January 28, 2024
Florida-based charter operator Rennia Aviation is buying Dumont’s Aircraft Charter group.
Gainesville, Florida-based Rennia Aviation is buying Dumont’s aircraft charter group, Private Jet Card Comparisons can report exclusively.
The news was disclosed earlier today in an email to Dumont staff.
In a telephone interview tonight, Rennia Aviation Founder and CEO Ed Rennia says between Dumont’s fleet, Rennia’s current aircraft, and additional private jets going through conformance, the company will have 34 aircraft on its Part 135 certificate.
According to Dumont’s website, it currently has eight aircraft available for charter, including six Gulfstream IVSPs, a Dassault Falcon 2000, and Falcon 50, with one more GIVSP listed as coming soon.
In 2019, Dumont ranked as the 22nd largest Part 135 charter operator, according to Argus TraqPak, although it had fallen off the list since that point.
Rennia says discussions with Dumont began in early December. In addition to people, it gets facilities at Dumont’s New Castle, Delaware base.
It also brings maintenance equipment for both the Gulfstream and Falcon fleets.
Rennia currently has seven Falcon 2000s.
The Florida operator handles its own maintenance, according to Rennia.
The acquirer currently doesn’t offer its own jet card but had been ready to launch about two years ago. The CEO says in the meantime, it will honor the cards it inherits from Dumont’s current customers.
Dumont last year curtailed its jet card program as demand hit record levels, continuing only to offer a large cabin option for new buyers.
“It will give us experience servicing those customers with our expanded fleet,” Rennia says.
However, he adds, “We haven’t formulated a plan at this point. It’s something we will be looking at.”
According to the email sent earlier today to Dumont employees, signed by “the executive team,” the company was in the middle of a restructuring plan.
It begins, “We’re writing to update you on our ongoing reorganization process and to announce some positive news.”
The email continues, “As you know from past updates, we spent a great deal of time working through the logistics of right-sizing the company and improving our business processes across all business lines as pandemic pressures gave way to increased demand, most notably in charter. Through this process, we gained valuable information regarding our business lines, which information has led us to the decision that we should partner with a skilled and successful charter operator so that the charter vision we laid out last year can be realized.”
The communication then goes on to state, “[We] are excited to announce that Ed Rennia and his team at Rennia Aviation will be stepping in to purchase Dumont Aircraft Charter and to continue executing on the vision of building a successful and sustainable charter operation. We are closing on the transaction tomorrow, January 31, 2023, with Ed taking the reins on February 1, 2023.”
While M&A activity with jet card and charter providers had slowed as sellers hiked prices against record demand, several industry insiders believe with the charter market cooling; deals will pick up again.
In addition to charter, Dumont offers maintenance, refurbishment, and part sales.
Dumont was founded in 2013. It became a significant player in the jet card market several years ago when it bought 27 Falcon 2000s being retired from the NetJets fleet.
Some of those are now flying for the new owner of its charter division.
Rennia launched his namesake company in 2015 with a single light jet.
He says no further acquisitions are planned, although he is building an additional hangar in Gainesville.
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