Updated . Educational only — not tax, legal, or lending advice. Confirm figures with your CPA, the state revenue department, and a lender before you close.
If You Cannot Name the Engine Program, You Cannot Budget the Jet
Light-jet ownership cost is dominated by programs and people, not by fuel alone. The calculator will happily amortize a purchase price. It will not remind you that the engines are on a program with a monthly or hourly bill, that two pilots may be required by insurance even when the type is single-pilot, or that recurrent training is a calendar item.
Write these annual lines before you accept a term sheet: engine program; airframe program if there is one; training seats; hull insurance at the insured value the lender requires; hangar at a jet-capable field; and a maintenance reserve for items the programs do not cover. Then add the loan payment. If the total only works with charter revenue, you are budgeting a commercial operation, and the lender will underwrite it as one.
Part 25 and large-cabin aircraft are a different lender market. Do not scale a piston term sheet up and call it a jet quote. Certification context is on Part 23 versus Part 25.
Questions buyers actually ask
Are jet hourly costs on the internet usable?
Only as a prompt to go get a quote. Program rates, insurance, and crew change the total by more than the fuel burn does.
Can charter income be in the lender’s debt-service test?
Only if you apply for that use, with the certificate or a credible plan. Casual charter you hope to do later is not income for underwriting.