An opportunity has come along for a local company – or individual – looking for a deal in the private jet market.

Air Services Inc. (ASI) in Traverse City is offering a 50 percent share in a Learjet 31 business jet for the (relatively?) inexpensive price of $300,000. The share became available after one of the plane’s two owners sold his company and subsequently his share of the plane. The other half is owned by a private company.

“It’s a 1990 [model] so it’s an older plane but a good plane,” says Roy Nichols, Air Services owner. “One disadvantage to older planes is generally their engines aren’t as efficient, but this particular engine is still widely used.”

The seven-seat aircraft travels 520 miles per hour with a maximum range of 1,300 miles. That’s Traverse City to Houston in just under three hours or Pellston to New York City in one and a half hours or Bellaire to Denver in just over two hours.

For people or companies who own planes – or need to hire a charter flight – Air Services provides aircraft management services and on–demand private flights.

“We help people decide if aircraft ownership will fit their needs and budget,” says Nichols. “We also can manage its operation … everything from insuring it to hiring crews, scheduling, and maintenance and storage. We make it easy for aircraft owners with one single monthly bill.”

Nichols started Air Services in Traverse City in 1994. His background includes six years in the United States Marines as a fighter pilot, later a demonstration pilot for Cesna Aircraft Company and work for an aviation management company in San Francisco.

Nichols says the private jet business is pretty good these days. The company operates out of a 30,000 square-foot facility at Cherry Capital Airport with 25 employees. ASI manages eight planes but only owns two of them. Under its management services, some of those other six are made available for charter to the public.

Air Services flies anywhere in the continental United States and is also licensed to operate in Canada and the Caribbean.

Though Traverse City is a relatively small market for private jet business, at least one local resident makes a full-time job out of piloting them. Doug Downer has been flying planes for 40 years, since he was a student at Northwestern Michigan College in 1975.

“I still love it every time I go,” he says of flying.

Today he flies for a private individual based in Traverse City, and works on average 15 days a month. “There’s no set schedule and you’re always on call … though normally I get a couple of days’ notice, sometimes a couple of weeks.”

He describes the private aircraft industry as on a very gradual upward trend after hitting bottom in late 2008. “If a company is facing financial challenges, the plane is the first thing to go,” he adds.

He has flown a Learjet 31 like the one for sale before and describes it as a “great airplane … and one of the most fuel efficient on the market.”