan? They are not really an option out of here, only to LGW and usually not considerably cheaper on short notice.
In essence, I’ll settle for “the private plane is not significantly more expensive and in quite some cases can be the better variant of doing things.”
If e.g. this means one day away rather than two and considerably less time you have to pay for, this is true in a lot of cases.
These calculations are completely useless. And if you do them right the result will be: Flying GA in your own airplane is the most expensive way of traveling. I have stopped (or: I have never started) to justify my flying. And I definitely have not done one flight to “save money”.
I don’t think that you could ever justify the costs vs commerical. But to me they are two different things.
If I want to go to, let’s say Rome then I’ll book well in advance and get a €80 return fair on RyanAir. I’ll be there in 3 hours flying + 1.5 hanging around the airport, with little concern that the flight won’t make it. I’ll arrive at an airport with plenty of public transport and I’ll have an enjoyable weekend. That cost can’t ever be beaten by GA, and I’ve no objection to waiting around an airport for 1.5 hrs.
But that journey is all about the weekend. The trip there an back is nothing more than a means to an end. It’s not about the travel but about the destination.
If I fly somewhere myself, it’s the journey that is important. Sure it’s good to fly to a nice destination, but the destination isn’t necessarily the reason for the trip. It’s the flying that’s important. I make the journey and plan the route to get maximum enjoyment from the journey itself, rather than the destination. It’s a totally different weekend. There is no way that I could get the same enjoyment or sence of achievement from travelling on a commerical airline, so there is no reason to relate the costs.
A better comparsion of costs would be a weekend in Rome by commerical airline, or a weekend down the country on a golf trip/sailing/on the beer or some other hobby.
We aren’t mini airlines, so we shouldn’t try to justify our costs that way. We are participating in a hobby, and the only two relevant questions are:
1. Can we afford it
2. Is it the maximum enjoyment that we could get for that money.
Colm
