Jet It Taking Its Business International as JetClub
The founders of fractional operator Jet It are taking their company, built around the HondaJet, overseas to Europe and Asia and calling it JetClub. JetClub will operate under a different business model—as a membership-based travel service in Southeast Asia and India, and as a hybrid-fractional share company in Europe.
“After experiencing success and a positive reception to Jet It in North America, we believed we could create a global leader in affordable private travel solutions, and the launch of JetClub is the next step towards that goal,” said Jet It co-founder Vishal Hiremath.
Led by Hiremath and Glenn Gonzales, both former Honda Aircraft sales executives, Jet It will provide service and jet access to JetClub members traveling in North America and vice versa to Jet It owners traveling abroad. “We plan to replicate Jet It’s success in Europe and Asia with the same high level of customer service excellence we are known for,” Gonzales said. “Members/owners can call our international concierge and we will arrange transportation as they travel throughout these regions.”
As part of the expansion, Jet It/JetClub will take delivery of two more HondaJets, bringing the company’s combined HondaJet fleet to seven aircraft. Launched in 2018 in North Carolina, Jet It employs more than 50 and is on track to expand its fleet to double digits by the end of the year.
WingX: Business Aviation Ops See Continued Recovery
Business aviation movements continue to strengthen globally, down just 12 percent year-over-year so far in September, a marked improvement from the respective declines in June, July, and August of 20 percent, 18 percent, and 16 percent, according to industry analyst WingX. Overall, the sector continues to be more buoyant than airline flying, which is down 57 percent in the U.S. and 60 percent in Europe, WingX added.
The recovery for business aviation is occurring at different rates through the various regions. Some 65 percent of global activity is U.S. based, WingX said. Europe, the next busiest market, has seen activity drop to about 6 percent below September 2019 after a 3 percent year-over-year jump in August.
Propelling flight recovery in the U.S. is charter demand. Branded charter flight hours are down about 12 percent year-to-date but have improved throughout the summer and are now up 4 percent so far this month. “The European market is showing predictable slowdown as leisure demand winds up, although the light jet charter market has stayed resilient,” said WingX managing director Richard Koe. “The U.S. market is improving on its recent YOY trend, with the boost coming from charter operations. A key question for the industry going into Q4 is whether the new first-time users of business aviation will stick.”
Boeing NeXt To Close, Raising Doubts over eVTOL Efforts
Boeing is closing its Boeing NeXt innovation division just over two years since it launched the venture at the 2018 Farnborough Air Show. The move, confirmed by a Boeing spokeswoman today, raises questions about the future of the company’s shareholdings in eVTOL aircraft developers Wisk and Aurora Flight Sciences. Also now in doubt is whether Boeing will continue its investment in Aerion and its AS2 supersonic business jet program.
Boeing NeXt vice president and general manager Steve Nordlund announced the move to staff in an internal letter on September 15 and indicated that the decision had been taken in response to heavy financial losses sustained in the wake of the 737 Max grounding and the Covid crisis. “Our goal is to move to a full pause as swiftly as possible,” he explained. “Organizations like these only have the privilege to exist when you have a healthy core business.”
Boeing's NeXt division has been working on two eVTOL prototypes—one designated as a Passenger Air Vehicle and another a Cargo Air Vehicle. Through its Wisk joint venture formed in 2019 with Kitty Hawk, it is developing a two-seat eVTOL design called Cora.
The NeXt business unit also includes the SkyGrid joint venture that Boeing launched with SparkCognition in November 2018. This is focused on developing software for air traffic management of autonomous aircraft.
California’s Orange County board of supervisors this week approved the awarding of 35-year leases at John Wayne-Orange County Airport (SNA) to FBO operators ACI Jets and Clay Lacy Aviation. The board last month selected the two California-based companies to spearhead its new general aviation redevelopment plan, despite the airport’s RFP process awarding the highest score in the evaluation to incumbent Atlantic Aviation.
ACI, which replaced Signature Flight Support there in 2017, was unanimously approved by the supervisors. Meanwhile, Clay Lacy, which received a 3-2 vote in the initial selection phase, garnered the requisite 4-1 margin required for the lease approval after one board member relented and changed his vote in the interest of “moving forward."
Atlantic Aviation, which has serviced SNA for nearly two decades, is now operating there on a month-to-month lease, and CEO Lou Pepper told AIN that while his company disagrees with the decision, it is still maintaining a relationship with the airport as a tenant. He declined to comment on any possible legal options, stating “we’re going to try to do a very orderly transition if we have to do a transition, and we will be professional as always in taking care of our customers and fulfilling our obligations to the airport.”
Covid Brings New Complexities to Charter Ops, Execs Say
As charter flights start to pick up, the lingering pandemic has raised a new series of questions for operators and brokers on how to handle cancellations and other issues that crop up as a result of Covid-19. “It does get really complicated. There isn’t a lot of guidance,” Elleana Spanos, senior legal counsel at Air Charter Service, said yesterday during the latest NATA Air Charter Roundtable webinar. “It’s all so fresh. We’re just working our way through it.”
The webinar, focused on “Forging Ahead,” is part of a monthly series that NATA has held to keep a dialog open on the many issues confronting charter operators during the pandemic.
According to Argus, charter flights have continued to tick up and marked a 0.4 percent year-over-year improvement in August. Alerion Aviation COO Suran Wijayawardana said his operation is just beginning to see some return of business flights. But he added that business flights are still “not back” and personal flights are estimated to account for some 80 percent of flying.
As these flights are ongoing, charter providers and brokers are facing new dilemmas on how to handle Covid-related cancellations on both the passenger’s and the operator’s part. Spanos noted that every operator has a different approach. Some will just walk away from the flight and refund the payments, while others will assess cancellation fees.
Jet Aviation has acquired Arlin’s Aircraft Services, one of two FBOs at Montana’s Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport. Arlin’s, which will retain its aircraft maintenance operation, has provided aviation service at the airport since 1979. Its facility there includes a 5,000-sq-ft terminal with passenger lobby, two pilot lounges, shower facilities, conference room, flight-planning area, and crew cars, along with more than 60,000 sq ft of hangar space with 27-foot high hangar doors.
According to the General Dynamics subsidiary, plans call for a renovation of the terminal, the upgrading of ground service equipment, and the construction of a new hangar capable of sheltering the latest ultra-long-range business jets. The staff at the facility will be retained. For Basel, Switzerland-based Jet Aviation, this represents its ninth location in the U.S. and 33rd worldwide.
“Arlin’s FBO in Bozeman is a most welcome addition to our FBO network,” said David Best, Jet Aviation’s senior v-p and general manager for the Americas. “As the gateway to Yellowstone National Park and in close proximity to the Yellowstone Club and Big Sky Resort, Bozeman is Montana’s busiest airport and a key destination for our aircraft management and charter customers.”
Spike Retains Brian Foley as Executive Advisor on S-512
Spike Aerospace retained industry analyst Brian Foley to serve as an executive advisor on its S-512 supersonic business jet program. Foley, who will continue to run his Brian Foley Associates and AvStrategies advisory firms, brings a lengthy background in the business aviation market to Spike as it works to expand the S-512 program. Foley also formerly spent 20 years in marketing for Dassault Falcon Jet and has served with Boeing.
“Brian adds great value with his intimate knowledge of the business jet market and customers, deep industry contacts, strategic thinking, and working knowledge of the supersonic business jet frontier,” said Vik Kachoria, president and CEO of Spike Aerospace.
He joins a team at Spike that includes aviation executives such as former Deloitte Aerospace Group chairman Tom Captain and former Virgin Australia Airlines CEO John Thomas, who also recently joined.
“I know Spike is positioned in the ‘sweet spot’ of the industry in that it can quietly fly supersonic over land and is targeted at both the corporate jet and airline market,” Foley said. “Over my career, I have looked at a number of supersonic initiatives and am excited to be working with Spike Aerospace in bringing their vision to market.”
Spike is designing a Mach 1.6 business jet that would generate a low sonic boom over land and meet Stage 5 standards.
Universal Avionics Launches Online Training Academy
Universal Avionics has expanded its training offerings with the launch of UA Academy, an online learning center with on-demand courses for customers and authorized dealers/integrators. Courses currently available include SBAS flight management system (FMS) operations, VNAV basics, InSight display system operations for fixed-wing aircraft, FMS end-user maintenance, FMS return to service, and datalink fundamentals.
“As a company that provides innovative solutions, we recognize the importance of providing state-of-the-art training. Now, more than ever, with Covid-19 we are seeing an increased need for online learning,” said Universal Avionics CEO Dror Yahav. “We’ve worked to develop additional technology-based training devices to further support self and remote training, which will complement UA Academy.”
The company’s online courses apply tested adult learning theory and are built on a purpose-driven training platform designed for customer training. Interactive practices are mixed with short instructional videos. Students also have the option to accelerate their learning by pairing the online course with desktop training software and devices, as well as scenario-based instructor-led classroom training, Universal Avionics said.
Making Business Aviation Environmentally Sustainable
Making aviation environmentally sustainable is now a business opportunity, as much as an unavoidable imperative. Social, political and market pressures are converging to provide fresh impetus for business aviation to reduce its environmental footprint. Our webinar will consider the key paths to cutting carbon emissions, including new fuels, as well as other efficiencies within the industry’s operations. Join us on October 15th at 1:30pm as AIN Senior Editor Charles Alcock moderates this discussion with Keith R. Sawyer, Manager of Alternative Fuels, Avfuel Corporation.
Bose ProFlight Series 2 Pilot Headset Review
In this latest Gadget Central video, AIN editor-in-chief Matt Thurber gives Bose's ProFlight Series 2 noise cancelling headset a workout in both piston and jet aircraft.
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