| Type | Private aviation |
|---|---|
| Inventor | Sentient Jet |
| Inception | 1997 |
A Private Jet Card is a private aviation product that enables holders to use different aircraft at agreed-upon fixed hourly rates. Jet cards are offered by large and small fleet operators and charter brokers. [1] [2] There are as many as 65 variables between jet card companies, according to Private Jet Card Comparisons, a buyer's guide to jet card programs.
Traditional Jet Card programs are prepaid hours of occupied flight time on a given aircraft or size of aircraft. [1] Some programs include not only jets, but turboprops. The term “jet card” can also refer to prepaid private jet charter programs that have similar attributes.
Notable Jet Card providers include Jet Linx, Wheels Up, Air Charter Service, Airstream Jets, Marquis Jet (NetJets), Volato, Flexjet, and Luxury Aircraft Solutions. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
The first Jet Card was created in 1997 by the founder of Sentient Jet, [8] a charter broker located in Quincy, Massachusetts. The Jet Card was developed in response to the highly popular fractional ownership programs of the time offered by NetJets and Flight Options. The attraction to fractional ownership and ultimately the Jet Card was the consistency in pricing over charter and the reduced complexity of owning a jet, which were the only other options prior to NetJets. [9]
The term “jet card” was devised to create a marketing product for what equates to block on-demand charter. [10] Jet Cards were created as a way to offer flight time to private aviation users flying up to 50 hours per year. Rather than purchasing a whole aircraft or investing in fractional ownership, a Jet Card can be a cost-effective option for frequent leisure travelers or users of business aviation.
Jet Cards have evolved from the original card in 1997 which simply made charter pricing more consistent by guaranteeing fixed hourly rates to membership programs which offer free or discounted empty leg/re-positioning leg flights and individual seats on private jet shuttles.
Here are some examples of the varying types of Jet Cards offered today:
A business jet, private jet, or bizjet is a jet aircraft designed for transporting small groups of people, typically business executives and high-ranking associates. Business jets are generally designed for faster air travel and more personal comfort than commercial aircraft, and may be adapted for other roles, such as casualty evacuation or express parcel deliveries, and some are used by public bodies, government officials, VIPs, or even the armed forces.
NetJets Inc. is an American company that sells fractional ownership shares in private business jets.
Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft as opposed to individual aircraft seats.
Private aviation is the part of civil aviation that does not include flying for hire, which is termed commercial aviation. In 2022, private air travel was noted as increasing.
Fractional ownership is a method in which several unrelated parties can share in, and mitigate the risk of, ownership of a high-value tangible asset, usually a jet, yacht or piece of resort real estate. It can be done for strictly monetary reasons, but typically there is some amount of personal access involved. One of the main motivators for a fractional purchase is the ability to share the costs of maintaining an asset that will not be used full-time by one owner.
Aerion Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer based in Reno, Nevada. It was founded by Robert Bass of Fort Worth.
Fractional ownership of aircraft is an arrangement in which multiple owners share the use and costs of purchasing and operating an aircraft. Several management companies provide fractional ownership programs for aircraft, including NetJets, Flexjet, Volato, PlaneSense, and AirSprint. Alternatively, owners can join together to purchase their aircraft, independently of a larger management company.
VistaJet is a global business aviation company founded in 2004 by Thomas Flohr. The firm flies between any two points, under a "pay for hours flown" fare structure.
Jet Republic was a privately held company jet company that offered private jet cards and share ownership. It was closed in 2009.
CitationAir by Cessna, founded in 2000 as CitationShares, was a subsidiary of Cessna Aircraft Company that provided private aviation services. It offered services in fractional jet ownership, jet card membership, corporate solutions and whole aircraft management. CitationAir was one of the four major players in the private aviation market during its time in operation. It was a seven-time winner of Best of the Best awards from the Robb Report, most recently in 2009.
XO is a US-based private aviation company and subsidiary of Vista Global with its headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. XO, with a worldwide fleet access of more than 1,450 private aircraft, offers clients on-demand private jet charters with fixed-price membership programs as alternatives to jet cards and fractional ownership of aircraft. The company also offers the ability to purchase individual seats on pre-arranged, shared flights.
Kenneth C. "Kenn" Ricci is an American aviation entrepreneur, the principal of Directional Aviation Capital, which owns or invests in various aviation enterprises including Flight Options and Flexjet, which he also serves as chairman. He is an operating partner at Resilience Capital Partners, a private equity firm with a wide variety of portfolio companies, including an investment in Flight Options, and has helped found or lead other companies, including Nextant Aerospace and Constant Aviation.
Privé Jets is a private company that brokers air transportation and luxury private charters. The company has over 7,000 aircraft in its network and access to 50,000 airports worldwide. The company is headquartered in Hallandale, Florida. In 2012, Privé Jets was named to the Inc. 5000. As of 2017, the company had made the list for six consecutive years. It had $28.5 million in annual revenues in 2005, according to Inc.
Superior Air Charter is a private jet charter company based out of Dallas, Texas. The company was founded in 2006 by Alex Wilcox. In 2008, the company was re-branded from Magnum Jet after a push from financial backers. Wilcox currently serves as CEO of the company.
PrivateFly is a global private jet charter broker company with websites covering 19 countries:. The company's main headquarters are in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England. The company is a member of ACANA, BACA, EBAA and NBAA aviation industry bodies. In 2018 PrivateFly became part of Directional Aviation's OneSky portfolio of companies.
Tradewind Aviation, LLC, doing business as Tradewind Aviation and Tradewind Shuttle, is an American airline headquartered at the Waterbury-Oxford Airport in Oxford, Connecticut, United States. Tradewind Aviation provides private and scheduled service in the Northeast, Southeast, and the Caribbean, as well as aircraft management services. The air charter company is best known for its Westchester to Nantucket summer ticket books, and its Puerto Rico to St. Barths scheduled service.
Airstream Jets, Inc. is a private jet charter company founded in 2008 with headquarters in Boca Raton, Florida. The company is a member of the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA).
Michael J. “Mike” Silvestro is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Directional Aviation's private fractional aviation travel businesses, which include Flexjet and Flight Options two of the world's three largest fractional jet companies.
Flexjet is an American provider of fractional ownership aircraft, leasing, and jet card services. Founded in 1995 as a division of Bombardier Aerospace, it is currently owned by Directional Aviation, an aviation private investment firm.
Fly Aeolus is a Belgian limited liability partnership (BV) which offers private jet flights in the form of an air taxi under a fractional ownership model. The company was founded in 2009 in the city of Antwerp, where it still has its headquarters. Other office locations are located in Rotterdam and Berlin. Fly Aeolus is the largest Cirrus SR-22 operator in Europe and flies on-demand to a total of 1,600 airports and airfields on the continent. Among them, Fly Aeolus has aircraft bases in Lyon, Semur-en-Auxois (France), Essen, Kulmbach, Schönhagen, Husum and Strausberg (Germany).
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