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NASA Buys Shares of Flexjet Lears
Marking First U.S. Use of Fractionals
The U.S. government has signed up its first-ever fractional ownership
deal, it was disclosed here yesterday. Bombardier's Flexjet will
provide fractional lift to NASA in a two-year test of fractional
services.
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| Clifford Dickman, Flexjet |
NASA currently flies a hodgepodge of mostly elderly business aircraft,
which it also uses in test programs. It will use Flexjet's Learjet
31A and 60s to fly between Washington, D.C., Houston, and Cape Canaveral.
"We are extremely pleased NASA chose Flexjet for the U.S.
government's first utilization of a fractional program," says
Flexjet president Clifford Dickman. "It was a very intensive
competition. NASA came in and conducted a rigorous and extensive
review of aircraft maintenance, operations, safety and procedures.
I would call it a very thorough audit."
Dickman says NASA was particularly impressed by Flexjet's new
fleet and its emphasis on safety, training and maintenance. "They
liked the fact that our fleet has an average age of only two and
a half years," he says.
NASA has contracted specifically for 400 hours a year of Learjet
31A time, and 50 hours of Learjet 60. Because of the intricacies
of procurement by the U.S. government, the shares in the aircraft
have been leased to NASA through Bombardier Capital.
"NASA realized that the speed of these aircraft will allow
them to have extra trips for the same flying hours compared to their
current fleet," said Dickman.
In other news, Flexjet disclosed:
- Its fourth consecutive Diamond Award by the FAA for continued
excellence in maintenance training at its Dallas facility;
- A FlightSafety Foundation award for its pilot training programs
that include recurrent training every six months-twice as often
as required by the FAA;
- Selection by the PGA as preferred supplier of business jet solutions
for the PGA and the PGA Senior Tour;
- Selection by the Indy Racing League as preferred supplier "as
Flexjet offers the same performance in the air as they have on
the ground," says Dickman-although he wasn't sure this meant
they expected only left-hand patterns.
By John Morris
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Bombardier Flexjet will take delivery
of 15 new aircraft this year to maintain its fleet at 105
business jets at year-end, according to Flexjet president
Clifford Dickman. The new deliveries will balance retirements
as it keeps the fleet's average age at just two and a half
years, he told Show News.
The fractional ownership program increased
the number of share owners by 19% in 2001 and now totals 640
owners, he says.
While sales of new shares have been slow this
year, actual flying is 2% higher than budgeted. "This
is very encouraging," he says. "Owners are flying,
and they are flying a lot."
Dickman expects the sales of new shares will
return to double-digit growth in the not-too-distant future,
and deliveries of new aircraft will follow suit. He notes
that 75% of Flexjet's owners had never owned an aircraft before,
and more than two-thirds of them were referred by a current
owner.
"This suggests tremendous growth potential
in the future," he says.
Flexjet has converted four of its existing
orders for Learjet 45s into the new, longer-range 45XRs, Dickman
says, and the company will take delivery next year of its
first two Learjet 40s.
"There will be follow-on orders,"
Dickman promises. "There is a lot of interest by customers
in particular in the Learjet 40. Its common type rating with
the 45 and 45XR adds so much more flexibility."
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