Travel$ense User's Guide (PDF, 139 MB) - NBAA

176• Maintenance personnel• Administrative personnel• Clerical personnel• Training for flightcrews• Training for maintenance personnelTRAVEL$ENSEFixed costs are either absorbed by headquarters (all or in part) or distributedamong the users of the aircraft. Users may include departments actually havingpassengers aboard or may be expanded to include departments that receivebenefits of the aviation department activities indirectly.The sum of the direct operating cost and the fixed cost is the all-importantcost per hour, mile or passenger mile to be charged to the user. NBAAprovides information on operating costs of actual aircraft using a standardreporting format. This could be useful when comparing costs or determiningcost factors when purchasing new aircraft. The reports are categorized by makeand model. They are also confidential, anonymous and availability is limited toMembers.Some operators put money in a “Replacement Fund” for expenses that areknown to occur. Other operators simply budget for expenses through acceptedaccounting methods.ADDITIONAL FIXED EXPENSESAdditional fixed expenses include insurance premiums and depreciation. Amajor “nonrecurring expense” is a one-time expense of an unusual nature. Thiscould be a major equipment installation that might not be repeated or apremature power plant overhaul.OPERATIONAL DATACost in terms of operational data is calculated by summarizing the cost ofoperating the aircraft either in terms of cost per flight hour or cost per mile. Ifcompany records maintain the number of passengers carried on each flight, thecost per passenger seat mile may be determined by using the operating costper mile as a base.Some companies prefer to relate the cost of operating the aircraft in terms ofcost per flight hour because management can readily understand thatterminology. Others favor a cost-per-mile analysis because the speed of theaircraft and payload capability may be important factors; the accuracy of thismethod, however, is not as precise as calculating cost by flight hour due tovarying ground speeds.Copyright © 1999, National Business Aviation Association, Inc.