To be successful they realised they needed a business jet charter marketplace to drive demand. So they decided to launch that as well. One of their professors suggested they focus on the marketplace and park the air taxi idea. The Avinode charter marketplace launched in 2002.

CAMP Systems this week agreed to buy Avinode and two smaller FBO software businesses – FBO One and Total FBO –  for $200m. The professor was right.

It is a good deal for World Kinect (the energy company formally known as World Fuel) which acquired Avinode in 2014. World Kinect will use the cash to pay down debt and focus on its core fuelling business. It has clearly made a good return on its investment. World Kinect took control in 2019 just before its main business was hit with grounded airlines.

“We are excited about the possibilities the partnership between our companies will bring to our customers,” said Oliver King, chief executive officer, Avinode Group.

The acquisition also makes a lot of sense for CAMP Systems, the aircraft maintenance tracking business. CAMP Systems is itself owned by Hearst, a 136-year-old private company. Hearst is best known for publishing regional newspapers like the San Francisco Chronicle (which it launched in 1887) and magazines like Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping and Harper’s Bazaar. But along with newspapers, TV and magazines it has three significant business-to-business data divisions: Fitch Ratings, healthcare and transportation.

The transportation division includes data that helps mechanics fix trucks and cars. This includes MOTOR, a magazine that Hearst has owned for more than 120 years. MOTOR has evolved from a print consumer magazine into a data business for car repair, parts and insurance. Aviation is just as significant to Hearst.

Hearst acquired CAMP Systems in 2016 from private equity firm GTCR. (GTCR is now an investor in JSSI and has supported it buying two aircraft maintenance tracking companies that are rivals to CAMP.)

CAMP Systems then bought Inventory Locator Systems, the spares marketplace, from Boeing in 2019. In 2021 it bought a majority stake in FlightBridge, a workflow system that connects business jet operators with FBO, car handlers, hotels, airlines and catering companies.

When the deal closes in May, Avinode will fit into CAMP’s Marketplaces Group along with ILS, FlightBridge and Amstat – the aircraft listing marketplace.

“This represents a complementary extension of our business and platform to bring exciting new opportunities to the market and better serve our expanding customer base,” said Sean Lanagan, president and chief executive Officer, CAMP Systems.

World Kinetic did not run a formal sales process, instead it contacted companies that had already approached it in the past. The business could have fitted well with Directional Aviation’s spin-off Tuvoli (which has FlyEasy, a rival marketplace and a payment system competitor). It might also have been of interest to Portside, the flight department software company which raised $50m in private equity from investor Insight Partners (and recently acquired the rights to Wheels Up’s AVIANIS software). The founders of Wheels Up had also tried to buy Avinode several times.

King and the senior management team have no plans to leave. This includes Per Marthinsson, one of the three founders, who is Avinode’s chief revenue office.

The other two founders are backing a European car charging start-up. It was branded before they joined, but is genuinely called ChargeNode.

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After surveying the industry CJIQ compiled a comprehensive list of every software-based solution available to business aviation. We also asked technology firms what they think are the main drivers behind the digitisation of the industry.

In a bid to uncover what drives digital progress, we asked is it entrepreneurs seeing a gap in the market? Or is it the end user demanding a software-based experience? Also, why does business aviation, despite offering more than 150 software solutions, lag behind even its big sister commercial airlines? From aircraft sales to safety and compliance and from scheduling and fleet management to the charter marketplace, we captured what digital services are available for 21st century business aviation.

Back when financial software provider MySky was founded, the initial push for digitisation came from the owners of aircraft, according to Christopher Marich, global strategy director, MySky. “You can order a car in two seconds from your phone, you can bank, you can broker, sell shares, you can do whatever. But when it came to their private aircraft, owners said this is a big grey zone with no tools to check or understand it,” he tells CJIQ.

Seven years on and that end user has diversified. Marich estimates around 95% of MySky’s customers are operators, corporate flights departments and chief pilots – it has gone from the B2C to B2B. “These guys are the same. If they can order their lunch on Deliveroo in two clicks and it takes 25 emails to order catering for the next flight for a customer, the gap is definitely here I think.”

Alek Vernitsky, CEO, Portside tells CJIQ he thinks demand is mostly internal to the industry. “It is owners and operators wanting digital solutions because they increase efficiency, transparency and enable operators to offer new innovative services. I don’t think this [digitisation] is a case of ‘outside in’ when entrepreneurs come up with a solution that later gets adopted.

“In our case, for example, owners came to me, describing the problem and offering to finance the solution,” he says. Portside is a cloud-based management suite, which stitches together its data from over 70 different aviation systems, for owners and operators of any aircraft.

“Operators know they need it and are actively looking for vendors who can deliver. The owners who came to me were in their 60s and owned large cabin jets. They wanted details about the operations that they couldn’t easily get from the operator (because the operator didn’t have the right software). That’s where our journey started,” says Vernitsky.

Age is just a number when it comes to adoption of tech in business aviation, according to Paul Malicki, CEO, Flapper. He told CJI the company regularly has users aged 70 and over booking through its app. “Definitely there is a strong demand on the user’s end – they want everything to be mobile and on-demand. They also want to control their aircraft expenses and have access to real-time reports,” said Malicki.

CJIQ also canvassed the views of Norm Happ, CEO, Veryon, a leading provider of aviation information services and soft-ware solutions. “The rapid digitalisation of business aviation is revolutionising the industry,” writes Happ. “This shift aligns with the broader trend of digitalisation observed in various sectors sending a clear message: to remain competitive, operators must fully embrace digital advancements. Efficiency and transparency are driving this change.”

Read the full story – including our Tech Map of more than 150 companies – here. Meanwhile, read the digital version of CJIQ here. And,  why not sign up for the free print version of the magazine?  Also, if you have an idea you would like to see covered in the next edition of CJIQ, please let us know.

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The move is aimed at “augmenting” Portside’s suite of tools and technology, it said. Baldwin, established in 2004, specialises in designing, implementing and maintaining safety management systems (SMS). All of Baldwin’s team will join Portside to ensure ongoing development and support.

Baldwin’s SMS expertise covers operations including FBOs, MRO groups, commercial providers, UAS, airports, and air medical transport operations. Baldwin helps to keep operators compliant with industry SMS regulations, readying them for incoming regulations, such as those proposed in FAA’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) 88 FR 1932. This regulation will mandate SMS for commuter and on-demand operations, commercial air tour operators, and certain holders under Part 21.

Founder, Don Baldwin alongside wife Nancy. (credit: Portside)

Alek Vernitsky, Portside CEO, said: “Safety is the foremost concern for any aviation provider, and Baldwin is an undisputed leader in this space. They excel not only in terms of delivering safety and compliance programs that adhere to the highest industry standards, but also in tailoring and supporting these programs to meet the ever-evolving needs of their clients. This acquisition enhances Portside’s capabilities, aligning with our mission to be a comprehensive, turn-key solution for business and government aviation.”

While the specific terms of the transaction were not disclosed, the move is Portside’s fourth purchase of 2023. In July, the firm acquired licensing and development rights for the Avianis flight management system. Earlier in the year, Portside acquired Stellar Lab’s flight operations system hosting business and the BART scheduling product suite.

Don Baldwin, the founder of Baldwin, said: “We founded Baldwin with the belief that small operators should have access to the same tools and capabilities enjoyed by larger providers when fostering a culture of safety. Today, our products are trusted by operators, both big and small, with the most critical and fundamental aspects of their businesses. Portside shares our commitment to customer service, and we eagerly anticipate becoming a part of their team as we continue to uphold our leading role in safety and compliance.”

The transaction was facilitated by Brian Foley of AVStrategies, he added: “This is a perfect example of combining a top-notch transportation specialist with a respected aviation technology platform to provide mutual value and chemistry.”

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Portside will continue to serve Avianis’s existing customers, market to prospective customers and develop new features for the platform.

Key members of the Avianis product and support teams will join Portside to serve customer needs and develop further opportunities. Wheels Up will retain the intellectual property associated with Avianis and will continue to maintain and develop its own internal instance of the platform as the FMS for its first-party fleet. 

Alek Vernitsky, CEO and co-founder of Portside told Corporate Jet Investor: “As we continue to build a turn-key and scalable operating system for business aviation, Avianis brings important functionality, a best-in-class user experience and an outstanding support team to our overall value proposition and we see enormous potential to continue to develop and enhance the platform.”

The licensing agreement will benefit both parties, he added. “Licensing the Avianis software will enable us to support existing Portside customers better with sophisticated scheduling and operations products developed by Avianis.  We will also be able to service Avianis customers better by enabling a deeper integration between Portside products and Avianis.”

For Wheels Up, the agreement provides the continued use of an industry-leading FMS for the company’s fleet and enables the company to focus time and resources on things that are core for the overall success of the business, he said.

Dave Godsman, chief digital officer, Wheels Up said the agreement is evidence of the great product the Avianis team has built as part of the Wheels Up group and the continued value it adds for operators worldwide. “Avianis has become an integral part of Wheels Up’s platform and we are pleased it will continue to serve as a core piece of our operations,” he said. 

While the terms of the agreement were not disclosed, it is understood to be a long-term licensing agreement, with Portside continuing to support all Avianis customers and develop and commercialise the software. As part of the integration, all Portside services will become available to Avianis customers, including the owner portal, staffing, Portside services, optimisation and billing.

“Our primary measure of success is customer satisfaction,” Vernitsky told us. “Are customers happy with the product, service and available integrations?  Is the software helping our customers become more productive and efficient?  Is it helping customers serve their customers better and offer a better service to them?”

Meanwhile, Kenny Dichter, founder and former CEO of Wheels Up, revealed the acquisition of the technology and flight management systems company Avianis at Revolution.Aero, Corporate Jet Investor’s aviation technology conference, in San Francisco in September 2019. Speaking at the time Dichter said: “We have been looking at lots of tech companies to help accelerate the development of our digital platform. Booking a private jet should be as easy as booking a car with Uber or booking a home with Airbnb.”

Headquartered in San Francisco, Portside is developing a cloud-based operating system for business and government aviation. The Portside platform supports more than 800 operators of business jets, helicopters, industrial and government fleets, as well as fractional jet ownership programmes in over 30 countries.

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Portside’s investment is another step forward in the expansion of its product suite, it said. The funds will support the continued growth of Portside’s customer base of Part 135 and Part 91 flight departments. 

After acquiring Professional Flight Management (PFM), in July of last year, Portside looks to provide the business aviation market with a range of scheduling solutions. The two scheduling software acquisitions, PFM and BART, serve different market needs and have their own unique competitive advantages. 

“Delivering mobile-first scheduling solutions is one of the many ways BART products work to increase accessibility as well as efficiencies for flight departments,” said Alek Vernitsky, CEO of Portside. 

“We are continuing to make strategic investments in scheduling solutions that can build on our core Portside products including the Owner Portal, Optimizer, ExpensePulseTM, and others, further expanding the tools we offer to  flight departments globally. SeaGil delivers a distinct product, and will be complementary to our existing Portside and PFM offerings, further expanding our capabilities to best meet the needs of commercial and private operators alike,” explained Vernitsky.

The BART product suite was first introduced in 1986 and owned by Bradley Tilford and his wife, Kimberly Tilford. Over the last few years, SeaGil has rapidly expanded its customer base, supporting hundreds of operators, over 6,000 aircraft and well over 15,000 crew members globally.

Kimberly Tilford, CEO, SeaGil, said: “Brad and the team have worked hard to serve their customers for over 35 years. Portside’s investment is a validation of our proven growth strategy and product capabilities. The team will remain focused on driving the best outcomes for our customers.”

Following the completion of the acquisition, SeaGil will continue to operate as it does today. Portside’s investment will enable BART to “accelerate product development, complete additional integrations, and enhance our customer support capabilities”. 

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Together, Portside and PFM will continue development of aviation technology for the private, business and government sectors, advance software solutions available to the industry and accelerate the upgrade of software for the “increasingly mobile-first and cloud-based” business aviation ecosystem.

Alek Vernitsky, CEO of Portside said: “Portside’s competitive advantage is our ability to focus on the customer experience and deliver cutting-edge technologies. With PFM, we now gain a deeper understanding of the needs and expectations for the corporate flight departments which will accelerate our vision to support the broader private, business and government aviation industry.”

Operators are challenged with the ever-changing requirements of operation and this can impact their ability to scale effectively, said Portside. Whether it be staffing constraints, asset management, regulation, communication tools or mobile accessibility, there are many processes that are currently managed with excel sheets and phone calls that can easily be solved with the right technology.

Bill Figures, founder, PFM said: “Portside has a bold vision of building an end-to-end technology ecosystem for corporate flight departments and we have seen them continue to grow their product suite at a fast pace focused on serving the end user. We always prided ourselves in treating our customers as family and are confident that our customers will be in good hands and will get added value as we join Portside.”

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