Convenience, productivity, safety and security are key reasons why individuals and companies choose on-demand air travel for personal and business travel. Air charter flights operate on the passenger’s schedule, allowing considerable flexibility. With the ability to fly in and out of more than 5,000 public use airports in the United States – more than 100 times that of the airlines – air charter provides convenient access to your destination. And air charter is a safe mode of transportation.

Even with all the benefits air charter provides, it is also true that not all air charter operators will meet your specific wants and needs. You must become an educated air charter consumer. A general understanding of what questions to ask and what answers to expect will assist you in your effort to choose a safe and reputable charter operator – one that will provide the aircraft and service level you require and deserve.

In the realm of charter aircraft, one size does not fit all. There have been more than 300 business aircraft makes and models certificated by the FAA, many of which can be used for charter flights. Knowing your mission will help ensure you arrange the right fit for your air travel needs.

Following are some key points you will need to know before arranging a charter flight:

• What is the point of origin?
• What is the destination?
• How many passengers will be traveling?
• Are there other locations, such as interim stops, planned during the trip?
• Are your dates/times for travel firm or do you require flexibility?
• Do you need the aircraft to fly non-stop on all legs of the trip?
• Do you have aircraft cabin preferences or requirements? For example:
  In-flight telephone/Internet
  Conference table for an in-flight meeting
  Non-stop capability
  Sleeping capabilities
  Lavatory
• Do you have any special needs/requirements? For example:
  Preference for propeller or jet aircraft
  Flight attendant services to perform safety and service functions
  Baggage and/or cargo capacity
  Meal service
  Accommodation of passengers with disabilities and/or allergies

 

Top Ten CEOs Stand Up for Business Aviation in No Plane No Gain Initiative.

Ten highly respected CEOs from some of the country’s most dynamic and widely known companies have unambiguously affirmed how business aviation works for their companies, in an advocacy program called “Top Ten,” sponsored by the No Plane No Gain campaign. The CEOs’ testimonials have been published in an easy-to-share booklet, also titled Top Ten, and are used to promote the No Plane No Gain message in print ads, online ads and other placements.

“Everything we and others are saying about the positive benefits of business aviation – to communities, to companies, to countries – it’s all true,” said NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen. “We have the data to prove it. We have the voices to tell it.”
Following an introduction by golf legend, businessman and No Plane No Gain spokesman Arnold Palmer, the 10 CEOs featured in the booklet are:

• Frederick W. Smith, Chairman and CEO, FedEx Corporation
• Andrew C. Taylor, Executive Chairman, Enterprise Holdings
• Ellen Kullman, Chair of the Board and CEO, DuPont
• Louis R. Chênevert, Chairman and CEO, United Technologies Corporation
• David M. Cote, Chairman and CEO, Honeywell
• Thomas Frist, Jr., Founder, HCA
• Jimmy W. Hayes, President and CEO, Cox Enterprises
• Clayton M. Jones, Chairman of the Board, Rockwell Collins
• Thomas J. Donohue, President and CEO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
• Warren E. Buffett, CEO, Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.

The company leaders featured in the Top Ten booklet represent brands that are household names, in sectors as diverse as telecommunications, finance, healthcare, transportation and manufacturing. Each of them provides key reasons for using business aviation, including:

• Enhance Productivity
• Go Multiple Places in a Day
• Go Global
• Travel Securely
• Stay Connected
• Effectively Manage Distant Facilities
• Beat the Competition
• Build Strong Relationships
• Connect Companies and Communities
• Get “Face to Face”

For example, Frederick W. Smith, chairman and CEO of FedEx, notes that, “Business aviation has been an integral part of FedEx’s success since the day we were founded,” adding that today business aviation is a “force multiplier” for his company.

Similarly, Andrew C. Taylor, executive chairman of Enterprise Holdings, states that “using business aircraft allows us to visit three and four cities in a single day, and that’s just not possible with any other mode of transportation.”

No Plane No Gain is jointly sponsored by NBAA and the General Aviation Manufacturers Association to help policymakers and the public understand the value of business aviation. Learn more at www.noplanenogain.org

Pinnacle Aviation pilot, Don Wade celebrates 50 Years in the air with prestigious FAA Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award.

Fifty years flying private aircraft is a long time, and is full of many stories, places, events and people. While few pilots reach this remarkable milestone, Scottsdale-based Pinnacle Aviation is honoring pilot Don Wade for reaching this career landmark and receiving a top aviation award bestowed upon him by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) during a special ceremony at Pinnacle Aviation’s headquarters on July 23, 2014.

 

“We are incredibly proud of Don for earning The Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award,” said Curt Pavlicek, CEO for Pinnacle Aviation. “Don has provided exceptional service to the Pinnacle Aviation clients he has flown over the years. His 50 years of flying experience coupled with his acute attention to safety and dedication to flying has been a great attribute to the Pinnacle Aviation team,” he said.

Each year the FAA recognizes pilots who have demonstrated an exceptional lifetime commitment to their vocation with The Wright Brothers Master Award, a rare award reserved for pilots who have demonstrated professionalism, skill and aviation expertise by maintaining safe operations for 50 or more years. Only 176 pilots have received this award across the country this year and Wade is the only pilot in the state of Arizona to have received this top honor.

Wade’s passion for flying began at the age of 10 when his grandfather would take him to see the planes at the airport near their Ohio home. “My grandfather would drive me to Port Columbus to watch airplanes. At that time there was an observation deck over the terminal building. There were DC 6 and 7’s and Super Constellations, Convairs and Martins that would start the engines in huge clouds of smoke, thunder down the runway and climb at a great rate of 400 fpm. I remember Lane Aviation next door and their Cessna ads about learning to fly. About a year later I had a bicycle and thought I could remember the way to the airport. So I rode my bike to Port Columbus, without telling my grandparents I would be gone. Upon my return I was immediately grounded for the first time. That was when I learned that it was ok to pursue your dreams, you just have to report to a higher authority your location,” he said.

Wade’s passion for flight even evolved into a dream to become a NASA astronaut. “In my early teens I would assemble models of any plane my allowance would purchase,” he said. “For a while I knew that I would be the first man to walk on the moon, but was crushed when I found out I was too young. All the slots were taken. I did come close to fulfilling the dream of space flight when I got to spend a morning in the space shuttle simulator and worked with Lockheed on orbiter processing. It was one of those between flying jobs that an intelligent person should have kept, but I just loved flying too much to stay at a desk for the rest of my life,” he said.

Now, Wade is one of Pinnacle Aviation’s most decorated Charter Captains responsible for flying the company’s roster of high-profile clients to and from their destinations on one of the company’s meticulous fleet of private aircraft. From Fortune 500 executives to professional athletes, Hollywood actors and politicians, Wade enjoys providing a higher level of service.

Asked what keeps him passionate about his career after 50 years, Wade says that he still gets filled with the same excitement he felt the first time he saw a plane leave the runway at Port Columbus Airport.

“Like Wilbur Wright once said, ‘there is no sport equal to that which aviators enjoy while being carried through the air on great white wings,” Wade said.

 

The House of Representatives passed legislation to extend the bonus depreciation tax credit for businesses permanently on July 11, 2014, however, Senate leaders are saying they don’t expect any action in the Senate on the bills before the November midterm elections.

The measure, which passed 258-160, is the latest efforts to extend a string of temporary tax incentives indefinitely. House Ways and Means Committee proclaimed that permanently renewing the credit, which expired at the end of 2013 along with nearly 50 other breaks, would pave the way for tax reform. Under bonus depreciation, companies can generally write off 50 percent of capital purchases (including business aircraft) in the first year. Consideration of a package to renew more than 50 tax breaks has stalled in the Senate due to the ongoing disagreement over amendments.

The House, meanwhile, has also passed permanent extensions of the research and development credit, a provision known as Section 179, to allow small businesses to write off investments, and breaks to help corporations that do not pay income taxes and pass along income to shareholders. In the process, the tax breaks have become a part of both parties’ election-year messages. Bonus depreciation was among dozens of temporary tax breaks to expire at the end of 2013. Unlike the House, the Senate is seeking to extend almost all of those incentives on a two-year basis. Business groups say the bonus depreciation write-off gives companies more leeway to purchase new equipment, giving the economy a jolt in the process.

Link to the Congressional Record

April 2014 has been a great month for Pinnacle Aviation with the addition of three mid-cabin size aircraft being added to the charter fleet which includes a Citation XLS and two Hawker 800XP’s. This rounds out our fleet to accommodate the full spectrum of charter needs for our clients. These aircraft offer the comfort of a standup cabin with a range of 2000 statute miles for the Citation XLS and over 2900 statute miles for the Hawker 800XP’s. A variance of passenger amenities in each aircraft include a full entertainment system with Airshow, satellite phone, and a forward galley.

When evaluating the business jet market, and the ever-evolving product like fractional ownership, even the most seasoned insiders seem to lack a clear sense of what’s next.

Consider that only a couple of years ago, the industry boasted six major airplane share providers, all of which seemed to be poised for expansion. Companies like Clearwater, Fla.-based Avantair, reported that it was hiring an average of six pilots per month. Two years later, Avantair was out of the game, in the wake of an involuntary bankruptcy filing last summer.

In early 2012, Cessna’s, CitationAir, stopped selling fractional shares and ceased renewals for existing ones. And last September, Bombardier sold its Flexjet operation to Directional Aviation Capital, which also owns Flight Options.

As the dust settles from the changes and consolidations, we’re left with just two major national players—Directional and Berkshire Hathaway’s NetJets. And now that Cessna and Bombardier have exited the field, no aircraft manufacturer is left owning a major airplane-share provider.

What now? Will the industry experience further shrinkage or more consolidation? Will it stabilize or perhaps resume growing? As noted above, making predictions in this field can be particularly tough.

Most experts remain confident about the field’s future, though none expect more than “modest” growth over the next few years.

Over 1,000 adults, kids and team mascots turned out for the second annual Run the Runway event at the Scottsdale Airport on April 5th. Participants ran or walked on the Scottsdale Airport runway while being surrounded by beautiful planes along this one of a kind route.

The post-race festival included a DJ, bounce inflatables, vendors, interactive activities for kids, photo opportunities with aircraft, awards and more!

The event benefited Playworks Arizona; the only nonprofit organization in the country to transform recess and play into a positive experience that helps kids and teachers make the most out of every learning opportunity. The social media promotions for this event reached nearly 20,000 people from as far away as India!

 

Watch the Video to experience this one-of-a-kind event or visit the Web Page

For some jet models, demand now exceeds supply. Momentum from a strong finish in 2013 impacted the pre-owned business jet market in the first quarter of this year. Within just a few months, the number of aircraft for sale dropped nearly 10 percent, from 2,600 to 2,350. That’s a huge change.

It could be that buyers have finally responded to the declines of the past year, when prices of many models dropped to 50 to 70 percent of their peaks and millions of dollars in value evaporated. Some market segments may now be oversold.

The shining stars of the downturn have been Bombardier’s Challenger 300 and Gulfstream’s G550. Book values of the former have stabilized in recent quarters and the latter has seen significantly higher lows, with sale prices for early serial numbers moving closer to the $30 million mark. The Falcon 7X, meanwhile, is in short supply. The rate of sales among 7X’s seems lackluster, with one trading hands only about every two months, but that’s been enough to reduce inventory to about half of what it was a year ago.

There’s some heat in the formerly dormant super-midsize category. Only about 7 percent of the Citation Sovereign fleet—about a third less than a year ago—is on the market, for example; and availability is also down for the Falcon 2000 and Gulfstream G200.

Some hard-to-locate models are particularly difficult to find close to home. Consider the Citation CJ2. Not only has inventory shrunk—from 37 a year ago to 23 today—but just three of the currently available aircraft are U.S. based. (Nearly half are in Europe.) The decline in average prices appears to be ending, but any bump up will be only as much as the low end of the CJ3 market will permit.

Overall, the used jet business seems to finally be back on track and poised to continue on its current path as we approach one of the more active quarters.

Orin Anderson was featured in the Phoenix Business Journal. Orin will help with the growth of Pinnacle Aviation and he will be a great addition to our team. Click the link below to read the article.

Orin Anderson — Phoenix Business Journal, On the Move

Pinnacle Aviation recently added a Gulfstream G200 to our charter fleet. This aircraft can accommodate up to 10 passengers and has a statute mile range of 3800. Click the link below to learn more about our Gulfstream G200 that is available for charter. 

http://www.azredbook.com/noteworthy/cleared-for-takeoff/

 

The Jetset Magazine published an article on its website about the history and culture of Pinnacle Aviation. Take a look at how Pinnacle Aviation has grown over the years. Click below to read the article now!

http://www.jetsetmag.com/travel/aviation/pinnacle-aviation/

 

Pinnacle Aviation is excited to add a Gulfstream G200 and Citation CJ3 to it’s charter fleet in Scottsdale, Arizona. The G200 provides the charter client a comfortable and cost effective domestic and international aircraft. The super mid-size cabin offers an exceptional range of over 3800 statute miles. A 10 passenger interior includes a forward 4 place club arrangement, an aft 4 place dining group, and a 2 place divan. Amenities include a large forward galley, a full entertainment system with Airshow and iPod/iPad connectivity, satellite phone, and satellite broadband with Wi-Fi.

The Citation CJ3 is a late model 2012 that offers the charter client the versatility of a light jet with added premium passenger amenities. This aircraft features an Airshow moving map system displayed on a forward monitor, cabin power outlets, satellite phone, and satellite broadband with Wi-Fi. Other amenities include a forward refreshment center, privately enclosed belted lavatory, and 2 external baggage compartments.

The Scottsdale Airpark News published an article about how Pinnacle Aviation has continually grown over the past 25 years. Click below to read the article now!

https://issuu.com/timespub/docs/san_1213_full/21?e=8633901/5786530

 

We wanted to share with you some photos from the awesome Polo Event held at WestWorld in Scottsdale, Arizona! We had a great time participating in this event. Our Sky Lounge was a hit amongst attenders. From the second story of our Sky Lounge spectators had a birds-eye view of the entire field. It was a pleasure to meet so many new faces and we appreciate those who came and visited with us. We hope you enjoy the photos we captured from this weekend. If you’d like to see more photos, be sure to visit our Facebook page.

The Arizona Business Gazette published an article about how Pinnacle Aviation was started and how it has grown to be the company it is today. Click below to read the article now!

http://archive.azcentral.com/business/abg/articles/20131107aviation-business-soars.html