Kenny Keller explains the real operating costs of an R44 helicopter using a line-item monthly breakdown. He lists fixed and recurring costs (lease $5,200/month, insurance ~$26,000/year → $2,250/month), variable costs for 20 flight hours (fuel ~$1,200/month), inspection costs (two 100-hour inspections at about $2,200 each → ~$366/month), and additional annual maintenance (~$2,200/year). He totals these to about $11,216 per month, yielding a minimum cost of ~$560.80 per flight hour for 20 hours/month, and advises charging roughly $650/hr to break even, while emphasizing helicopters are expensive to operate.
Questions this video answers
$5,200 per month.
About $26,000 per year; about $2,250 per month.
About $1,200 per month.
Two 100-hour inspections at about $2,200 each; roughly $366 per month.
Approximately $2,200 per year.
Chapters
Just before arriving, I put a check in the mailbox for $5,200. That goes out every month. So we're going to give you the math real quick, real simple for all the whiners and people that go, oh my God, you charge this much for per hour? Oh my God. Here you go. So we have a lease aircraft. We have to fly at 20 hours a month. That's our lease. So we got to pay a minimum of 5200 for that lease. So that goes out every month. Our insurance is 26,000 something a year. Comes out to $2,250 in insurance every month. To fly that 20 hours costs us $1200 in fuel. And then if you do two 100, two 100 hour inspections in a year, those are normally 2200 a piece. That's a fair price. That comes out to 366amonth. And then with additional maintenance we've had to do this year, that's an actual an additional $2,200 in maintenance throughout the year. And yes, we had some problems, but that's typical helicopter. They break, you break it, it breaks on its own, whatever the case. So that comes to $11,216 per month. Goes out the door. To operate that for 20 hours, that makes our cost $500, $560.80 minimum. Okay? Now when you add other expenses that might come in and, or our downtime, all the downtime, we didn't have money coming in. So when you, when, if you want to add that to it, we've actually, that makes that price per hour even higher. But I wanted to give you the hard math of 55,000. Can't talk. $560 a month, our cost, okay? So when you think about that, we have the time, the effort, and I'm not complaining, I'm just giving you real world because people go, oh my God, an R44, I don't care who you are, lease, own, whatever. If somebody has an R44 and they're operating it, they're going to be spending a minimum of 500amonth or probably much more. So anybody out there with an R44 that they need to be charging in the area of close to 650 just to break even, right? So when you want to whine about what an R44 cost, then just don't fly one, go fly the R22. It's hard math. It's the way it is. There's some hard math. 560amonth minimum on our cost. So I don't know what else I can tell you other than helicopters are super expensive. That's the way it is. And now you know why guys like I won't use his name because I don't use people's names 99 of the time. But I know a gentleman that's been in business 50 years, he's super successful. And he says if you have to ask, you can't afford it. And if you're going to complain about what it costs, don't do it. And a guy that's been doing it for 50 years and is successful, you can get why he makes comments like that, right? Because he's like, I don't want to hear about it. I've been doing it for 50 years. They're super expensive. That's the way it is. And if you can't afford it, don't do it. So peace out. See you in the next one.
