Business jets for an austere age

NEXTANT AEROSPACE, which started up four years ago, has come up with an interesting idea for these cost-conscious times. Its 400XT business jet is not at first glance a particularly austere craft, costing in excess of $4m. But the company says the plane’s performance—its range, speed and particularly its operating economics—makes it comparable with craft costing well over twice as much.

Nextant keeps prices low by “re-manufacturing” (its own term) existing planes. As a result the company's research and development costs, which can be $500m to $1 billion to bring a plane to market, are minimal. The 400XT uses the frame of a Beechjet 400A/XP, which is stripped down to its metal skeleton and inspected. An array of whizzy new components are added on, including—for those who know their planes—a Williams International FJ44-3AP engine, more aerodynamic nacelles (the structures that surround the engine) and Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 avionics. After more work on the interior, the Nextant 400XT emerges into the world with all the attributes of a new plane.

Jay Heublein of Nextant says his company chose the Beechjet 400A/XP as its platform because it has a proven service history and the original fuselages are engineered extremely well. It also helps that around 600 of the planes have been made, so a goodly supply exists for conversion to 400XTs. You can buy a second-hand, 20-year-old Beechjet 400A for around $1m.

The Federal Aviation Administration has just given the re-manufactured Nextant 400XT the necessary certification, and it is ready to be sold on the open market. Flight Options, a company providing fractional ownership of private jets, has already put in an order for 40. Looking forward, Nextant must sit and hope that the tribulations of the American economy don't discourage private-jet users. In the worst of times, $4m still sounds like quite a lot.

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