The decision to purchase a business jet is a complex one and it is unlikely that a non-aviation business house would have adequate in-house expertise to reach the best decision

The diminishing disparity between a topend luxury car and a small business jet is a factor of growing importance today. However, the process and criteria one applies while buying a car is quite different from those applicable to the purchase of a business jet. The apt response to the question—what criteria ought to be considered before taking the decision to purchase a business jet, is a counterquestion—what do you need the aircraft for? If a prospective buyer answers that question accurately, his decision to purchase an aircraft would turn out to be the ‘right’ decision. Alternatively, he would join a large number of unhappy aircraft owners who are disappointed with their purchases—either because the aircraft they bought does not meet their expectations or they continue to incur losses on their aircraft for various possible reasons. According to Kapil Kaul, CEO, Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation (CAPA), India has 912 registered civil aircraft but only 681 are estimated to be effective. Hence it is logical to surmise that the non-effective aircraft represent bad purchase decisions. To put things in the correct perspective, only four of these non-effective aircraft are business jets. Defining the need for an aircraft, however, is not as simple as it sounds since various factors are taken into consideration while describing the need. For the sake of discussion, it is presumed that piston engine and turbo-prop aircraft, along with rotorcraft, have already been ruled out of the purchase decision.

A business jet is usually, but not necessarily, a small jet and may be variedly referred to as a corporate jet, an executive jet or a private jet (if being used entirely for private purposes). Boeing has Boeing Business Jets (BBJs) built on the Boeing 737 series and even the Boeing 747 series of airframes. However, those are used in small numbers and the generally used business jets tend to be designed with less than 20 seats in the cabin. In India, the most popular business jets have four to 10 seats. In recent years, there has been a perceptible shift in the way business jets are viewed. While they were seen as status symbols earlier much like expensive cars, their value as business enablers has now been realised. Thus, the first bundle of criteria that needs to be considered in the decision-making process would be operational in nature—what is the average length of a trip? Are travel legs short or long? How many passengers typically travel on a leg? What is the premium on time? The generally accepted categories into which business jets get shared out are heavy jets, large jets, super-mid size jets, mid-size jets, light jets and very light jets (VLJ). In general, aircraft with longer ranges tend to be bigger and thus can carry more passengers, but are more expensive to fly and require longer runway lengths. Conversely, the small aircraft can carry less passengers and travel less ranges due to their smaller onboard fuel carriage capacity. A VLJ could typically carry four passengers from New Delhi to most cities in South India but would be considered inappropriate for frequent travel to international destinations. A light jet like a Hawker could carry up to eight passengers to the Middle East but not further to Europe or Africa. If the purpose is to fly often to America, a supermid size jet would be a more appropriate asset to acquire. It may be mentioned here that smaller the size of the aircraft, the lower the cabin height. In fact, the cabin of a small VLJ could resemble the interior of a car and offers no possibility of standing erect once inside the cabin.

Before getting down to the number-crunching that would lead to the exact type of aircraft that would best meet one’s requirement, it may be worthwhile to consider whether one already has a fleet, and if so, what is the crew availability and existing infrastructure and organisation to support a particular type of aircraft. Thus, even if business required travel to Europe, with an already existing fleet of light jets, the choice would either be to purchase a new type that would do a one-hop to a European destination or another light jet of the type already held to do a one-stop trip to Europe but at a much lower additional cost of operation due to the existing fleet and economy of scale.

Having zeroed in on the general class of aircraft one wanted to buy (seating, internal dimensions, baggage space, speed limits), the next step is a comparative study between different types of aircraft within a particular class of aircraft. The most important criteria to be considered would be the mission parameters i.e. runway length required, flight time, fuel consumed for a typical flight that is envisaged. The airport performance at different elevations and temperatures may become critical if the flights are likely to airports located at heights above 5,000 feet above mean sea level (AMSL). Other less important parameters that would influence the purchase decision could be the external dimensions, the power plant type and flat rating thrust figures, the weight figures (basic weight, maximum ramp, maximum take off, maximum landing, maximum zero fuel, maximum payload, useful load, maximum fuel, available payload with maximum fuel weights), Mach number limits, cabin pressure differential, certificated ceiling, and maximum payload range/speed/trip fuel. While each of these operational factors may not be critical to each decision, these factors are nevertheless worth including in a comparative analysis. As an illustration, one type may have a cabin pressure of 6,000 feet at its maximum cruising height, while another may have a cabin pressure of 8,000 feet. In short duration flights, it may not make a difference but in longer flights, it could make a discernible difference to the comfort level of the passengers, especially in respect of the elderly. It may also be beneficial for the analysis to include the speed/fuel figures for each aircraft under consideration for a typical flight planned (e.g. four passengers over 1,500 nautical miles). The cockpit avionics suite would be another factor for consideration in the purchase of a business jet. There are several professional companies who can be of help for a comparative analysis, but for a coarse analysis, one could refer to the annual comparison tables published by Business & Commercial Aviation, a journal brought out by McGraw Hill (last comparison published in May 2010 of ibid journal).