The two largest private jet operators in the world are headquartered 21 minutes from each other as the private jet flies. Judging by Flexjet’s current ad campaign, the gloves are off…
It’s 114 nautical miles as the private jet flies from John Glenn Columbus International Airport in central Ohio north to Cuyahoga County Airport in Cleveland. The former is home to Warren Buffett-owned NetJets, the largest operator of private jets in the world, and the undisputed leader in fractional ownership. The latter is the home turf of Golden Domer, Kenn Ricci, whose wide smile and neighborly demeanor belie that in his own right he has made a mark in aviation, acknowledged in 2017 with the Lifetime Aviation Entrepreneur Award at the 14th Annual Living Legends of Aviation Awards.
We wanted to poke the bear
Christopher Bero, vice president of global marketing, Flexjet
Flexjet fractional, lease and jet card customers will be getting VIP access and invites to during the car lovers bonanza
Flexjet is rolling out the red carpet for its customers via a
series of events available during at Monterey Car Week, the ultimate mecca for
automobile enthusiasts, for the 17th consecutive year.
From dinner invitations to events previously closed to the public to branded entertainment and exclusive driving experiences, Flexjet, its partner brands, and friends will offer jet card customers and fractional shareowners what it describes as “a Monterey Car Week like none they have ever seen before.”
Aircraft manufacturer Bombardier founded Flexjet in 1995. It focuses on fractional ownership and leases of private jets and also has a limited jet card program.
Since 2012, it has been part of the Directional Aviation family of companies created by private aviation entrepreneur Ken Ricci, including Sentient Jet, PrivateFly, Tuvoli, FXAir, jet re-manufacturer Nextant Aerospace and jet sales company Sojourn Aviation, as well as others. Its operating unit is OneSky Flight, LLC.
In 2021, OneSky Flight acquired helicopter operators in the U.S. and U.K. and rebranded them under Halo. OneSky also placed an order for 200 eVTOLs from Embraer-backed EVE. The goal is to create door-to-door private aviation solutions for customers of Flexjet and other OneSky brands.
Separately, a SPAC led by Ricci priced at $200 million launched on the NASDAQ in November 2020.
The company has billion-dollar orders for Embraer’s Praetor 500 and 600, the upcoming Gulfstream G700. It also had an order for 20 of the now-discontinued supersonic Aerion AS2 private jets.
The company is based in Cleveland and ranks second behind NetJets based on fractional share operators’ flight hours.
Flexjet serves customers located in North America and in 2020, expanded to Europe.
In March 2021, it launched a jet card program in Europe based on the Embraer Legacy 500.
In October 2022, it announced plans for a SPAC IPO.
As part of its SPAC merger, OneSky Flight will be renamed Flexjet, Inc. Constant Aviation will join the flight providers (Flexjet, Sentient Jet, FXAir, PrivateFly, Sirio, and Flair Jet) in the public company. Tuvoli, 4Air and others will remain privately held.
Directional Aviation is its controlling shareholder. It is part of OneSky Flight, which includes Sentient Jet, FXAIR, PrivateFly, and Tuvoli. An IPO of OneSky is planned for 2023, when it will be renamed Flexjet, Inc. and trade as FXJ on the New York Stock Exchange
