October 17, 2024
PrivateFly will be rebranded as FXAir in early 2025 as part of the group’s plans to expand its premium private jet charter business.
European jet card and charter broker PrivateFly will be rebranded as FXAir in early 2025. Both are Flexjet, Inc. units, and plans call for expanding FXAir’s focus on selling premium private jet charter flights globally.
Jet card inventor Sentient Jet and fractional operator Flexjet are part of Directional Aviation’s Flexjet, Inc. group.
The group includes aircraft broker FXSolutions, MROs Constant Aviation and Flying Colours, and Sirio, an Italy-based aircraft management and maintenance provider.
Directional acquired PrivateFly, a 2008 U.K.-based start-up, in 2018.
In June 2020, it rebranded the U.S. side of PrivateFly as FXAir under former XOJet and NetJets executive Gregg Slow (pictured left).
Slow tells Private Jet Card Comparisons FXAir is expected to tally around $200 million in sales this year, a 190% increase since its launch.
During the period, staff has also doubled.
FXAir uses the FXSelect fleet, refurbished Phenom 300s, Challenger 300s, and Global Express XRS long-range jets that have exited Flexjet’s fractional fleet but are still operated by the company.
It also uses around 150 vetted third-party operators with 1,500 aircraft, which it considers premium charter aircraft.
Slow says a closed partner fleet differentiates itself from brokers who market access to 7,000 or 20,000 airplanes, essentially any aircraft on a charter certificate.
According to Slow, FXAir flying is split evenly between the FXSelect fleet and partner operators.
It currently flies between 800 and 900 hours per month on the FXSelect fleet.
According to ARGUS, which tracks the FX Select and Flexjet fractional tails together, Flexjet clocked 117,803 hours, a 15.7% year-over-year gain for 2024’s first six months.
FXAir would have accounted for around 5,000 of that total.
In fact, after the June 2020 launch, Slow says FXAir had to turn nearly exclusively to third-party operators.
Covid prompted Flexjet customers to fly at record levels, consuming the capacity of the FX Select fleet and beyond.
Charter operators saw a 5.2% drop in the year’s first half.
After regaining access to the FX Select fleet again in early 2023, FXAir launched a guaranteed availability membership program mid-last year.
Aviator + offers fixed hourly rates on Phenom 300 light jets and Challenger 300 super-midsize aircraft.
Slow says there are around 500 members across both programs.
Aviator + has about 50 members with the goal of doubling that number.
Members of Aviator received market-based dynamic pricing.
Members deposit $100,000 in the Aviator program.
Aviator + members fund accounts with at least $200,000 and, in return, receive fixed rates with guaranteed availability.
Slow says Aviator + members now have fixed rates in Europe.
They can also use funds with Flexjet Helicopter.
It operates a fleet of twin-engine rotorcraft in the Northeast U.S., South Florida, and Great Britain.
This Spring, PrivateFly rebranded its European jet card product as Aviator +, perhaps a precursor to the coming rebranding to FXAir.
Slow says the changes are part of the company’s storefront approach.
Its three flight provider brands each have distinct market positions.
Flexjet is focused on fractional ownership.
Sentient Jet is exclusive to jet cards.
FXAir covers ad hoc charters and supplements Sentient’s category jet cards with its membership model.
The companies shares backend services.
Slow says rebranding PrivateFly is part of its ongoing brand management.
In June 2022, Directional rebranded Sojourn Aviation to FXSolutions.
Directional Aviation Principal Kenn Ricci rebranded OneSky Flight to Flexjet, Inc., as part of a later shelved SPAC IPO announced in 2022.
The move marks a shift from PrivateFly’s origins when it was one of many brokers trying to digitize charter bookings.
By contrast, Slow says FXAir is focused on providing customers with a white glove experience.
He says there are over 150 touches between a customer making a charter request via phone, email, or online quote request and the time they board their private jet.
Similar to luxury-focused travel advisors who have seen their business surge by pivoting their focus to HNW clients, Slow says FXAir’s target customers “value having an expert involved in the process makes smoother and easier.”
Slow says the nature of “highly regulated” private aviation means technology can’t replace having expert advice.
He says there are too many moving parts and variables in a charter booking to rely on technology for on-demand charter bookings.
Slow cites everything from ever-changing airport operational hours to choosing the best airport.
Finding the optimal aircraft for your mission is also better done by an experienced broker who understands the differing configurations, baggage restrictions, constraints, and capabilities of the more than 100 aircraft types available for charter flights.
“The list goes on and on. You keep peeling the onion, and there is something where you want somebody who understands the nuances,” Slow says.
That said, an FXAir app will be available next year.
It will streamline trip management.
It is not designed to replace the initial booking consultation process, which Slow believes requires the human touch.
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