How aircraft fit into the Glidepath Exchange Fund#
Reserve a spotThe fund
Diversify a concentrated stock position
You contribute a concentrated stock position to the fund in kind. Nothing is sold, so under Section 721 no capital gains tax is due. In return you hold units of a pool spread across about 172 holdings, and after seven years you can redeem in kind with the deferral intact. The fund never charges a management fee.
How an exchange fund works
- 1Contributeyour appreciated stock, in kind
- 2Nothing is soldso no tax is due, under Section 721
- 3Receive unitsof a pool spread across 172 holdings
- 4Seven years onredeem in kind, the deferral intact
The structure
Aircraft anchor the fund's qualifying sleeve
For the exchange to be tax free, the rules require at least 20 percent of the fund to be held in qualifying assets rather than stocks. Most funds fill that fifth with real estate through REITs, which adds layers of fees between you and the asset. Glidepath fills it with aircraft, held directly by an entity inside the fund and leased to one operator: Craft.
Aircraft ownership and operations
- Glidepath Exchange Fundyour interest
- 20% qualifying sleevethe part the fleet backs
- Aircraft holding entityowns the five Challengers
- Craft Charterleases and flies them
The operator
Craft manages the fleet and the flying
The sleeve buys Challenger jets and Craft flies them for customers under its own Part 135 certificate, paid an hourly floor. Based on the 2026 operating pace, each jet annualizes to about $7.7M of revenue and $2.65M of adjusted EBITDA before shared company overhead. These are annualized estimates. After every operating cost, interest, and depreciation, a tenth of the economic profit is credited straight into investors' net asset value. If the fleet loses money, the loss reaches NAV and is repaired in full from future profit before any split resumes.
Per aircraft · annualized 2026
$7.7M
annualized revenue
$2.65M
annualized adjusted EBITDA
12.1¢ of each revenue dollar remains as aircraft gross profit
Strategy
Why Craft focuses on Challengers
Paid private flying is up 36 percent on 2019 while manufacturers deliver 7 percent fewer jets, and NetJets alone holds options on roughly ~2,250 more. The Challenger 300 family is the third most popular typein the largest fractional fleets. Focusing on one aircraft family simplifies crew training, parts inventory, and maintenance. Craft's operating records show how that fleet has performed.
Aviation demand and aircraft supply
+36%
Paid flights
+80%
Super midsize
−7%
Jets delivered
Track record
Fleet performance and investor economics
The Challenger fleet has been profitable before shared company overhead in every reported year since 2020, with a combined 16.4 percent operating margin through July 2026. That is a fleet operating result, not company net income or an investor return. In the illustrative model, at $8,000 an hour and 1,100 hours a year, investors' tenth of the economic profit would add about 0.3 percent a year to NAV; at $17,000 an hour it would add about 3.1percent. Explore the aircraft results and assumptions in Craft's open books.
Challenger operating margins
Before shared company overhead. 16.4% across all reported periods. *2026 is January through July.
One reservation covers the whole fund, every sleeve asset included. See all sleeve assets
Explore the operating details. Read Craft's open books: fleet results, fuel costs, and flight activity.




