Vista Global Holding reported a 50 percent year-over-year revenue increase in 2022 driven by a 74 percent rise in VistaJet’s program membership gross hours sold in the same period, the private aviation provider announced today. The increase in membership gross hours sold is more than three times pre-pandemic levels and gives greater visibility on forward demand from three-year client signings, Vista added.
“It has been an incredible 2022 for Vista with strong growth across all of our core regions and offerings during the year,” said Vista Global founder and chairman Thomas Flohr. “We have hugely invested in our global infrastructure.”
That investment in infrastructure includes the acquisitions of Air Hamburg and Jet Edge during 2022, as well as Camber Technologies, which augments Vista’s technology capabilities to further automate fleet scheduling, booking, and sourcing.
During 2022 Vista added a net 117 aircraft, including additional Bombardier Global 7500 ultra-long-range business jets for a total of 18. The Vista member fleet now numbers more than 360 aircraft.
Flohr added that entering 2023, Vista has invested in Dufour Aerospace, which is developing tilt-wing VTOL and eVTOL aircraft. The investment “reiterates our commitment to ensuring a greener future for our industry and clients,” Flohr said.
The preowned single-engine helicopter market remained tight for most of 2022 worldwide, with some signs of loosening in North America during most of the year and in Europe during the fourth quarter. Sales for these types were down 12 percent in 2022 compared with 2021, according to helicopter consultancy Aero Asset. For the year, 212 units sold for a collective $387 million—down 15 percent by value from 2021.
VIP singles accounted for 60 percent of all transactions in 2022 while the supply of helicopters configured for emergency medical services remains at an all-time low. The number of utility helicopters for sale dropped 30 percent year-over-year. The supply of popular models remains tight with just five months’ supply of Airbus AS350B3/H125, Bell 407/GX/P/I, and Airbus EC130B4/H130 helicopters remaining at 2022 trade levels. Leonardo’s AW119, while ranked last, still had a strong absorption rate of 10 months.
“North American buyers accounted for nearly 60 percent of all single-engine transactions in 2022 while retail transactions in Europe fell 40 percent year-over-year,” said Aero Asset v-p of market research Valerie Pereira. “Inventory for sale plummeted 40 percent year-over-year, but rose in the fourth quarter and actually tripled in North America between the second and last quarters of 2022.”
FAA acting Administrator Billy Nolen stressed the importance of “thinking outside of the box” as the industry attempts to bring in new talent and build the workforce. The agency has learned that “you’ve got to go where the audience is,” Nolen said during an RTCA webinar on Wednesday. “Chances are the people we need are probably not on this [webinar].”
He cited as an example an FAA campaign to recruit air traffic control candidates. “When we were looking to…bring on the next generation of air traffic controllers, we went to TikTok influencers to help get the word out. We went to gamers to tell us…some of the skillsets.”
Using that approach, the FAA went out with a campaign. “We thought, okay, we’d get maybe 10,000 applications,” he said. Instead, the agency received nearly 850,000 hits on its site and 60,000 applications for 1,500 controller jobs. He said this shows what happens when “you think differently.”
He added that the applications represented a diverse field that included “incredible numbers” of females and underrepresented minorities. Such a field is critical, he added. “If we've got a diversity of opinion, a diversity of background, a diversity of ideas coming into the fore, that's the kind of atmosphere you need in which to grow.”
Geneva, Switzerland-based private jet broker Climate JetClub is rolling out a map-based empty legs app that it hopes will provide a more sustainable approach to what otherwise could be passenger-less flights. Climate JetClub said it was inspired to develop an empty legs marketplace because those flights can contribute to the negative public perception of business aviation’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, empty legs are usually offered at a discounted price, it added.
The app makes it possible for passengers to more easily locate and book on what would have been empty legs, the company said. Users can see flights in real-time on a live map and interact with others by posting content.
While the app is only available to Android users for now, an iOS application is in the works, and users of either can access the data via the company’s website. Climate JetClub anticipates the release of a version 2.0 app later this year that will also offer the ability to buy virtual advertising space near airports or landmarks and will make it possible to buy flights as a group.
A global pilot shortage is anticipated to extend through at least 2032, with North America anticipated to feel the brunt of it as post-Covid demand exceeds new entrants, according to analyst Jefferies. Citing recent insight from Oliver Wyman Global Aerospace partner Geoff Murray, Jefferies reported that the number of retiring pilots is improving from 13,000 in 2020 to 6,000 in 2022. Jefferies added that the global supply of pilots is also increasing.
Even so, that increase is surpassed by the surge in demand post-Covid, with an estimated shortage of growth of 11,000 in 2024. That shortfall could increase to 60,000 globally by 2032 “if mitigating actions are not taken,” Jefferies further stated.
North America and Africa, albeit at a lesser magnitude, are the primary regions facing shortages. West Europe, the Middle East, South America, and Latin America will also experience shortages, but not to the same extent.
“The pilot shortage has arrived earliest in North America,” Jefferies said, saying the gap of pilots is anticipated to be at 17,000 from 2025 onward. The rise in early retirements, exacerbated by Covid, with increasing demand is widening the gap, Jefferies noted.
An upward trend in Air Transport Pilot certificate issuances is not keeping up and retirements and new capacity likely will outpace that activity.
Aviation Safety Question of the Week
Provided by
The speed of sound in the air is related:
A. Proportionally to the air temperature (speed of sound increases as temperature increases).
B. Inversely proportional to the air temperature (speed of sound decreases as temperature increases).
C. Inversely proportional to the air density (speed of sound decreases as density increases).
D. B or C above, depending on the air pressure and humidity.
The Canadian Business Aviation Association (CBAA) has joined the Canadian Drone Advisory Committee (CanaDAC) Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Task Group #2, the association said late last week. CBAA intends to help shape the direction and priorities of AAM development in Canada through the task group, which is a joint initiative between the Canadian Advanced Air Mobility Consortium and Transport Canada.
According to CBAA, the task group’s initial objective is to compile an inventory of anticipated AAM use cases, focusing on those closest to commercialization and excluding those that are already operational or where regulatory action is presently underway. The latter include remote pilot air systems in visual line of sight (VLOS) and beyond VLOS operations in remote areas.
“The end deliverable is expected to provide sufficient detail indicating what exactly each would entail, feasibility, and provide realistic timeframes based on the technology readiness,” CBAA said. The association added that it will provide future business aviation-use case perspectives such as expected business markets, barriers for entry, and required regulatory framework adjustments.
Public charter operator Aero has expanded from the West Coast and opened a hub in Dallas. The opening comes on the heels of Aero’s Series B funding round, which is being used for the company’s market expansion, as well as to meet the increased demand on its existing routes.
“Dallas was an obvious next choice for the brand due to its central location, which will help position Aero for future growth across the U.S.,” the company said. The Dallas hub will be operated out of Signature Aviation’s terminal facility at Dallas Love Field.
Flights from Dallas will serve Aspen, Colorado, beginning May 18, and Los Cabos, Mexico, beginning April 21. Introductory rates start at $1,000 one way.
Aero uses refurbished Embraer ERJ-135 regional jets converted to all-first-class seating. In addition to Dallas, the startup operates private terminals at Los Angeles International Airport, Van Nuys Airport, and San Francisco International Airport that also serve destinations to Los Cabos, Aspen, and Sun Valley, Idaho.
On Friday, Lockheed Martin unit Sikorsky delivered its 5,000th Hawk-variant helicopter—a U.S. Army UH-60M Black Hawk. The medium-lift UH-60 family of helicopters dates back to its first flight in 1974 and has been operational in customer fleets since 1978.
“Sikorsky as a company has been forged by the Black Hawk,” said president Paul Lemmo. More than 35 international customers operate the Black Hawk, which is built at the company's Stratford, Connecticut plant. The S-70 Black Hawk variant is manufactured by Lockheed Martin’s PZL Mielec facility in Poland. Black Hawk platform derivatives include the MH-60R/S for maritime operations, MH-60T for multi-missions, HH-60W rescue helicopter, and internationally built S-70 Black Hawk, including the baseline Firehawk.
The U.S. Army is the largest Black Hawk customer and plans to operate the helicopter for at least another 40 years, according to Col. Calvin Lane, the U.S. Army’s utility helicopter project manager for the Program Executive Office for Aviation.
In February 2022, Lockheed Martin flew its first uninhabited, optionally piloted UH-60A/S-70 Black Hawk testbed equipped with Sikorsky’s Matrix autonomy technology in collaboration with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Later flights at the U.S. Army's Project Convergence 2022 demonstrated future utility missions for the platform.
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