From the existing guide library. Pricing, loan examples and source dates may be historical. Use current written quotes for your purchase. The worksheets use the shared calculation method.

The True Operating Cost of Daher TBM 940

The Daher TBM 940 is a modern single-engine turboprop offering 6-seat capacity, advanced avionics, and exceptional performance. Plan for $185,000–$240,000 annually in operating costs at 100 flight hours, or $1,850–$2,400 per hour. The TBM 940 dominates next-generation single turboprop markets.

Quick Specs: Daher TBM 940

Specification TBM 940
Engine 1 × Pratt & Whitney PT6A-66D (900 shp)
Fuel Burn 55–65 gal/hr cruise
Cruise Speed 300–340 mph
Service Ceiling 31,000 ft
Useful Load 2,300–2,700 lbs
Seats 6
Range 1,400–1,900 nm

TL;DR: Daher TBM 940 Annual Operating Cost Summary

  • Fixed costs: $62,000–$80,000/year (insurance $28,000–$40,000, hangar $24,000–$32,000, annuals $10,000–$15,000, training)
  • Variable costs at 100 hours: $123,000–$160,000/year (Jet-A fuel, oils, engine reserves)
  • Total at 100 hours: $185,000–$240,000/year (~$1,850–$2,400/hour)
  • Finance a $9,500,000 TBM 940: Add $138,200/month ($1,658,400/year) at 6.5% over 10 years
  • At 50 hours: ~$123,500–$160,000/year (~$2,470–$3,200/hour)
  • At 200 hours: ~$308,000–$400,000/year (~$1,540–$2,000/hour)

Modern Turboprop Operating Costs

Fixed Costs

  • Insurance: $28,000–$40,000/year for $5.5M–$8M hull
  • Hangar: $24,000–$32,000/year (turboprop facility)
  • Annual inspection: $10,000–$15,000 labor
  • Crew training: $6,000–$9,000/year

Variable Costs (per flight hour)

  • Jet-A fuel: 60 gal/hr × $5.50/gal = ~$330/hour
  • Oil and lubricants: $15–$22/hour
  • Engine reserves: $27–$36/hour ($110K ÷ 3,500 TBO)
  • Maintenance: $50–$80/hour
  • Landing fees: $50–$120/landing
  • Avionics: $30–$50/hour

Jet Fuel & Operating Economics

Fuel Cost by Hours

Annual Hours Gallons Jet-A Cost @ $5.50/gal $/Hour
50 3,000 $16,500 $330
100 6,000 $33,000 $330
150 9,000 $49,500 $330
200 12,000 $66,000 $330

Maintenance & Engine Reserves

Pratt & Whitney PT6A-66D

  • PT6A-66D: 3,500 hours TBO
  • Overhaul cost: $110,000–$140,000
  • Engine reserve: $125,000 ÷ 3,500 = $35.71/hour
  • Reliability: Proven modern turboprop

Modern Turboprop Maintenance

  • Engine system checks: $6,000–$9,000/year
  • Fuel system maintenance: $2,500–$4,000/year
  • Landing gear service: $2,500–$4,000/year
  • Avionics: $2,500–$4,000/year
  • Budget: $95–$140/hour for all maintenance

Insurance & Storage

Modern Turboprop Insurance

  • $5,500,000 hull: $28,000–$36,000/year
  • $8,000,000 hull: $38,000–$50,000/year
  • Business operations: +20–30% premium

Storage Costs

Option Monthly Annual
Modern Hangar $2,000–$2,700 $24,000–$32,400
Tie-Down $600–$1,000 $7,200–$12,000

Annual Ownership Scenarios

Operating Cost (Not Financed)

Hours/Year Fixed Variable Total $/Hour
50 $71,000 $58,000 $129,000 $2,580
100 $71,000 $116,000 $187,000 $1,870
200 $71,000 $232,000 $303,000 $1,515

Total Cost of Ownership (With Financing)

Assume $9,500,000 Daher TBM 940, 6.5% APR, 10 years = $1,658,400/year.

Hours/Year Operating Finance Total $/Hour
100 $187,000 $1,658,400 $1,845,400 $18,454
200 $303,000 $1,658,400 $1,961,400 $9,807

Financing the Daher TBM 940

  • Purchase price: $8,500,000–$11,000,000
  • Down payment: 15–20%
  • Loan amount: $7,000,000–$9,500,000
  • Term: 10–15 years
  • APR: 5.75–7.0% (2025)
  • Monthly payment: $120,000–$280,000

Lender Requirements: 690+ credit, aviation experience, $1,500,000+ net worth, detailed flight plan, hull insurance $5.5M+. Lenders like JakenAviation support turboprop financing.

Daher TBM 940 vs. Competitors

  • vs. TBM 900: TBM 940 newer, faster; TBM 900 proven market leader
  • vs. Pilatus PC-12 NGX: TBM 940 faster; PC-12 more payload

Get prequalified for turboprop financing »

Sources: Daher TBM Specs | AOPA Owner Reports | FAA TCDS

Operating-cost worksheet

Defaults are round assumptions, not a shop quote. AOPA’s worksheet splits fixed costs (insurance, hangar, the annual), direct costs (fuel and maintenance), and a reserve (overhaul cost divided by hours to TBO). Their old teaching example used half the hourly fuel bill as a maintenance starting point. Type your own gph and prices.

Stop dividing one year’s costs by too few hours

The expensive mistake on a Daher Tbm 940 is to take insurance, hangar, and an annual, divide by 80 or 100 hours, and call the result the cost of flying. Those bills arrive if you fly or not. AOPA’s operating-cost worksheet treats them as fixed costs, then adds direct costs that do move with hours: fuel, oil, and maintenance. A reserve for the engine or propeller is a third bucket, optional in their sheet and not optional in real life if you intend to keep the aircraft through an overhaul. The worksheet on this page follows that split. Any annual dollar range printed higher up on this page, if it does not cite an invoice or AOPA, is an illustration. Do not repeat it as a quote.

Fuel is a multiplication, not a rumor

AOPA’s instruction is price per gallon times gallons per hour. The gallons per hour belong to the way you actually fly the Daher Tbm 940, not to the brochure cruise at the most flattering altitude. Oil is the same idea: price per quart times quarts per hour. Type both into the worksheet. If you do not know burn, leave a conservative guess and replace it after five tanks of your own notes. A blog’s “cost per hour” that hides the burn and the fuel price is not usable, because you cannot tell which assumption broke.

The maintenance starting point AOPA actually published

For a first pass, AOPA equates routine engine and airframe maintenance, on an hourly basis, to about half the hourly fuel and oil bill, and says to adjust it once you have your own invoices. The checkbox on the worksheet does that and nothing fancier. Turn it off and type a maintenance figure when you have one. A separate AOPA line for avionics is 5 percent of the avionics’ replacement value per 500 hours. That is a starting point from their sheet, not a prediction that your Daher Tbm 940 panel will fail on schedule. Unsupported radios cost more than that formula, because the fix is often a replacement, not a repair.

The overhaul reserve is a division

AOPA’s method is the shop’s overhaul or remanufacture price divided by hours left until the published TBO, not divided by the full TBO if the engine is already mid-time. Their sheet walks through a Cessna 172 example: $17,000 over 2,000 hours is $8.50 an hour, while a $27,000 reman with 900 hours left is $30 an hour. Those dollars are the example in the article, and they are not a 2026 quote for a Daher Tbm 940. The arithmetic is what you copy. Propeller overhaul, in the same AOPA sheet, is penciled at about $0.25 an hour for a fixed-pitch prop and about $1 an hour for a constant-speed prop, with more for a three-blade. Treat those as historical placeholders and ask a prop shop.

Sources