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FROM CHARTER TO OWNERSHIP TO MANAGING OTHER PEOPLE'S AIRCRAFT |
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EVEN IN A DOWNTURN, AIRCRAFT CAN HELP MAINTAIN AND GROW BUSINESS EXTRACTING THE MOST FROM AIR TRANSPORTATION FROM CHARTER TO OWNERSHIP TO MANAGING OTHER PEOPLE'S AIRCRAFT |
“I never expected to own an aviation
company,” conceded TWC Industries’ Andrew Lessman, the biochemist
and lawyer turned entrepreneur who perhaps is best known for his appearances
on the Home Shopping Network (HSN), where he promotes his line of
nutritional supplements. However, as sales of Your Vitamins grew and
his other business interests expanded, he needed to devise a more
efficient way to travel. Like many busy executives, Lessman started
by chartering business aircraft. However, after several negative experiences,
he decided to buy his own airplane. He considered acquiring a fractional
share, but given the amount of time he expected to be flying, the
numbers did not add up for him. Finally, after performing a detailed
financial and travel analysis nearly five years ago, he purchased
a Hawker 800, which he figured would allow him to fly virtually everywhere
he needed to go, including nonstop a couple of times a month from
his corporate headquarters near Las Vegas to HSN’s studios in
St. Petersburg, Florida. Lessman eloquently describes the advantages
of traveling on a business airplane. “It takes something [air
travel] that has become such a protracted, inefficient, unpleasant
process and actually makes it the quietest time I experience every
month. When I get on the plane and fly to the East Coast, I look forward
to it. Before, I used to dread travel. Now, getting on the plane is
my salvation.” Although the Hawker 800 has served him
well, Lessman said, “I realized this plane is sitting around
two-thirds to three-quarters of the time. I don’t think anybody
has enough money for that to make sense.” In order to offset the acquisition and
operating costs of the Hawker, he decided to make his airplane available
for charter. That meant either entrusting “the most expensive
thing I had ever purchased” to an existing commercial operator
or going through the daunting process of obtaining FAA Part 135 certification
of his own company. “We decided we wanted to have our
destiny in our own hands,” declared Lessman. “The only way
I could do this right and safeguard my own interests was by having
a 135 operation.” Five months later, TWC Aviation was certified.
Today, Lessman owns five jets, and TWC Aviation manages his and other
corporate aircraft. Earlier this year, TWC Industries added an aircraft
maintenance company to its portfolio of businesses. Lessman understands why some people may
be reluctant to purchase an airplane. “They think they are buying
this financial black hole. [But] the [financial] risk is really controlled,
and if it is managed properly, the ownership costs are tremendously
offset.” “No words were more true,” asserted Lessman. “If you are someone who truly works hard, yet values the quality of your life, if you can afford it [to acquire an airplane]—and maybe even if you can’t—nothing will improve the quality of your work more and your ability to enjoy your personal life.”
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