Getting Into Cargo Business with C208B

[Big Pistons Forever]

I know of 2 cases where a pilot bought a job by purchasing a majority stake in an already existing and operating 703 AOC.
One was financed by the bank of Daddy and the whole thing ended badly. The other involved the pilot putting everything he owned on the line to pay for the buy in and resulted in a 25 year pretty good run for him and his employees.

[rookiepilot]

I know of 2 cases where a pilot bought a job by purchasing a majority stake in an already existing and operating 703 AOC.
One was financed by the bank of Daddy and the whole thing ended badly. The other involved the pilot putting everything he owned on the line to pay for the buy in and resulted in a 25 year pretty good run for him and his employees.

There's a lesson there, somewhere.

[tsgarp]

Your best bet is to go after north south route, flown mostly at low altitude.

[challenger_nami]

Your best bet is to go after north south route, flown mostly at low altitude.

Either that, or learn from what this guy did:
https://youtu.be/bTyypqf62eY




.

[Maynard]

Good on you for your entrepreneurial spirit. What you're proposing to do is not going to be easy. You could maybe contact the person that used to run Kasper in NW Ontario. I don't think that ended well but he could maybe give you some pointers on how to get started.

LMAO good advice. Follow that and you'll never get off the ground...well legally.....

[digits_]

Your best bet is to go after north south route, flown mostly at low altitude.

Either that, or learn from what this guy did:
https://youtu.be/bTyypqf62eY

We all know getting a black ops contract from the FBI is much easier than getting a morningstar subcontract.

This started out as a joke, but in retrospect, it probably isn't

[Launchpad1]

LMAO good advice. Follow that and you'll never get off the ground...well legally.....

I didn't say he should follow exactly what he did at the end but my understanding is he did have a reasonably successful cargo operation going at the beginning.

How many small cargo operations have you setup and run? I'm guessing zero.

[Maynard]

LMAO good advice. Follow that and you'll never get off the ground...well legally.....

I didn't say he should follow exactly what he did at the end but my understanding is he did have a reasonably successful cargo operation going at the beginning.

How many small cargo operations have you setup and run? I'm guessing zero.

Clearly you're not from the area or don't know his reputation, or had to fly an ifr approach while he's bombing around vfr in IMC beside you
I also don;t have deep pockets to draw from to do it like *some* did.

[co-joe]

In my experience, buying an aeroplane to build experience doesn't work. You need the experience already, to then buy an aeroplane and put it to work.

[nine sixteenths]

I actually had the same idea to buy a caravan and subcontract with bigger cargo carriers. I agree that getting the AOC and other steps required by TC are a headache however I think the main issue is the feasibility and potential profit margins of this business idea. I also don't think there would be much if any profit leftover if a management company manages the aircraft and flying.

Subcontracting does seem like the best way to move forward but I don't think cargojet or morningstar will be interested and they own alot of the cargo market in the south. The northern communities also have their battles over cargo contracts so the market could be oversaturated already. Worth a try though, I was going to cold call and email around a bit and see what happens.

Another tool for you: Air Operator Search: https://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/saf-sec-sur/2/ ... x?lang=eng

You’ll find that Cargojet is a 705 air operator, and does not have a Caravan on their certificate. Morningstar carries both 703 with a caravan, and 705. If they don’t have a Caravan on there, you’ll have to make it a hell of a sales pitch to make it worth applying for another AOC classification. Adding an aircraft type isn’t free, and comes with a bunch of extra work and costs for the air operator holding the certificate (fees for adding it to the AOC, manual amendments, maintenance schedule approval/amendments, insurance increases, training costs, etc).

And yet another tool, poke around on some websites of the air operators and see if you can find their Tariffs. That document may contain the cost that they operate the aircraft for, give you an idea if it’s still worth it to you.

Cargo hauling to and from small destinations has major challenges. Weather, insurance costs (you might enter a higher risk category this higher costs), short flights add extra cycles which equals more maintenance costs, piss poor airport maintenance, northern areas you’ll contend with daylight limitations, just getting enough cargo to fill the plane is a challenge, getting people to actually meet you on time for loading and pick up, and if you can get a lucrative “bag run” style contract where you hit up many airports in a row, know that you don’t get paid (the same, if at all) if you’re late, and they don’t care why, weather, mechanical, etc. It makes people take risks and do stupid things to get into the airport, more than a few crashes have happened from pushing conditions. A Caravan is NOT an all weather aircraft... there’s a lot of reasons that many of the remote places get their cargo by ground from major hubs. Fly in, fly out locations are an exception but they tend to be small or already serviced. You’re going to have to either identify an unfilled need, compete with current operators, or get on board with the same.

Not trying to puncture your dreams but trying to help you understand the scope of what you’re trying to get into.