A Honda Aircraft subsidiary has taken a minority stake in Thrive to start a fractional jet program featuring HA-420s and Challenger 3500s.
Thrive Aviation, backed by Honda Motor Company, is launching a new fractional private jet ownership program.
According to a press release from Thrive, the platform is “designed to scale significantly over the coming decade.”
Arulean Air, a recently formed Honda Aircraft Company subsidiary, has entered a “long-term strategic partnership” and taken a minority ownership stake in Henderson, Nevada-based operator.
Honda Aircraft is a wholly owned subsidiary of Honda Motor.
Last year, Thrive ranked as the 12th-largest U.S. operator based on charter and fractional flight hours.
The fractional program will operate Honda’s HA-420, a very light jet that offers four to five passenger seats depending on configuration.
It will also include Bombardier Challenger 3500 super-midsize jets.
Honda and Bombardier don’t directly compete.
The Challenger is the smallest aircraft the Canadian OEM makes.
Bombardier exited the midsize and light jet market when it stopped production of the Learjet in 2021.
Thrive Co-founder and CEO Curtis Edenfield says, “Adding fractional ownership opportunities enables Thrive Aviation to serve a broad spectrum of clients throughout their entire private aviation journey – from private charters to fractional ownership to full ownership.”
The first two aircraft have already been delivered.
Plans call for adding four to six HondaJets with two to four Challengers annually, so six to 10 jets per year.
Arulean Air will acquire aircraft for the program.
After delivery, it will transfer the aircraft to Thrive, which will serve as program manager and operator.
Edenfield tells Private Jet Card Comparisons that Thrive’s charter fleet will support the fractional program as it scales.
He declined to comment on whether the Challengers are being purchased directly from Bombardier.
Thrive has a letter of intent for Honda’s Echelon, a long-range light jet currently being developed.
That aircraft is expected to enter service by 2029.
In an interview before this morning’s announcement, Edenfield said, “Initially, we will be targeting the Western U.S,” adding, “How we grow beyond that will be determined at a future date.”
The CEO declined to provide background on how the deal came to be except to say, “The two companies have been working on this together for some time, and we’re announcing it now because the partnership is in place.”
Arulean Air was registered in Delaware this past March.
More details about the program will be announced next month during the National Business Aviation Association’s annual convention in Las Vegas.
Thrive will host a static display with both aircraft.
The move brings a backer with deep pockets and a longstanding commitment to private aviation into fractional ownership, where market leaders NetJets and Flexjet have been soaring since the Covid private jet travel surge.
NetJets has been owned by Berkshire Hathaway since 1998.
Last year, an LVMH-backed private equity fund bought an $800 million stake in Flexjet.
In its most recent financial year, Honda Motor Company, the parent of Honda Aircraft, had $143.8 billion in revenue, ending with $33.8 billion in cash and cash equivalents, according to Fitch Ratings.
It posted its first annual loss in 70 years after a $9 billion write-down for its EV business.
However, last month it raised its full-year operating profit forecast by 30% to 650 billion yen, or $4.1 billion at the then exchange rate.
Tokyo-based Honda’s commitment to private aviation dates back to 1986 when it first started researching the market.
The concept for the HA-420 didn’t emerge until 1997, and it took until 2015 for the first delivery.
Honda Aircraft currently has over 1,500 employees at its 133-acre campus in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Edenfield said the partnership with Honda provides the “scale and the horizon to grow.”
Thrive currently offers on-demand charter, aircraft management, jet card memberships and aircraft maintenance.
It launched its first jet card offering both guaranteed pricing and availability in May 2025.
The 2018 start-up saw flight hours grow 21% year over year last year, following 29% year-over-year growth in 2024 per ARGUS Traqpak.
It holds ARGUS Platinum Elite and Wyvern Wingman Pro safety ratings, as well as an IS-BAO Stage 2 rating.
Thrive, backed by Spreetail Co-founder Vitali Lapko, has been named to the Inc 5000 for five consecutive years.
Revenues in 2026 are expected to top $250 million.
Edenfield says the company is profitable and has no debt.
READ: Private Jet Fractional Ownership and Leases – A Complete Guide
Last year, Honda Aircraft delivered just 12 HA-420s, up from 11 in 2024.
After debuting in 2015, deliveries peaked at 43 in 2017, then went to 37, 36, 31, and 37 in 2021 before dropping to 17 in 2022.
In 2024, Honda executives told The Japan News they wanted to deliver 60 aircraft in 2028.
In a recent interview with Aviation Week, Honda executives said they expect to ramp up annual deliveries of its VLJs to 25 per year in the next 18 months.
They attributed the falloff to “one specific supplier.”
Honda’s investment in Thrive makes it the second OEM to back a fractional company recently.
FlyEpic, separate from the manufacturer Epic Aircraft but sharing a common owner, sells fractional and jet card programs for the OEM’s Epic E1000 GX.
The move reverses an early-century flow in which OEMs exited the business of operating the jets they make.
Textron Aviation ended its CitationAir jet card and fractional program in 2014.
Bombardier, which founded Flexjet, left the operator market in 2013, selling the fractional to Directional Aviation.
Raytheon sold its Hawker and Beechcraft units in 2006, and its Flight Options fractional and jet card business returned to its founder, Kenn Ricci, in 2007.
READ: Aviation parts supply chain will worsen, say maintenance pros
While the HondaJet has been popular with owner-pilots and flyers who praise its quiet cabin and comfortable seating, operators have struggled to turn a profit with programmatic offerings.
Jet It, Volato, and Jet AI all offered fractional programs using the aircraft.
Volato and Jet It had expanded their programs nationally.
Jet It ceased operations in 2023 before liquidating last December.
Volato ended its fractional and jet card programs in September 2024.
In July, Jet AI exited its regional HondaJet fractional program via a transaction with FlyExclusive.
At the same time, the Challenger 300 platform has become the go-to answer for fractional and dedicated jet card programs.
The Bombardier super-midsize jet has long been featured by NetJets, Flexjet, and VistaJet, the three largest U.S. program operators.
Earlier this year, Vista Global placed 40 firm orders for Challenger 3500s with 120 options.
Fourth-largest Wheels Up recently converted its super-midsize fleet to all Challengers.
Fifth-biggest FlyExclusive is doing the same.
Executives at both companies have credited the Bombardier aircraft and its high dispatch reliability to driving financial improvements.
Other top operators, including Airshare, Nicholas Air, and Northern Jet, offer the Challenger platform for fractional ownership or jet cards.
Magellan Jets and FXAir, two brokers, offer dedicated Challenger super-midsize jet cards.
Baker Aviation, the 10th-largest operator, has expanded with over 20 Challenger 300s it acquired from Flexjet.
AB Jets, a Tennessee-based operator, recently launched a Challenger 3500 jet card.
Bond, a start-up fractional program due to take flight in 2027, has included the Challenger 3500 in a $5 billion order with Bombardier.
The Challengers offer a stand-up cabin and coast-to-coast range.
They can also fly from the West Coast to Hawaii.
Honda Aircraft and Arulean executives were not available for comment.
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