Benefits of the Ascent Club are said to include a dedicated travel adviser, guaranteed availability and recoveries, priority booking on peak travel days and up to an additional $250 in perks per flight.

“Our objective was to craft a membership programme with distinct benefits that demonstrates that we understand our clients and what is important to them,” said Barry Shevlin, co-founder and CEO, FlyUSA. “A key differentiator is the 2% cash back that rewards customers for being loyal. While other programmes keep clients at various tiers based on the size of their deposit, our programme pays clients back.”

The new programme divides membership levels into two tiers: Ascend Gold and Ascend Platinum. With a fully refundable deposit, the top-tier Platinum product offers the benefit of a shorter callout time frame of 72 hours, said the company. It has a fleet of 20 managed aircraft and more than 1,000 clients and members.

FlyUSA is based at Clearwater Airpark, Clearwater, Florida and has bases through the state. It also operates from locations in Texas. 

Meanwhile, in June 2023, FlyUSA  acquired 3B Aviation, at the time, expanding the company’s privately managed fleet to 15 aircraft. Speaking after the acquisition, Shevlin said: “We are excited at the opportunity to expand our aircraft acquisition and management services on behalf of our more than 700 on-demand charter clients across the country.”

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Embraer first entered into a SAF agreement with Avfuel in July 2021 under which it received one 8,000-gallon truckload of Neste MY SAF per quarter to Sheltair MLB, the FBO that provides storage and handling services for Embraer.  

Under the new agreement, the Avfuel will make weekly SAF deliveries from April onwards. The partnership is expected to result in a total of 240,000 gallons of SAF delivered to Embraer in 2024.

“Embraer’s collaboration with Avfuel and Sheltair marks a pivotal milestone in our journey toward net-zero emission flight operations,” said Michael Amalfitano, president and CEO, Embraer Executive Jets. “Our continued investment in SAF demonstrates our dedication to reducing emissions today and driving the industry closer to the net-zero aviation goal by 2050.”

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The Florida-based company assisted clients in a “wide variety” of transactions, with funding for jets, turboprops, pistons, helicopters and yachts.

Demand for loans is still strong in light, midsize and large cabin jets despite higher prices for used aircraft and a higher interest rate environment, according to company president Sam Harris.

But he said that loan demand generally in aviation is down.

A number of aviation and marine lenders tightened their credit requirements or stopped lending altogether in 2023, but JetLoan Capital says its “large and diverse” lending group enabled it to have a “productive” year.

JetLoan Capital assists clients through its network of more than 150 banks, credit unions, finance companies and private equity funding sources.

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PIA matches two owners to share one aircraft and pairs them to an aircraft manager. Owners fly their aircraft, on their schedule at half the cost of traditional private aviation options, said the company. “We have owners across the country interested in bringing on a co-owner to share their aircraft and split the cost,” said Mark Molloy, president, PIA. “The programme, PIA Managed Co-Ownership, allows non-owner candidates to skip the waiting process and get into a new or used aircraft immediately. Because our clients typically fly 100 hours per year, both owners can fly all their trips – at half the cost.”

Launched in 2016, PIA Managed Co-Ownership plan matches co-owner candidates in the same region and provides the legal framework that allows two owners to securely share one aircraft. The programme is said to appeal to users flying 50-150 hours per year who prefer ownership to membership. And it complies with the requirements of FAA and Inland Revenue Service (IRS). Clients can enter the programme as current owners looking to sell half their aircraft or non-owners seeking a 50% interest in an aircraft. The company offers co-ownership opportunities in every turbine category, from turboprop and light jets to mid, super mid, and heavy jets and works with major OEMs.

Simon Elliott, a Florida resident and experienced aircraft owner, did not consider co-ownership when he  ordered his 2023 Praetor 600 two years ago. But Elliott reconsidered when his adviser suggested the PIA  programme. “Initially I was reluctant, but their legal team and structure made me comfortable with the model and I liked the math,” said Elliot. “I could choose my pilots and manager, which was crucial to me, and the co-owner they introduced me to is a great fit. I now have the aircraft I ordered at half the original cost.”

Another jet owner who tried the PIA co-ownership programme is Bruce Bonafiglia, a former Challenger 350 owner based in New York, who now co-owns a new Challenger 3500. “The programme made sense based on our limited usage, and PIA introduced me to a wonderful co-owner,” said Bonafiglia. “I’ve owned several aircraft and appreciate the value-proposition of splitting the capital and operating costs.”

It took several years for PIA’s client base to reach scale, acknowledges Molloy. “But we now have matches flying coast-to-coast and vetted co-owner candidates ready to be matched in every region of the country.” he said.

Most PIA clients come from membership and jet-card programmes, he added. “They are ready to move beyond their current membership programme but aren’t flying enough to justify whole ownership. The economics of co-ownership just makes sense to them,” said Molloy.

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The Austrian firm is has reported an expanding customer roster right across North America, the new facility joins existing F/LIST sites in Colorado, Georgia, and Quebec. It is also the 10th global facility the firm has setup. 

An 11,500sqft footprint in Davie includes a sample selection area displaying materials, a design showroom, an upholstery studio, a cabinetry workshop and an advanced paint booth. A 30-minute drive away, a secondary 1,700sqft workshop is situated at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport.

Katharina List-Nagl, CEO F/LIST, said: “North America is an extremely important region for our business, which is why we’ve invested in our fourth facility here. Our US customer base is growing daily, with airframe manufacturers, aircraft owners and operators, architects, designers, and luxury residential proprietors recognising the added value our top quality, innovative and singular products bring to their interiors. We’re excited to add this facility to a dynamic part of the region to ensure continued service excellence and look forward to continued growth across North America.”

The new operation will be led by F/LIST veteran Stefan Rust, who most recently held the post of managing director for F/LIST Dubai. Rust is initially leading a team of 13, including a dedicated in-house designer, a team of expert artisans and a commercial unit. Although workforce is expected to double as soon as the first quarter of 2024.

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The two firms announced the agreement in the week of NBAA-BACE 2023, which will see Skyservice purchase interests in Fontainebleau’s FBO at Miami Opa-Locka Executive Airport and a new FBO at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport currently under development. The investment remains subject to customary approvals, whilst financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Skyservice president and CEO Benjamin Murray, said: “Fontainebleau is an iconic brand that aligns perfectly with our values of service excellence, safety and exceptional amenities. We are differentiated by our world-class service offering across all business lines and our proven ability to deliver bespoke solutions to a highly discerning customer base as demand for private aviation travel in North America continues to grow.”

With the two new additions, Skyservice now covers 12 airports across north America, including Bend Municipal Airport and Redmond Municipal Airport in Oregon, Helena Regional Airport in Montana, King County-Boeing Field International Airport in Seattle and Napa County Airport (APC) in California. 

Fontainebleau development chairman and CEO Jeffrey Soffer, added: “We are excited to establish a partnership with Skyservice, starting with our marquee locations at two of the busiest airports for private aviation in the US.

“Skyservice has a distinguished pedigree and reputation for excellence in the aviation industry and is the ideal steward and partner for the next phase of growth at OPF, FLL, and other locations in the United States as we focus on growing our portfolio of premier destinations and unique luxury experiences.”

The Fontainebleau Aviation FBO is the eighth-busiest US airport. It has approximately 350,000sqft of hangar space, an executive terminal and office facilities. Fontainebleau Aviation’s Fort Lauderdale location is the 17th-busiest US airport and will offer 80,000sqft of private hangars and approximately 35,000sqft of private terminal and executive office space when complete.

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To mark the milestone, Flapper co-founder and CEO Paul Malicki surprised the football-loving passenger with a gift before he boarded the flight at Rio de Janeiro’s airport. The themed merchandise was specially designed based the client’s flight history, which included charters to the Copa Libertadores finals.

“It feels as if we are only beginning our journey,” Malicki told Corporate Jet Investor. “Taking into account the size of our accessible market and the advancement of our technology, we are making an internal prediction of how long it will take us to acquire 100,000 paid customers.” 

Flapper prepared a set of personalised items signed by Rio de Janeiro’s Flamengo football club. “Our client’s enthusiasm for the club had been well-known for a long time, having chartered flights to their games in the past, so it was an effortless guess,” said Malicki. The list included a leather bag, a wine holder, a knitted polo shirt and, of course, a pair of Flapper-themed socks.

Malicki said technology has allowed the air charter brokerage industry to be scalable, so it no longer requires an extensive workforce of 500 or so to operate. Headquartered in Brazil and with local operations in South America, Mexico, Florida and Portugal, Flapper was launched in 2016. Starting out as a pay-per-seat helicopter booking app, the firm switched to include air charter, including private jets, corporate airliners and turbo-props. Today rotorcraft makes up only 6% of annual revenues, with the core business focused on charter. 

“Our technology has allowed us to automate the traditional charter process and make it more transparent, which was something the market was lacking when we launched. The clients can browse through hundreds of aircraft on our marketplace, receive a hard quote through a personalised link, pay using their desired payment method and rate the flight on TrustPilot (another API integration),” said Malicki.

More than 1,700 safety-vetted aircraft are currently available on Flapper platform, with plans to reach 4,000 by the end of 2024. An in-house team nicknamed ‘Aircraft Hunters’ searches for and adds new commercial jets, turbo-props and helicopters, including those with Part 135 and Part 121 certificates.

Flapper claims its quotation system estimates the price of the charter flight, which can then be arranged in less than 2 hours, it claimed. Flapper also integrates with online systems of the local civil authorities – including Brazil’s ANAC – and automatically refreshes the aircraft’s airworthiness status. Future plans include integration with the flight tracking software, as well as flight management systems.

“We are 100% focused on the launch of Flapper 3.0, i.e. completely refined Flapper app. It will feature medevac services, high-value cargo and urban air mobility, aside from regular business charters. Once launched, it will surely be the most complete product on the market, evidencing eight years of hard work by our technology team,” he explained. 

Last year, Flapper launched an aircraft sales department, led by Giampiero Colognori. The used aircraft marketplace is available within the same app and features a list of over 100 private jets and helicopters. As well as brokering aircraft sales, the platform also offers consultancy services including complete pre-sale checks, financing and international aircraft transfer. “To our surprise, our first customer came from Europe while we registered a few aircraft sold in Latin America, too. The used aircraft market has a fairly long sales cycle and we are working on improving our technology, especially on the mobile app,” said Malicki.

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The Florida-based company plans to help operators strengthen their balance sheets and improve their liquidity positions by acquiring their aircraft on a sale-and-leaseback basis. With the newly raised funds and its Private Equity partner, Thomas Garbaccio, CEO and founder, Jet Bank told Corporate Jet Investor that with moderate leverage, the firm has up to $500m “of firepower” available to invest. 

“This significant financial boost supports Jet Bank’s primary objective of supporting charter operators in their pursuit of expansion and growth,” said Garbaccio. “This infusion of capital empowers operators to seize new opportunities, serve more clients, and broaden their reach in the competitive charter aviation industry.” 

Garbaccio said that until now, one of the only ways charter operators have been able to grow is by finding fractional or private owners and M&A activities. “What Jet Bank brings to the market is if you have an older fleet of aircraft and you want the place deposit on a brand-new type, we’ll buy your aircraft and lease it back for three to five years,” he said.

Jet Bank can purchase multiple aircraft in a single transaction, eliminating the lengthy and uncertain process of individual aircraft sales, continued Garbaccio. This means operators can free up cash while maintaining full control over the assets and use that money to either expand their business or reduce debt. “It’s similar to an equity investment, but without diluting the shareholders, whilst improving the balance sheet and the operating financial performance,” said Garbaccio. 

With aircraft values and interest rates rising financing has become an expensive ordeal. which could stagnate growth for charter carriers, said Garbaccio. “Our operating lease focuses solely on the assets, eliminating the requirement for additional guarantees,” he added.  

“We take away the major down payment required through purchasing, we take on the residual risks of the assets, and we give away the operational control of the asset to the operator for a predetermined period.” This enables operators to efficiently expand their fleets, achieve aircraft commonality, and realise substantial economies of scale in maintenance and pilot requirements.  

There are key lessons that business aviation can learn from commercial aviation, he claimed. “Business aviation is about 20 years behind commercial aviation in finance terms because it’s smaller and they aren’t the same means available to the private jet industry. Bonds or structured financial products are only available to the larger players with sizeable financials,” he said.  “Whilst if you look at the airline industry, well over 50% of the fleet is on lease. Because your fleet is a great way of unlocking equity to continue the business expansion.”

Following the equity raise with its partner, the new aircraft financing company is taking on clients looking to expand their fleets. “The plan for us now is to get a few deals under our belt,” said Garbaccio. “We will be approaching charter operators who are looking to free up to $100m in cash and say, we can help you do that.” 

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“We are proud to provide more services than any other aircraft support facility in Florida and are committed to offering our customers the latest and greatest enhancements to their aircraft. As a sales and installation partner for SmartSky, we have experienced the system for ourselves. We are pleased to say it delivers an impressive connectivity experience, as advertised, and we are excited to bring this game-changing product to our customers, especially streaming-level performance for smaller corporate jets,” said Banyan Air Service.

Banyan is authorised to install both the SmartSky Flagship system for mid to large cabin jets as well as SmartSky LITE, the first-ever streaming-level connectivity solution for smaller business aircraft.

Based at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, Banyan is an FAA and EASA-approved repair station and has earned repair station designations and approvals for over 10 countries. The MRO provider offers 24-hour, full-service operations for aircraft owners, charter operators, corporate flight departments, flight schools, and government agencies.  Its award-winning service includes numerous individual FAA awards resulting in the Banyan Maintenance Division being recognised as an FAA Diamond Award winner.

“Banyan is one of the most highly regarded aircraft service facilities in the country and is known for offering their customers world-class service as evidenced by their industry accolades year after year. This expertise makes Banyan the perfect fit to meet the growing demand for SmartSky’s industry-leading inflight connectivity performance,” said Aria Bahawdory, director,  MRO Account Management, SmartSky. “Customers in the business aviation marketplace are demanding best-in-class service, and SmartSky delivers.”

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As part of the acquisition, Nick Barrows, founder, 3B Aviation joins Florida-based FlyUSA as the president of Acquisitions and Management. The firm employed ten pilots and managed 13 aircraft on behalf of more than 25 private owners prior to the acquisition.

“We are excited at the opportunity to expand our aircraft acquisition and management services on behalf of our more than 700 on-demand charter clients across the country,” said Barry Shevlin, CEO FlyUSA. “With the expansion of our team to include 3B Aviation founder and president Nick Barrows and his staff, we are now even better positioned to assist our clients who are looking to acquire their own aircraft.”

Based in Clearwater, Florida, Shelvin added that the firm’s new president of Acquisitions and Management is a highly experienced pilot and flight instructor. He also managed the first aircraft that Shelvin ever bought.

“I’ve always been impressed with Barry’s approach at FlyUSA, including using technology to improve customer experiences,” said Barrows. “Joining the FlyUSA team is a great opportunity – both for myself and for our experienced team of pilots. I believe this merger gives us the opportunity to really offer a much broader range of services to our valued clients.”

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