Private aviation's largest fractional-share provider recently announced their "Supplemental Lift Assurance Program". Designed for flight departments as well as aircraft owners, this service provides full access to NetJets fleet. Participants in the program can use NetJets aircraft when there is an issue causing their own plane to be grounded (eg during unscheduled maintenance) and for providing supplemental lift throughout the year.
What The Program Offers
The goal of NetJets' Supplemental Lift Assurance program is to make it the ideal solution for those who own a whole aircraft and need guaranteed access to an aircraft when their own is not available, or when they need a second aircraft in order to meet their flying requirements. In essence preventing an interruption of travel plans and the ripple effect it can cause including potential lost business including a negative financial impact.
The program allows participants to confidently plan and schedule additional aircraft needs while providing guaranteed last-minute access to aircraft in NetJets' fleet.
There are no pre-specified number of flight hours, no long-term commitments and no usage limit. There is also no need to commit to a specific type of aircraft. Whatever the reason for need, you can be guaranteed an aircraft in the cabin class you choose upfront, including light, midsize or large planes, on flights that originate in and out of the continental U.S. – with a minimum of just four hours' notice.
NetJets' President of Sales, Marketing and Service, Adam Johnson notes, "Through NetJets Supplemental Lift Assurance we are able to deliver the safety, convenience and flexibility of the NetJets fleet to flight departments and aircraft owners when their aircraft is not available, ensuring that when unexpected circumstances arise, they arrive at their destinations on time, safely and efficiently. We listened to corporate flight departments and aircraft owners and we tailored NetJets Supplemental Lift Assurance to their exacting needs. Whether you need a reliable resource to increase capacity or an aircraft is out of service for maintenance, NetJets Supplemental Lift Assurance provides on-demand access to our entire world class fleet whenever and wherever you need it."
Pricing Information
There is a one-time enrollment fee dependent on the cabin size fleet chosen. For NetJets' light and midsize cabin fleets, the upfront enrollment fee is $25,000 while the large cabin fleets require a $50,000 enrollment fee. Federal excise tax is included in the enrollment fee.
When you fly with NetJets, you'll pay for the flight time and fuel used with additional fees and charges assessed for each flight segment. These might include federal excise and other applicable taxes as well as fuel, international fees if applicable and ancillary charges such as ground transportation.
Following your first year in the program, in order to maintain your status as a "Supplemental Lift Assurance Owner" with all of the access it provides to the fleet, you'll pay a renewal fee of $10,000 for light and midsize cabin fleets and $15,000 for the large cabin fleet.
Hourly fees are also dependent on cabin size, with the light cabin at $5,000 to $7,000 depending on the exact aircraft chosen; midsize at $8,000 to $10,900 and the large cabin incurring a $12,500 to $14,600 hourly fee, again depending on the type of aircraft.
On 20 designated Peak Period Days, the hourly rate is 125% of the standard rate.
Scheduling Guarantees
Supplemental Lift Assurance Owners are guaranteed an aircraft within their selected cabin class with as little as four hours' notice on most flights. Flying internationally typically requires 12-24 hours' notice, with flights to and from Canada requiring 12 hours while flights from Bermuda or the Caribbean require a 24 hour notice.
Domestic departures will require 6 hours' notice on Peak Period Days. Supplemental Lift Assurance Owners are offered a guaranteed response time as well as access to a dedicated Owner Services Team 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
This new service follows on the announcements of orders for approximately $18bn of new aircraft additions to the NetJets fleet, including new additions of midsize Bombardier Challengers and Citation Latitudes.