Two additional Challenger 3500s will join AB Jets following delivery of its first three super-midsize private jets.
After receiving its third Challenger 3500 from Bombardier last week, AB Jets revealed that it quietly had placed an order for two more of the super-midsize private jets.
The initial order was placed in October 2023 during NBAA.
The new order has previously not been revealed.
“When we first ordered our bank of three, it was a two-year delivery window,” Founder and CEO Andrew Bettis tells Private Jet Card Comparisons, adding, “Now it’s out to three years, but we’re about two and a half years to go now to our fourth, and then a little bit longer for our fifth.”
At the same time, the Tennessee-based charter operator is launching a jet card offering that provides guaranteed rates and availability across an extensive service area from South America to Alaska.
Bettis (pictured right) says the intention is to accommodate clients on the Challenger fleet while still providing guaranteed availability.
Memberships will be limited to perhaps no more than a dozen customers.
Bettis says the company has already signed up its first customer.
The jet card is being sold in blocks of either 25 or 50 hours.
The Challenger 3500 features the same Nuage zero-gravity seats found on the Global 8000.
All of AB Jets’ Challengers feature Starlink WiFi.
With a divan in the rear cabin, there are also nine seats.
Perhaps most interesting is the guaranteed rate service area.
It runs from Alaska to South America, including all of Canada, Mexico, and Central America, a rarity in jet card programs.
Co-owner and Director of Operations, David Turner, and Bettis say the number of total clients accepted to the program will be based on how many hours they buy and flying patterns.
There is a two-hour minimum, and the executives say they are looking to attract coast-to-coast and East Coast flyers to complement their strong wholesale business.
The jet card features a 168-hour non-peak callout.
Turner says the longer callout is purposeful.
The goal is to keep customers on-fleet as much as possible since the payoff is flying on its new Challenger 3500s.
The hourly rate for the 25-hour card is $13,650, plus the fuel surcharge and FET, for a total of $15,050.
There are only 30 peak days in the program.
Peak days carry a 20% surcharge and require 336 hours’ notice.
The Challenger super-midsize series is featured by more than a half dozen jet card providers.
However, only one other program also has an exclusive Challenger 3500 fleet.
Other programs use a mix, mostly the Challenger 300 and Challenger 350.
With NetJets stopping sales of jet cards to new customers and Flexjet using its Challenger jet card to focus on closing fractional sales, both AB Jets executives believe the timing is right to combine the state-of-the-art Challengers with the company’s boutique approach.
Bettis founded the Memphis-based operator in 1999.
In addition to its growing Challenger fleet, the company operates eight Learjet 60 midsize jets.
The company operates nationwide using a floating fleet model.
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