November 12, 2024
Management and jet card provider Jet Linx Aviation has named Brent Wouters as CEO with plans to double its fleet.
Jet Linx CEO Jamie Walker is stepping into the Chairman slot, and Brent Wouters (pictured left) joins the Omaha-based private jet flight provider as its chief executive.
Wouters was most recently at Iron Valley Supply, a global outdoor shooting sports, equipment, and adventure company.
He served as President & CEO for three-and-a-half years in that position.
Previously Wouters was President & CEO of Cirrus Aircraft.
During his 10-year tenure took the company from a small domestic startup to the best-selling aircraft in 60 countries.
Speaking yesterday before the announcement, Walker tells Private Jet Card Comparisons he had been trying to get Wouters to join for over a decade.
Plans call to double the fleet by 2026, according to the executives.
Jet Linx is the eighth-largest U.S. private jet operator based on fractional and charter flight hours.
Growth will continue via acquisitions and increased management contracts.
There are no plans to acquire private jets to operate or launch a fractional program.
The executives also said there are no plans for a SPAC IPO.
“At this time, it’s the opposite,” says Wouters.
Walker and Wouters say the appointment was a reflection of the new chairman that, after building the company into a leading presence to reach the next level, would take a leader with different skills.
Wouters says, “Jamie has the self-awareness he has built a great business. He’s not afraid to say I know what I’m good at.”
Walker says with the private jet charter market cooling, he believes there will be more acquisition opportunities.
Wouters says Jet Linx has a “very strong balance sheet, lots of cash, organizational and strong infrastructure.”
Walker says Jet Linx has the capital it needs for M&A activity.
“The last two years were hyper-competitive with an over-inflated marketplace…We looked at over 100 deals and only acquired one, Southern Jet. We had to patiently sit on the sidelines and wait,” Walker adds.
The pair believe Jet Linx can grow from the “hundreds of millions” revenue to a billion-dollar company.
Walker says he first met Wouters at an event in Atlanta hosted by a former franchise owner.
Since that time, he had twice tried to get the new CEO to come to Jet Linx, first as CFO and now in his current role, succeeding on his third try.
According to the announcement, Wouters brings experiences in aviation, automotive, manufacturing, and distribution verticals, with deep and diverse experience in sales, marketing, engineering, finance, accounting, risk management, and regulation.
Earlier this year, Jet Linx cut peak days and callouts on its jet card program. During the surge, it stopped sales to new customers and changed terms to improve reliability.
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