Jets for Less the 25

- P12 BARRON'S November 30, 2009 November 30, 2009 BARRON'S P13 977045_977046 Jets for Less The 25 Best Givers Thanks to the recession, prices of private aircraft are down 25% or more Ranking the world’s philanthropists based on the results of their charity By Jeff Burger from about $6.9 million to $5.7 million for a used Learjet if you pick a Gulfstream G550 or Bombardier Global 5000. By Suzanne McGee harder to come by than data on corpo- 45, from $8.8 million to $6.3 million for a Citation Excel, U.K.-based Air Partner, meanwhile, is touting a 10-hour rations. One giver’s definition of suc- AS RECENTLY AS LAST YEAR, THE BUSINESS-AVIATION IN- and from $17 million to $11.1 million for a Falcon 50EX, Winter JetCard for skiers who need less flight time than cess can differ sharply from another dustry was booming. Manufacturers delivered a record according to Jetnet LLC. the company’s regular 25-hour jet card provides. For a THE NAME OF THE GAME IN PHILAN- giver’s—or from ours. But even if you 1,313 corporate jets, 15% more than in 2007. Charter opera- mid-sized jet, the price is 72,400 euros, or $108,343. thropy this year is to make your dol- disagree with some of our judgments, tors and marketers of fractional jet shares and so-called jet Invest in a fractional share. If you can’t lars go far—very far. With the reces- you are bound to learn some useful cards also witnessed high demand. own an airplane, this may be the next best thing. Providers Charter a jet. When you charter, you don’t have to sion squeezing donors and charities lessons from each of the 25 philanthro- Then the economy nearly collapsed, causing companies such as Avantair, CitationAir, Flexjet, Flight Options, Net- worry about any commitment beyond the flight you have alike, it’s more important than ever to pists on the list. that use business aircraft to scramble to cut costs. Last Jets and PlaneSense will sell you a paid for. Plus, you may be able to save a bundle these days. make sure your giving really makes a Many of them are fixtures in Ameri- November, meanwhile, the CEOs of Chrysler, Ford and GM fractional share such as one-six- Now boarding: While many posted hourly charter rates have actually difference. can business, such as billionaire Eli Composite flew their corporate jets to Washington to testify before teenth of a plane, equaling 50 For those who like to fly risen slightly over the past year, those increases have often Ideally, each dollar you give will Broad, a huge supporter of education Congress about a taxpayer bailout. This public-relations faux hours of flying per year. privately, there are been offset by steep declines in fuel surcharges. The aver- transform itself into $3 or $4 of bene- and the arts, and Paul Tudor Jones, P2BW334040-0-P01200-1------ pas led the auto makers to unload their aircraft, and compa- With some owners bailing out bargains to be had in age hourly fuel surcharge for a flight on a Gulfstream GV fits for your chosen causes—from im- the commodities trader who founded nies like AT&T, Citigroup and Gannett soon followed suit. before their contracts end, frac- fractional shares, jet has dropped from $1,286 last year to $325 this year, accord- proving local schools to easing world the Robin Hood Foundation, one of The result: The number of used jets on the market has tional providers are stuck with un- cards and used aircraft. ing to CharterX, a business-aviation marketplace. What is poverty. That’s high-impact giving, the country’s most high-powered anti- soared, and sales of new jets have plummeted. Dassault sold flight time and are selling pre- more, operators are reportedly not sticking to their pub- and some philanthropists are raising it poverty crusades. Aviation, for example, reported a “negative” $1.5 billion in owned shares at big discounts. “A one-sixteenth share in a lished rates for flights, and many are selling bargain- to a high form of art. Nearly 20% of the list is from donors orders for the first half of 2009—negative because cancella- NetJets Hawker 400XP that costs $425,000 new might cost priced “empty legs.” These are the flights, normally passen- The best of the best are ranked and overseas, like Indian telecom entrepre- tions far exceeded new orders. NetJets, the leading pro- $225,000 used,” said consultant Michael Riegel, whose Ne- ger-free, to return an aircraft to its home base following a profiled on the following pages. Bar- neur Sunil Mittal, a big supporter of vider of fractional jet shares, announced that revenue in vada-based AviationIQ represents share buyers. paid one-way trip. ron’s developed the listing in collabora- schools. Though America has long stood the same period declined 42% from the first half of 2008. tion with consulting firm Global Philan- out for its philanthropy, the tradition All of this, of course, spells bargains for private-jet Buy a jet card. These give you guaranteed access Buy a seat. Why buy a whole private jet when a thropy Group. While rankings in other clearly is taking root around the world. travelers intent on staying aloft. Some ways to save: to a fractional or charter provider’s fleet with less commit- single seat will do? That’s the pitch from several companies publications highlight those who give Some of the top 25 are true celebri- ment and lower upfront cost than full or fractional owner- offering single-seat prices on private jets. Beverly Hills, the most money, we chose to focus on ties, like Brad Pitt and Magic Downsize. Perhaps you were wowed a few years ago ship. And the tough economy has forced marketers of the Calif.-based Avion Private Jet Club, for example, charges those who are getting the results. Johnson, while others are people P2BW334040-0-P01200-1--------XA by the Gulfstream GIV’s roomy cabin or the Citation X’s cards to pull out all the stops. Miami-based Air Platinum membership fees and annual dues of $20,000 and $10,000, Some of the findings will surprise you’ve probably never heard of be- speed, but realize now that you can get by without either. Club offers a 15-flight-hour deal that also covers 20 days’ respectively, plus $7,700 for one-way flights between Los you. Who would imagine, for instance, fore, like John Wood. The former Mi- You can cut costs by replacing your jet with a smaller or use of the company’s exotic sports cars, 15 days on its Angeles and New York. CoGoJets works with a wide vari- that a targeted effort to alleviate the crosoft executive distributes a book ev- slower one, or with a turboprop. 50-foot yacht, eight days on its 80-foot yacht and three ety of charter operators and advertises prices as low as worst poverty in a single country, Ethi- ery three minutes to children in nine There’s plenty of inventory to choose from, especially in weekends in its luxury condo. The price is $163,000 if you $500 an hour per seat. For a ride on a private jet, prices opia, could end up having a greater developing countries. the second-hand market. The average price has declined opt to use the flight hours on a Gulfstream GIV, or $198,000 like that are hard to beat. n impact than the massive $34 billion The two philanthropists we think Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and are having the biggest impact happen its myriad education and health pro- to have each made their fortune at grams worldwide? By our standards, eBay, the giant flea market. Pierre the Ethiopian initiative, launched by Omidyar, No. 1, and Jeffrey Skoll, Donna and Philip Berber, wins by dint No. 2, have similar missions, too: of immediacy. They focus on supporting the work of CYAN MAGENTAYELLOWBLACK It could take a decade for some of other philanthropists and providing the Gates Foundation’s research into them with networking and leverage vaccines to translate into an impact on opportunities. That is a hallmark of a people’s lives. By contrast, when the high-impact practice known as ven- Berber’s Glimmer of Hope digs a well ture philanthropy. and provides clean water to an Ethio- The best strategies have a real rip- 11/30/2009 pian Community, people’s lives are im- ple effect. Says Maggie Neilson of Glo- proved immediately and critically. ripple effects of their giving and the extent to which their bal Philanthropy: “A key ingredient here is what we call Of course, if even some of the Gates’ long-term initia- successful projects can be replicated. We gravitated to connectivity—does the cause the philanthropist supports K Y tives bear fruit, the foundation would tower over all other philanthropists whose causes address severe problems, have implications for other issues?” Barron’s M philanthropic efforts in terms of impact. But for now, we like children’s health in high-poverty regions of the world, Britain’s Chris and Jamie Cooper-Hohn are a case in C rate it No. 7. but a broad range of causes, even in the arts, are reflected point. By helping to prevent a woman in a poor country Global Philanthropy Group and Barron’s considered in the final cut. from dying in childbirth, they also help her children, her scores of philanthropists, rating them on such criteria as By its nature, this exercise involves a lot of subjective broader family and her community.

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