The Future of Private Jets

While economic uncertainty may have an impact on the future of the private jet industry in the near-term, industry insiders are bullish on the long-term prospects for private aviation. Leaders of the nation’s top private jet management, fractional ownership, charter, and membership companies recently shared their outlooks for the post-Covid world with Penta.

Berkshire Hathaway unit NetJets is the largest private jet operator in the world. It provides fractional ownership, lease, and jet card programs. Patrick Gallagher is NetJets’ president of sales and marketing.

“This is a great growth opportunity for our business and the industry as a whole, and we could arguably come back from the pandemic even stronger. In the past, this business was all about the flexibility, service, and access we afforded our customers, but now safetyand security are playing major roles.

“Traditionally, the mix has been fairly evenly split between business and personal flying, and the personal flying is coming back first. However, our corporate customers have told us that they fully intend to start flying privately and to do more of it.”

Flexjet operates 140 aircraft and offers fractional ownership, lease, and the Flexjet 25 jet card. Michael Silvestro is CEO.

“Flexjet has had year-over-year growth for the last four years. But in the third week of March it just fell off a cliff. In May, the company noticed an uptick in flying and it has steadily increased.

“Meanwhile, the company is taking action to allay customers’ Covid concerns such as treating all our aircraft with [antimicrobial coating] MicroShield 360 and taking our crews off the airlines [for repositioning] and transporting them on internal shuttles. Essentially, we’ve created an internal airline and we’re going to do that at least through September.”

Wheels Up currently has a valuation of $1 billion and operates a fleet of 300 aircraft. Kenny Dichter is CEO.

“As we think about a post-pandemic world, we are confident that the overall market for domestic private aviation will grow significantly, as what was once seen as a luxury is now often considered a necessity. Our most important role is to continue to ensure the health and safety of our members while they are traveling.

“Philanthropy has also always been at the heart of the company with the Wheels Up Cares program supporting breast and ovarian cancer awareness, heart health, and military families. During the Covid19 crisis, we [created] a new initiative, Meals Up, to supply millions of meals through Feeding America to the food insecure and those facing hunger due to the pandemic. We will continue to leverage our network in order to make a difference throughout the recovery process.”

Jet Linx is the nation’s second-largest private aviation management company, with the second-largest fleet of commercially managed private jets in the country. Jamie Walker is president and CEO.

“While the future of travel is still uncertain, we anticipate seeing lasting, positive effects across the industry as a result of the safety initiatives private aviation companies have implemented in efforts to create peace of mind for travelers. As more travelers focus on their health and safety, we expect there will be an increase in those who prefer to fly privately.

“We have enhanced our already rigorous sanitation protocols in response to the pandemic and introduced new products to further safeguard our clients and meet this new demand, such as treating our 100-plus fleet aircraft and our private terminals nationwide with the Bioprotect Us System. We also introduced a new Aliate Jet Card Membership, which offers a 90-day private jet travel solution for those in need of an alternative flight solution for necessary travel.”

Vista Global is a $2.5 billion worldwide operator of more than 70 mid- to large-cabin business jets. Thomas Flohr is its chairman.

“We expect to see continued demand for business flights and an increased number of first-time private fliers as they look for more safe and reliable flight solutions. Since commercial airlines have been limiting service to certain areas and at times retreating full from some of their operating regions, the popularity of private jet travel is increasing. Only 10% of people who can afford to fly private currently do. And 71% of our new incoming sales calls at VistaJet are from people who have not regularly used business jets.”

Correction: Wheels Up has a fleet of 300 planes. At press time, it had 190. Thomas Flohr is chairman of Vista Jet. A previous version incorrectly identified him as CEO.