Single Pilot Business?

jspeed87

jspeed87

Well-Known Member
I would like to know if one can purchase an airplane for example, a bonanza, and put it to work? Like buying a truck and being your own boss but only in a airplane delivering cargo. How would it work, and is it profitable and worth it?
 
jspeed87 said:
I would like to know if one can purchase an airplane for example, a bonanza, and put it to work? Like buying a truck and being your own boss but only in a airplane delivering cargo. How would it work, and is it profitable and worth it?
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I would think you would need 135 minimums personally, and you would have to have your Bonanza on a 135 ticket as well - and all that comes with that - ops specs, etc. Some of the Frieght guys could answer better than me though - check their sub-forum.
 
You'd need to put it on a 135 certificate at the very least. You could always do your own certificate, but that's a royal pain in the neck and is a 2 year process. Insurance is more expensive and you'd need 135 minimums.

I wouldn't buy a plane to throw cargo into it.

-mini
 
minitour said:
You'd need to put it on a 135 certificate at the very least. You could always do your own certificate, but that's a royal pain in the neck and is a 2 year process. Insurance is more expensive and you'd need 135 minimums.

I wouldn't buy a plane to throw cargo into it.

-mini
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But your now a business owner. The Airplane is generating profit for you. What I'm trying to research is, if it's profitable.
 
jspeed87 said:
But your now a business owner. The Airplane is generating profit for you. What I'm trying to research is, if it's profitable.
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There's a big difference between revenue and profit. How profitable you might be will depend on a lot of factors that will require research unique to your area and business model.
 
Our place did the single pilot/single plane (402) for a while, before we expanded.

I'm by no means an expert but our Chief Pilot was going over it with me and he did say that getting a single pilot 135 operation is easier than a multiple pilot operation due to the fact that you don't need to write a training syllabus and get that approved.

Your situation might be unique, but from what I've seen, having steady work as a single pilot operation was hard for my company.

EDIT: I am not a 135 pilot.
 
that'd be pretty sweet if you could do that.

if it works out, let me know. That might be something cool to do
 
OldTownPilot said:
Depending on the FSDO of course, I know it is not a 2 year process to get a single pilot 135 cert up and running.
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Very true that it depends on the FSDO. My local FSDO is looking at PASIs submitted about 12 months ago. Give 6+ months for certification and you're easily at 18-24 months around here. Some places are worse, some are probably better.

jspeed87 said:
But your now a business owner. The Airplane is generating profit for you. What I'm trying to research is, if it's profitable.
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Like I said, I wouldn't buy a plane to put cargo in it. I'd sell the idea to someone that already owns the plane, manage it for them and then run the business as a management situation.
Doing it that way:
Plane flies - You get a %
Plane sits in the hangar - You get a monthly management fee.
Plane goes into mx - You get a %.

You own and you only make money if the plane flies and your fees allow you to be profitable.
Doing it that way:
Plane flies - you might make money.
Plane sits in the hangar - you make no money
Plane goes into mx - you make no money.

See what I'm getting at here?

There's a saying. What's the best way to make a small fortune in aviation? Start with a large fortune.

-mini
 
jspeed87 said:
But your now a business owner. The Airplane is generating profit for you. What I'm trying to research is, if it's profitable.
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Eh, you're gonna need more than one plane to hold a 135 cert.

If you get a contract from company A to haul freight for them and your plane goes tango uniform for one month for a engine overhaul, then company A finds someone else.
 
Mini has owned an aviation bidness...

I've owned a business, but not an aviation one, and if I felt so inclined, I would bounce it off him. Kinda like EF Hutton, if your old enough to remember.
 
ryanmickG said:
Eh, you're gonna need more than one plane to hold a 135 cert.

If you get a contract from company A to haul freight for them and your plane goes tango uniform for one month for a engine overhaul, then company A finds someone else.
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Nah, you charter it out for the month and make slightly less than you would using your own planes.

Or...the better way. Find a bunch of people that own different types of planes. You write the certificate (135), manage the planes (so you're always making $) and then if plane A goes down, you use plane B and so on.

Worst case scenario, you charter it out for a month. But it's not like you're going to all of a sudden go "oh snap, engine overhaul!!!". You'll normally see something like that coming. What is bad is when the PMI stops in and say "hmm...here's a list of things that need corrected before the plane can fly" and it's 4 hours before departure.

If I were going to do another aviation business (and the thought has crossed my mind), I'd manage. I'd want different sized turboprops, light smaller cabin jets and even cabin class piston twins and broker the living sh** out of them with pax, cargo, both...wouldn't matter. Anything to keep them in the air.

I'm tellin' ya...managing is where the $ is at. Why spend your money when you can spend someone else's?

-mini
 
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