Charter & Fractional
FlightSafety, NetJets numbers dipped in 2003
Profits soared last year at Warren Buffett’s holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, though not all of the company’s divisions did well.

Profits soared last year at Warren Buffett’s holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, though not all of the company’s divisions did well. In his annual letter to shareholders released last month, the investment mogul summarized the reduced performance of FlightSafety International and NetJets– the two largest companies in their respective fields of simulator training and fractional ownership.

FlightSafety experienced a drop in “normal” operating earnings from $183 million to $150 million. Said Buffett: “The abnormals: In 2002 we had a $60 million pre-tax gain from the sale of a partnership interest to Boeing [FlightSafety Boeing Training International, a joint venture to provide training in Boeing airplanes that lasted five years], and in 2003 we recognized a $37 million loss stemming from the premature obsolescence of simulators.”

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