A Beginner’s Guide to Buying a Pre-Owned Private Jet

If you’ve been tasked to lead the team responsible for purchasing your company’s next (or first) business jet, then you know what a tall order you’ve been given. The world of private aviation and personal jets can be complicated to understand, especially when you throw a jet purchase into the mix.

With so many considerations in regard to which used private jet to buy, you’ve surely been spending much of your time formulating how you and your team will go about making the decision. No doubt you’ve assembled spreadsheets to organize your options, and perhaps you’ve reached out to an International Aircraft Dealer Association (IADA) Accredited Aircraft Dealer to get started on the hunt for a jet.

To help you narrow your search, we’ve assembled a guide to jet sizes and models that fall into those size categories, and how you might go about choosing one. Read more about used business jets for sale after you’ve determined which size jet your company needs for its executive travel, and the amenities your leaders will expect on their plane.

Considerations When Choosing a Private Jet
While this isn’t an exhaustive list of considerations, it will help get you started on your search. We assume that you already have access to a hangar for storage and a management plan in place, and your company is well-equipped to own a private plane.

Private Jet Size
The larger the jet, the larger the cabin, the longer the range, the more the amenities. While a smaller jet might be capable of getting your executive team from Point A to Point B, the interior features might not be what they’re expecting, or smaller jets might not seat as many people as necessary for business trips. Ask your company’s leaders about their expectations, and manage them carefully as you search for your company’s next plane.

Jet Annual Cost of Ownership
Consider the company’s budget for purchasing, maintaining, and flying an aircraft. The annual cost of ownership varies from jet to jet, even those in the same size classes.

Fixed costs - the cost of the line items for which you must pay to own a plane - include things like hangar fees, insurance, flight crew training, maintenance subscriptions, and more. Variable costs depend on how often your leaders fly, how far they fly, and the cost of refreshments and other items they want to have aboard, among others.

Cycles on a Jet
Unlike a car, jet mileage isn’t measured on an odometer. Instead, the number of pressurization cycles a plane has gone through is the magic number you need to know. In general, the more pressurization cycles, the shorter the jet’s remaining life. Determining a jet’s remaining useful lifespan can help you make more informed purchase decisions.

Buying a New Jet or Buying a Pre-Owned Jet
To buy a new jet, you will need to work directly with the manufacturer to purchase, customize, and receive your new private plane. The lead time can be more than a year. When you buy used, you can take ownership of the jet much more quickly. The purchase price also will be significantly lower than the cost of a new plane.

Many used jet cabins are already configured for business use, which can save you the time and effort of reviewing possible layouts, like you’d have to do if you chose to purchase a new jet. In short, you know the configuration is conducive to getting things done while in the air. Conduct thorough research about which type of purchase is best for your company.

Business Jet Guide
As you already know, amenities, range, takeoff and landing distances, and more are important considerations when choosing an ideal jet to purchase for your company’s C-suite executives.

We recommend a careful look at cabin layouts and amenities before narrowing down your short list of jets for sale. For example, toilet facilities on the smallest business jets are quite small, and some offer only the privacy a curtain can afford. Because 80 percent of private jet flights are under two hours, this may not be an issue for your company, but it is something to consider if your executive leaders will be taking much longer flights.

Larger jets, too, tend to have much longer ranges than smaller airplanes for sale. Some smaller jets will require frequent layovers for refueling in order to complete long flights, putting unnecessary wear and tear on the jet due to the added cycles. The right size jet will have a range long enough to get your C-suite executives where they need to go without the added fuss of multiple layovers. It should also fit into the annual operating budget you’ve been provided.

Very Light Jets or Small Compact Light Jets for Sale
A very light jet seats four to six people, often with a maximum take-off weight of less than 10,000 pounds, although some are slightly over. Very light jets are approved for single-pilot operation. These private jets tend to have much lower operating costs than other aircraft, and can take off from runways as short as 3,000 feet. The most popular over the years has been the Cessna Citation Mustang, which is often considered a slightly larger light jet.

Not all very light jets include a galley, nor a lavatory, although some do, at the expense of a passenger seat. Do not expect privacy while using what is considered the emergency toilet; often only a curtain separates it from the rest of the cabin. Some very light jets, however, like the HondaJet, have full lavatories with a solid door. This variation is a great example of why choosing a business jet for your company requires meticulous research and consideration.

Despite their small size, each passenger seat is equipped with a small table and some storage for personal items. Luggage areas are small, and usually are not accessible from inside the plane. In terms of range, super light jets can fly about 1,000 miles in one hop and average cruising speeds of about 420 miles per hour. Plan about a half-million dollars to operate this size jet each year, not including purchase price.

Jets to Research:

• Cirrus Vision Jet
• Eclipse 500
• Eclipse EA500
• Honda HondaJet
• Honda HondaJet APMG
• Honda HondaJet Elite

Shop for very light jets on AircraftExchange.