I would like to start my own airline Is it easy in the USA and what I will need to do first?

Question

I have enough money to buy an airplane around $3 millions USD and I am planning to buy a 20 seat airplane for short routes. Can anyone advise me what airplane (the make) would be the best for that purpose and what I will need to do first to start this business? Will I need to have any licenses?

Do not think that I am kidding I really start this business . I do not have any experience in aviation nor the needed education in this field. So I neeed help

Tools, I am sorry but I think you did not anderstand my question. I do not want to become a pilot. I want to start my own airline business. I have money to buy airplanes but I do no nothing about aviation and I am only 22 years old so I just need help with an advise on if it really possible for me to go into this business without any experience or not. Anyway thanks a lot for your answer.

Answer 1

Actually, the least expensive way to start your own airline is to start a FAR Part 135 charter service. This is an on-demand type airline that does not fly scheduled routes or have big expenses tied up in staff or in gates at major airports. Instead, you have one or two smaller 6-10 passenger airplanes that are kept ready to go at any time, and you charge a flat rate by the mile or hour flown. You'll still have to deal with the FAA and keep excellent maintenance and flight records, but it's no where near as expensive as running a FAR Part 121 scheduled airline.

Answer 2

There's a saying in aviation - to make a small fortune, start with a large one!! If you don't have any licences to fly yourself, you'll need to hire pilots. Then there's maintenance, insurance, hangar costs, advertising, etc. Even if you find a route where you can make a lot of money (unlikely since someone else will already be flying it!) $3m won't get you far, and only one airplane is a waste of time! Even if you can buy the plane you won't be able to afford to fly it!
But if you really do want to try, look at a Dash 8. If you're talking short routes, maybe a Britten Norman Islander (only 10 seats including pilot, but a lot cheaper meaning you could have more planes). To be honest, $3m isn't anywhere near enough - talk to a bank business advisor about financing your company!

Answer 3

Well, starting a business like that is not something you just think up from one day to another. You have to make a plan of how much money will it give you and if it will give you enough money.
You also have to look for good pilots that are willing to work for you.

And you have to make sure that other companies wont throw you out of the business.

All those are just examples of things that you have to keep in mind.

You say that you have no much experience in aviation, so you have to be careful too.

If i were you with that kind of money i would go further and get not one big airplane, but many small airplanese instead since you have to keep in mind that your airline will be new and it wont be very well known and at first you wont have many clients, so you should first start small and if it catches up start getting bigger and that is the time when you should start buying bigger and better aircraft.

good luck.

Answer 4

$3 million is nowhere near enough to start an airline. Independence Air, a small, regional service, had 85 planes and still lost over $100 MILLION (!!!!) in just one fiscal quarter last year. With one plane you would do much worse--- you could only fly one route, so you would not have much of a selection for customers to choose from, which would make it hard for you to find enough customers to cover your costs just to take off. It's a very expensive business and you'd be much better off taking that $3 million and investing in something else, then getting your pilot's license and buying a smaller plane (4 seats maybe) and flying your friends around for fun. I don't mean to rain on your parade but you have seriously underestimated the amount of money you need to start even a tiny airline!

Answer 5

I agree with the starting the on demand Part 135 charter service. $3million dollars isn't much doe in the aviation world. You won't find a 20 pax aircraft for less than $3 mil. I just graduated with a BS Aviation Management degree...a professor said to start an airlines, you need about $150 million. Invest in an education first.

Answer 6

Are you joking ?Of course you need a license.It doesn't sound like you know anything about flying!You'll need a lot more than just the right airplane to do this! I suggest you contact the FAA.Go to the airport nearest to you,and talk to a flight instructor.He can answer most any questions you have about what you need to do to earn all your certificates;about how much money it will take.Trust me, it's going to be very time consuming,and expensive.Very expensive.Also,you'd better be very healthy,because as your ratings increase, you'll have progressively tougher medicals to pass.Even if you be come an exceptional pilot, if you can't pass your medicals ;you don't fly!If you even look foreign,I'd run you right out of the flight school,at "gun point".

Answer 7

Hire an aviation consultant. You're going to need to develop a business plan.

Lease, don't buy. $3 mil might buy one small used bizjet but could be seed money for leases of many more larger aircraft.

The airline business is an extremely cutthroat business. Although the majors are bleeding money at a staggering rate, there are profitable carriers -- Southwest, Jet Blue, EasyJet and Ryan Air for example. Follow their lead. This rolls back to your business plan.

Answer 8

A nice 20 seat model that passengers would like to fly in would probably be a ATR ATR-42-300. Its a Propeller plane that is great for customers. If you are looking for more power and want a jet engine on it, get an BAE Systems Avro 146-RJ85. Im not to sure of the prices of either, but they both would satisfy what you want im sure. Thanks Good luck with the business.

Answer 9

For $3mil you are out of luck. If you are seriosly interested in airlines I would invset it in Jet Blue or Southwset.

To get in on the ground floor, start an air taxi operation with a couple of VLJs - Very Light Jets. To suceed in this area you would have to be located in key markets NYC (TEB, FRG or HPN), LA (VNY or BUR), or South Florida (OPF or FXE). These are the best airports based on operating costs (fuel, ramp/landing and handling fees). I would recomend basing aircraft in the LA area for Vegas runs; this would be the best option. After that would be NYC for Boston/Philly/DC runs. From there the sky is the limit (pun intended). Email me if you need more info.

Answer 10

Seriously? It's not quite as simple as having the money and buying a plane. There's a lot of licensing involved thru the FAA. Perhaps you should go to their website and do some research first.