“Transparency and innovation are at the core of our fractional model and continue to differentiate us in the marketplace,” said Brad Blettner, chief revenue officer, flyExclusive.

“The JetQuity Protect program offers a compelling proposition to our fractional customers by creating easier planning and certainty in their investment. We’re proud to further simplify the process of owning a private jet share and provide our customers with a best-in-class experience along the way.”

By paying a one-time fee upfront, owners can lock in a minimum value for their share of the jet. This protects them from the possibility that the market value of the jet could decline after five years.

In addition, regardless of how the jet market performs, the program guarantees they can sell their share for at least the predetermined price. If the market value of the jet happens to be higher than the guaranteed minimum after five years, the owner gets the higher amount.

The company said that the program provides certainty as to the future value of the asset while ensuring that fractional owners can sell their aircraft share at the guaranteed price.

flyExclusive owns and operates the second-largest fleet of Cessna Citation aircraft in the world, giving fractional owners guaranteed access to a large, versatile fleet of light, mid or super-mid aircraft with no monthly management fees.

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In its recent report, Top Trends in Fractional Jet Ownership for 2023, the firm said the addition of hundreds of aircraft to fractional fleets will cut waitlists in the next 12 months.

The report highlighted that fractional companies are adding to their fleets rather than just replacing aging aircraft. NetJets is aiming to have 1,000 aircraft in its fleet by the end of this year, up from 750 in its pre-pandemic fleet. Similarly, Flexjet is expanding its fleet from 160 aircraft before the pandemic to around 290 by the end of 2023.

The additional fleet, along with demand leveling off, will make fractional ownership a more attractive prospect for customers. Ultra-long-range jets will have the most limited choice, according to the report, but wait times for these will also reduce.

Looking at the year ahead, Nick Copley, president, SherpaReport said: “The next 12 months will continue to be very busy for the fractional market. The reasons are multifaceted, but key trends for increased activity relate to a wider variety of aircraft, shorter wait times to gain access to fractional ownership, a more favorable buyer’s market, flexible structures and an increased focus on sustainability.”

Top trends in fractional ownership for 2023 – at a glance

• New aircraft being added to fractional fleets to meet wider variety of needs
• Waitlist to become fractional owner diminishing
• 2023 will be kinder year for buyers in buyers’ market
• New flexible structures will entice some to fractional ownership
• Actions underway to cut carbon footprint

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Summarising comments from IADA’s 47 dealer members, Starling said: “If you’re looking in the US, it’s like a carcass after vultures have picked over it. What remains out there are aircraft that need so much maintenance or have so many problems they will probably never sell.”

Putting metrics to historically low levels of pre-owned US aircraft sales, Andrew Young, Amstat general manager said just 4.9% of the fleet of business jets and turbo props is available for sale. (This is the lowest percentage since Amstat started in business in 1984). A market in equilibrium usually has about 10% of the fleet for sale compared with as much as 18% in the depths of the Great Financial Depression, said Young. Also there had been a 44% contraction in aircraft available for purchase year-on-year. “With preferred aircraft selling very fast – some before they are listed on the market – the days on the market for the remaining aircraft has risen by 22%,” he added.

Pre-owned aircraft are available, but you have to look further afield, which brings challenges, said Hamish Harding, Action Aviation chairman. “We are looking all around the world for aircraft all of the time and generally finding them.” People could be “made to sell”, with the high level of prices available now, he added.

Two productive locations for sourcing pre-owned business jets were China and Russia. Sellers in China who were previously very flexible about contracts were now proving highly inflexible. “But if you want a high-end aircraft, China is one of the places to look, as is Russia and certain other countries.” But 21-day quarantine restrictions in China continued to frustrate some transactions.

Commenting on how transactions had changed during the Covid-19 pandemic, Harding said: “We never thought we could cut this many corners.” Pre-purchase inspections (PPIs) “in their full glory” were now a thing of the past. Also, contracts must be very simple to ensure a swift transaction. While conducting an engine borescope is still important, this is generally confined to the front-of-engine searches for foreign object damage (FOD). Also, it was becoming much harder to find slots for aircraft PPIs at MROs. Next week is the cut-off for arranging aircraft finance, after that, it’s all about cash purchases, he added.

Jeremy Stumpf, Freestream Aircraft vice president, also urged buyers to be prepared to act quickly and to compromise. “The perfect aircraft will likely not be available, so my advice to clients is to go with the one that ticks most of the boxes,” he said. “Make changes to the aircraft after you close the deal. The most important thing is to secure the aircraft.” Harding agreed on the need for compromise, with sellers having to pay full retail prices (with Bluebook listings well behind the market).

Explaining the shortage of pre-owned aircraft, IADA’s Starling said: “All the fractionals and charterers are trying to buy aircraft, so they are taking out of the market and not giving anything back – that’s part of the problem now.”

The boom in charter and jet card sales were hot topics in presentations and networking sessions during the two days of the conference. Anthony Tivnan, Magellan Jets, founder and president considered surging demand and sales reflected more than a short-term adjustment to the lack of commercial airline availability and Covid-19 concerns. “I don’t see it slowing down anytime in the near future,” he said during the panel ‘Managing charter and jet cards during a boom’.

There will be a reduction in business from a small segment of customers when the commercial airlines return to full scale operations, he predicted. But that could be offset by the return of business travel which has always been the backbone of Magellan Jets’ business. “It remains to be seen. However, what we lose from the new segment of customers – but I think a large portion of them are here to stay – may balance out as some of the corporations get back on the road.”

During the same session Vincent Kavanagh, Air Partner senior vice president of Sales said the obvious growth in jet card sales reflecting the company exploring and finding a new audience. “There are a lot of clients who could always afford it but never justify it. Now they are justifying it more than ever – whether they are corporates of individuals.” But it was also vital to retain existing clients and communicating effectively was vital, he said. Ideally, this should be face-to-face or by phone but not a spam-type email communication.

It’s not just new customers flocking to private aviation; the maturing sector is also attracting a new generation of investors. The reason was a fundamental shift in revenue growth, according to Vivek Kaushal, Global Jet Capital CEO. During the past 10 years the industry has grown mainly through new aircraft deliveries and aircraft utilisation rates have remained broadly flat, he said. But now utilisation rates are climbing significantly. “Instead of all revenue coming into the industry from new aircraft deliveries, now we are seeing new users come in and providing cash flow and revenue. So, it seems rational to attract all this investment.”

Nick Sandler, Stonebriar Commercial Finance’s new president noted that most aircraft operators were operating at 60%-70% of their full infrastructural capacity before the global pandemic. But, over the past 18 months, that has grown to 120% of capacity. “Some can absorb that because of economies of scale, purchase power and leverage on recruitment,” said Sandler. “To others that will represent a challenge. Everyone is under stress about best to bring in new business.” Plus, the growing pilot shortage is likely to prove a key brake on growth for some businesses.

Securing corporate finance in future will be dependent on producing a sustainability plan, warned Ford von Weise, Citi Private Bank, director, head Global Aircraft Finance Group & Advisory Services. “Within 10 years, if you don’t have a sustainability plan, you won’t be able to borrow money from a major bank,” von Weise told delegates. “This is happening regardless of what you think should happen.” While business aviation accounted for only 0.4% of carbon dioxide emissions, the sector remains a ripe target for climate activists to attack. “We are a huge, monstrous target because the carbon footprint of our clients is hugely outsized.” Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) – “the success story of business aviation” – offered a long-term solution to mitigate climate change. And to help avoid punitive legislative sanctions and continued criticism from environmentalists and, increasingly, stakeholders including clients, shareholders and employees. Although carbon offsetting and book-and-claim systems offered short-term benefits, he considered them “window dressing”.

Tackling the pressing problem of pilot shortages, René Banglesdorf, co-founder of the new mentoring consultancy The Aviation Collective, said action was needed now to attract new pilots from diverse backgrounds into the industry. Acknowledging how commercial airlines often looked to business aviation to plug its pilot shortage, Banglesdorf’s presentation answered the topic: How business aviation can trounce airline hiring power. Part of the answer lay in broadening the industry’s gender diversity by showcasing female role models in aviation. Lack of role models and perceived (or actual) harassment or discrimination also proved barriers to some potential recruits.

Regardless of gender or background, young people wanted to enjoy a good quality of life (including family life) and a well-defined and rewarding career path. Swift action was needed now to secure the next generation of recruits before other potential employers out-competed business aviation for young talent. “Business aviation is very nimble. It can react quickly. It can make changes without the need for an act of Congress or lengthy union discussions,” said Banglesdorf, who recently qualified for her Private Pilot’s Licence.

Banking on sustainability: Ford von Weise, Citi Private Bank. 

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The influx of new clients to card and fractional plans together with new aircraft purchases is a tribute to the industry’s success in promoting the benefits of private aviation. “Last year we all became evangelists for why private aviation matters – how you can avoid crowds and [Covid] exposure,” he said. “We created this surge and built pent up demand.”

A measure of Sentient’s success is that for every new card sale, the company noted 2.5 referrals. Neither is the surge in private jet travel confined to leisure travel by High-Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs). While the Fortune 500 companies are not talking about travel policies, Sentient is detecting a resurgence in business flights from merger and acquisition specialists, deal flow experts and consulting teams. Plus, many clients opted to buy rather than the more traditional routes into the industry. “A lot of people lunged – skipping charter and fractions – going right into buying an aircraft,” said Collins.

Further evidence for the influx of new private aviation users and buyers came from Michael Amalfitano, Embraer Executive Jets, president and CEO. First-time users were up by more than 50% compared with historical data, he told delegates. First-time buyers were up 35%, based on this year’s data. Fuelling this growth was a significant rise US private wealth – up 12% over the past year, exceeding the growth in Asia Pacific for the first time in five years.

Newcomers were younger, likely to be under 55 years of age, compared with the more traditional buyers aged over 55. “We are seeing Millennials, Generations X, [born 1981 to 1996] Y [born: 1977-1994] and Z [born: 1995-2012] who have a completely different expectation of private aviation travel.”

He continued: “People are moving up from commercial through charter, up through the access points of democratisation, such as card and fractional, to ownership – all happening based on new priorities.”

Connectivity remained important but new trends were also emerging. New clients are looking for fewer touch points and travel from point-to-point destinations that fit their lifestyle. They want a safer, healthier, and more efficient, seamless travel experience. Amalfitano described the trend as “human-centred experiences”. The result was: “Our priorities have shifted to health and safety, as well as sustainable actions that support business aviation’s commitments to fly net-zero by 2050.” Embraer Executive Jets is focusing on digital solutions to meet these changing needs.

Kenny Dichter, Wheels Up, founder and CEO, characteristically brimmed with enthusiasm about the prospects for business aviation. “The heyday of this business – and we have a lot to figure out as an industry – is in the next five, 10, 15 and 20 years. I see all green lights.”

A key reason for optimism was the opportunity to develop “open table” technology, which is absent in business aviation today. “If someone develops technology that can support the industry and make it more efficient, there’s an unbelievable opportunity, not just for Wheels Up, but the whole space,” said Dichter.

It was an encouraging forecast too from Gus Faucher, PNC Financial Services Group, senior vice president and chief economist. He predicted strong economic growth through 2022 to 2023 – “well above the [US] economy’s long run average”. Interest rates were expected to remain at about 2% over the long run.

Next year will continue busy for business aviation, agreed David Hernandez, Vedder Price, shareholder. Unless, he added, there is some significant event, such as a large increase in taxes or interest rates “that muffle and make people scared”.

Hernandez said: “I see a lot of new people moving in, a lot of new buyers, a lot of jet cards. The question is how long can the jet cards operate without going bust, because they’re selling way more than there’s capabilities [for].”

Changing customer demands also prompted Brian Proctor, Mente Group, president and CEO to reveal the launch of a new service. Freedom by Four Corners Aviation aims to offer clients the benefits of their own scalable aviation department. It claims to offer a customised and fully integrated lift solution, including aircraft, crew, operations, and supplemental lift, but “without the hassles of ownership such as administration, accounting, and uncertainties”.

The launch marked a new segment for business aviation, termed Corporate Jet as a Service (CJaaS), said Proctor, who is CEO of the Aquila Aviation Ventures, which includes Four Corners Aviation and the Mente Group. Designed to enable corporate flight departments to redeploy capital by avoiding aircraft ownership, the service includes a monthly access fee to pay for fixed cost and an hourly usage fee plus incident or parts recalls, said Proctor. “The bill would be three-line items, which makes it easier for the owner to understand and predict what’s going on.”

The impact of new entrants was also highlighted by Megha Bhatia, Rolls-Royce, vice president Sales & Marketing said: “We are seeing a increase in first-time buyers. Traditionally they have veered towards the entry level sector rather than the sector we are powering – large cabin aircraft. We are having to educate them a lot more about engine programmes.”

Braking business aviation growth were a range of supply factors that needed attention, according to speakers. These included a growing shortage of pilots and aircraft engineers and technicians and lack of inventory for buyers in a strong sellers’ market. Scott Cutshall, Clay Lacy Aviation, senior vice president, Development and Sustainability warned: “5,000 pilots left the airlines last year and we had a problem before the pandemic.”  And when the airlines experience a shortage, they “reach down” to business aviation to find the remedy. “Costs are going up, salaries are going up, hourly rates are going up, so I would argue that even if prices increase, costs are increasing faster. And we’re just trying to play catch up,” said Cutshall. One key solution was to offer student pilots a clear and rewarding career path.

Lack of inventory focused minds throughout the day. While OEMS won praise for their production restraint (possibly influenced by supply chains challengers), brokers complained about the lack of quality pre-owned aircraft for sale and operators about the lack of lift. Amanda Applegate, Airlex Law Group, partner highlighted the power of vendors: “If you’re a seller, it is very much your market and you can dictate your terms,” said Applegate.

New buyers required considerable guidance before making their first purchase, said Lisa Senters, Jet Senters Aviation, CEO. “First-time buyers don’t know what to do. These people are easy to sell things to and they need guidance.” Janine Iannarelli, Par Avion founder and CEO, joined other speakers in highlighting the importance to honesty and integrity. “This is a real opportunity to bring the industry into the 21st century,” said Iannarelli. Using high standards of Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) was critically important “when we speak to transparency, ethics, compliance, the weeding out of bad apples and nefarious actors”.

Alongside the impact of new entrants, sustainability concerns emerged as a key theme of the day. Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), book-and-claim options and carbon offsets offered the best short-term solution to reduce business aviation’s carbon footprint while new technology such as electric and hybrid electric and hydrogen propulsion offered longer term solutions. Leo Knaapen, Bombardier, chief, Industry Affairs put the challenge of SAF supply into perspective: “Next year we will have about 3bn gallons of SAF, but we need about 35bn. That is the commitment or challenge [president] Biden has given.”

Jean-Noel Robert, Airbus Corporate Jets, head of business development, underlined all the major OEM’s commitment to SAF. Airbus was committed to ensuring its entire fleet was certified to fly using SAF, he added. (Last week, the Airbus A319neo became the first single-aisle aircraft to operate on 100% SAF in a trial near Toulouse).

At present SAF was only available at about two dozen locations in the US, acknowledged Kennedy Ricci, 4AIR president. “That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It makes sense to sell SAF close to where it’s made. But five years from now, new SAF pathways will evolve in different locations to generate different [more efficient] types of SAF.”  

Ending the day on an optimistic note, Andrew Farrant, Global Jet Capital chief marketing officer shared his company’s forecast for growth in business aviation transactions. Over the past five years the total market has averaged 3,000 transactions valued at $28bn. Over the next five years it will average 3,500 total transactions (including both pre-owned and new aircraft) valued at $32bn.

Meanwhile, the last words go to David Best, Jet Aviation, senior vice president and general manager US operations. “Here we are complaining about too much business and not enough staff. But it’s a great way to be unhappy.”

Networking by pool: CJI Miami delegates at the Poolside Reception sponsored by San Marino Aircraft Registry.

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“We will continue to see an influx of new customers coming into this space driven by commercial airline schedule reductions and some persistent health concerns post Covid,” Gallagher told delegates. “So, we think we have a nice long runway of an increase in new business.”

A key reason for optimism was that private aviation has failed to keep pace with wealth creation in the US and worldwide since the Great Recession of 2008. Covid-19 had compelled many of the newly-wealthy to re-evaluate the benefits of private aviation. “So many people who have joined us in the past few months have said: ‘I wish I had done this sooner’. That’s a reason for optimism for all of us. Those people will stick in the industry because we know how addictive the product is that we all sell.”

NetJets, the world’s largest operator of business jets and fourth largest airline, is currently operating at more than 80% of pre-pandemic levels. “We have seen an uptick in leisure travel. Coming into this, it was split 60/40, leisure to business travel. Today, we’re operating at probably 85% of pre-pandemic levels overall, with business travel having not returned at all. That shows what a large increase there has been in the amount of leisure travel.” It also indicated the potential for growth when corporate business returned. “We are already seeing people who bought cards in the spring, then flew 25 hours or more and are now graduating to shares. That’s always been our business model.”

‘Split 60/40, leisure to business’

Reflecting renewed confidence, NetJets’ plans to receive 10 new aircraft between now and the end of the year, which will bring its annual total to 31. That’s about half the planned number forecast in January but still probably more than the rest of the industry combined, said Gallagher. “Our forecast for the next year is 40 airplanes and we see that continuing throughout the next 10 years. So, that’s 40 airplanes or more [a year] over the next 10 years,” he added.

The prospect of a vast addressable market also excited Kenny Dichter, founder and CEO, Wheels Up. “We have roughly 100,000 to 200,000 people who are considered hard private flyers in the Americas,” said Dichter. “But the addressable market laid out by McKinsey [in a presentation earlier this year] is that there are 1.5m people who can afford to do it. That’s without adding sharing, social [flying] and by-the-seat, which adds another 10m who can afford to fly privately.”

Growing demand for charter and fractional programmes is a good sign for future investment in business aviation, according to Chad Anderson, Jetcraft President. “The numbers that we are seeing and hearing now is absolutely the seed that plants and becomes a bigger airplane or a whole airplane down the road.” It is a valuable opportunity for new clients to realise the real benefits of business aviation.

‘Not ready to step into a $56m aircraft’

Gregory Ryan, senior sales director, GE Aviation, joined the throng of voices over the two days of the conference predicting an influx of new clients selecting small business aircraft as their first purchase. “Over the next 12 months you are going to see a demographic shift concerning those are who are first-time buyers or moving up from fractional ownership or jet cards. And they are going to need folks like Mente Group or Global Jet Capital to steer them not only to the right aircraft, but also the right amount that they need to invest into that structure.” Smaller entry level aircraft will see the fastest growth because “new buyers are not yet ready to step into a $56m aircraft”. But mid, super-mid and large cabin aircraft would become popular as border restrictions lifted.

Joe DiLallo, senior account executive Business Aircraft Finance, TCF Bank, confirmed interest from new buyers. “We have two deals closing in the next two weeks. Both are for new owners – one for a mid-size and one for a super mid.”

Returning to Gallagher’s “nice long runway” for business aviation, panelists on the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) forum hoped the business jets using the runway would be powered by sustainable fuel. Mark Masluch, Bombardier Aviation director of public affairs and communications, said: “The rubber is hitting the road on uptake. This year has been a turning point. The industry is starting to see the fruits of labour over the past three years.”

Neville Fernandes, manager, renewable fuels for SAF producer Neste, was optimistic about the opportunity to scale up production. “It was only eight years ago that the first barrel of renewable diesel came into California,” he said. “We can easily replace 20% of the 4bn gallon market with sustainable aviation fuel and it could take only eight years.”

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“The availability of pre-buy inspection space at facilities is one of the biggest factors that’s going to come into play very quickly,” Rohde told hundreds of delegates at the meeting. One client planned to move the C-Inspection of their Dassault Falcon 7X, due at the beginning of next year, to this year while little travel is taking place.

Also, it was more difficult to find a facility to take on a C-Inspection, as it is a large programme of work, said Rohde. “We are certainly seeing that service centres are very busy with a lot of activity, so starting soon is important.”

Also, restrictions, related to Covid-19, enforced by service centres, was frustrating the completion of aircraft transactions. Some facilities deny access to all but employees – meaning when a crew delivers an aircraft to a facility they are met on the apron or ramp and not allowed to enter the building.

‘Limitations on people working on transactions’

Some facilities demand a six-day quarantine for people who arrive at their centres by commercial flights – requiring visitors to either fly in privately or drive. “That’s going to put certain limitations on people working on transactions and trying to get through the normal due diligence process,” he said.

Rohde also revealed several clients were in discussion with fractional plan providers about the prospect of reimbursing unused flight hours. “We have several clients who have not gone anywhere near their fractional share since February or March and have accumulated unused flight hours,” he said.

“So, there’s been discussions with the providers about how these unused hours are going to be handled.” During normal times, un-flown hours would be lost.

Similar questions will be asked by owners who are on power-for-the-hour programmes. “Many of them have not done their annual hours and clearly are not going to come near that utilisation,” he said.

‘Expect some sort of pay out’

Every year several of Essex Aviation’s owners know they are not likely to reach their contracted level of utilisation and “expect some sort of pay out”. “But if you are potentially flying only 20% of the hours that you were supposed to fly, there are going to be significant numbers that people are not going to be too happy to address,” Rohde warned.

Meanwhile, Stephen Kelly, Global AVX’s global sales director, told delegates the company planned to hold its first auction on November 12th. The global auction site for business and commercial aviation launched in late April, offering brokers, leasing companies, liquidators, airlines, individuals and corporations, a dedicated aircraft auction and listing platform.

The free access one-hour Town Hall, sponsored by Los Angeles-based law firm Aerlex Law Group, is available to watch here.

Lee Rohde

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“We are seeing a lot of clients opening up their corporate aircraft to other key employees for travel, which we think is a positive thing,” Meiners-Levy told more than 300 delegates attending

“A lot of our aircraft used to fly [before Covid-19] with just the owner and a spouse or two high level executives on the aircraft, while staff would fly commercially,” said Meiners-Levy. “Folks are doing that less now, which means more passengers on a flight, which is positive from a tax perspective and we are seeing inquiries about that.”

Meiners-Levy also detected an increase in companies transporting elderly relatives on business jets, which had implications for fringe benefits and tax liability, she said.

Fringe benefits and tax liability

The second key trend was the growth in new customers for private aviation who were frustrated by the lack of opportunity for airline travel. “We are seeing more folks who have never owned [a private aircraft] before looking into fractional interests or co-ownership. They are watching as US commercial travel – especially into smaller markets – evaporates. The commercial airlines just can’t respond nearly as quickly or come back nearly as quickly [as business aviation].”

Before the Covid-19 crisis Advocate Consulting Legal Group was dealing with clients who were familiar with business aviation, the aircraft available and their capabilities. “Now, we are seeing a lot more clients who don’t know what type of aircraft it is and I explain to them the mission lengths of the different aircraft,” said Meiners-Levy. “So, we believe there’s going to be a long tail to these cancelled flights and cancelled routes particularly into smaller markets.”

Fractional options

The third trend was growing interest in fractional options compared with jet cards because of the tax advantage. “Jet card and fractional are both great ways to travel,” she said. “But there is a significant type of advantage over some types of ownership structure – if you have the ability to use tax deductions. And we’ve done that side-by-side financial [comparison] for many of our clients.

“When we look at a jet card next to a fractional ownership – depending on what their mission is and the ability to take a tax deduction – fractional becomes much more affordable.”

This Town Hall was sponsored by Echo Aviation Leasing Corporation.

Meanwhile, you can watch the hour-long online meeting here.

Three top trends in business aviation

• – Business aircraft carrying more passengers
• – More new customers
• – Growing interest in fractional schemes.

Source: Suzanne Meiners-Levy (pictured below) at CJI’s Town Hall meeting.

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As the founder of Flight Options, Kenn Ricci clearly knows how to make money from running a fractional aircraft company and having bought Sentient last year, he thinks now is a good time to invest in business aviation. It has not been public, but Directional was also the underbidder for Marquis Jet (NetJets was not keen on this idea) and it also talked to Cessna about acquiring Citation Air (the barrier here is rumoured to have been residual value guarantees).

Selling Flexjet makes sense for Bombardier Aerospace, whose main business is building and supporting aircraft. As part of the acquisition, Flexjet will order 85 business jets, including Challenger 350, Challenger 605, Learjet 75 and Learjet 85 aircraft. The agreement also includes options for an additional 160 business jets. Bombardier is saying that Flexjet could order up to 245 aircraft (although it probably will not take this many) and that this would be worth $5.2 billion if Flexjet pays list price (which it definitely will not do).

Flexjet effectively came on the market in 2011 when NetJets signed its first order with the manufacturer. When it ordered again in June last year the sale looked even more certain. The only question was who would buy it (it was so obvious that even I wrote about this in March). At the time we did ask Thomas Flohr, the founder of VistaJet if he was interested but they have chosen to enter the US using Jet Aviation as a manager.

It is amazing how quickly the fractional aircraft market has consolidated. Since 2008 we have gone from five operators to two (although the Flexjet brand will survive and it will be operated as a separate company). It has taken US airlines far longer to work this out.

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