Flexjet

Flexjet is an American provider of fractional ownership aircraft, leasing, and jet card services. Founded in 1995 as a division of Bombardier Aerospace, it is currently owned by Directional Aviation, an aviation private investment firm.

Background
Flexjet is a provider of fractional jet ownership, leasing, and jet card services as well as private helicopter fractional, leasing and charter services. Directional Aviation, the private investment firm founded by aviation entrepreneur Kenn Ricci, has owned Flexjet since 2013. Headquartered in Richmond Heights, Ohio, Flexjet is led by Ricci, its chairman, and by Michael J. Silvestro, its chief executive officer. Flexjet is one of the largest fractional private jet companies. The company serves over 2,100 clients.

History
Founded in 1995, Flexjet entered the fractional jet ownership market as a division of Bombardier Aerospace, the world's largest business aviation manufacturer and itself a division of Bombardier Inc.

By 1998, doing business as Business Jet Solutions, Flexjet had 41 aircraft, including the Learjet 31A, Learjet 45, Learjet 60, and Challenger 600 series, serving more than 200 clients.

At one time, Flexjet offered not only fractional ownership and jet card but also aircraft charter services. Flexjet entered the charter market in 2000 when Bombardier Aerospace acquired Skyjet, which pioneered the online booking of private jet charters. Under Bombardier, Skyjet became one of the first companies to offer a membership program; eventually, the program became the Skyjet Card.

By 2002, Flexjet had seen 20 percent annual growth since its founding. It employed more than 1,000 people, half of them flight crew members and operated a fleet of 105 aircraft to serve 640 owners. At the time, Flexjet held an approximately one-sixth of the total fractional market, which then amounted to 650 aircraft and 3,500 owners.

Flexjet saw its first substantial profit in 2006, with sales of fractional shares up 28 percent and revenue up 30 percent compared to 2005. It maintained the approximate 16 percent share of the fractional market it had enjoyed four years earlier. During this period, the company began expanding its range of aircraft, including the Learjet 40 and 45, 60, 60 XR, Challenger 300, Challenger 604, and Challenger 605.

In 2008, VistaJet acquired the firm's non-U.S. operations, then branded as Skyjet International. Subsequently, Flexjet consolidated the remaining domestic charter services under its own brand.

In September 2013, private aviation investment firm Directional Aviation announced that it would acquire Flexjet from Bombardier for $185 million in cash. At the same time, Flexjet placed orders with Bombardier for 85 jets valued at about $1.8 billion, with options for up to an additional 160 jets that could bring the contract's value to $5.2 billion.

In 2014, Flexjet exited the charter market. As part of the first consolidation of its aviation companies, Directional Aviation moved the charter brokerage operations of its Flexjet and Sentient Jet companies to the Skyjet brand. Skyjet would concentrate solely on charter services, with Flexjet continuing to offer fractional programs and Sentient Jet offering jet card programs. Flexjet offered three programs: fractional ownership, lease, and the Flexjet 25 Jet Card.

In 2015, Flexjet launched Red Label, an offering under which each aircraft has a dedicated flight crew, customized interiors, and customized seating configurations making up one of the industry's most modern fleet of aircraft.

Other developments included the 2016 opening of the company's first exclusive private jet terminal, in Naples, Florida, followed by the opening of similar facilities at West Palm Beach, Florida and Westchester County Airport, New York. Additional facilities since have been opened at Love Field in Dallas, Texas; Teterboro Airport in Bergen County, New Jersey; and Van Nuys Airport in Los Angeles, California.

Flexjet also announced the launch of intra-European service in 2016, establishing the infrastructure for its offering initially through the acquisition of United Kingdom-based charter and management company Flairjet. More recently, OneSky acquired United Kingdom-headquartered PrivateFly, a digital booking service for private jet charter flights. Flexjet also acquired an Air Operator Certificate (AOC) for and opened a new Malta Operational Centre in Sliema, continuing the expansion of its European operation.

In late 2019, Flexjet announced its European operation would be led by Marine Eugène, former head of sales in Europe for NetJets. Flexjet's European expansion continued with the opening of Flexjet House in London to serve as their European headquarters. In addition, a European Tactical Control Center to coordinate flight logistics and an aircraft maintenance facility were opened at Farnborough Airport in the United Kingdom.

In 2021, Flexjet acquired two leading helicopter travel providers: U.K.-based Halo Aviation and U.S.-based Associated Aircraft Group. The company added private helicopter leasing and charter services and formed a private helicopter division that sells fractional, lease and on-demand charter access to its fleet of owned and operated Sikorsky S-76 private helicopters serving locations throughout the Northeastern United States and Florida.

In 2022, Flexjet announced plans to hire 350 pilots in addition to its current total of 800 and add another 50 aircraft by the end of the year.

In October 2022, Flexjet agreed to enter into an agreement to merge with Horizon Acquisition Corporation II (NYSE: HZON), a publicly traded special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) led by Todd Boehly. Following completion of the merger, Flexjet would become a publicly traded company under the ticker symbol “FXJ.”  In April 2023, Flexjet announced the deal would be terminated.

Flexjet has received awards and certifications for safety including the Federal Aviation Administration’s Diamond Award of Excellence for Aviation Maintenance, awarded to Flexjet in 2022 for the 23rd consecutive year. Flexjet also has received the Aviation Research Group/US (ARG/US) Platinum Safety Rating since 2008.

Fleet
<!-- Flexjet's order with Bombardier in 2013 called for Challenger and Learjet aircraft. The contract, with deliveries, which began on January 2015, would replace Flexjet's entire fleet within the first four years. It also included options for up to an additional 160 jets that could bring the contract's value to $5.2 billion, later increased to $5.6 billion. In November 2015, Flexjet exercised options for 20 additional Challenger 350 business jets, bringing the number of firm Challenger 350 orders to 40 aircraft.

During 2014, Flexjet began expanding its fleet beyond Bombardier aircraft. It began incorporating the Embraer Phenom 300 into its fleet under an existing contract between Directional Aviation and Embraer. Flexjet announced on September 2015 that it would be adding the Embraer Legacy 450 to its midsize program, in addition to five firm orders of the Embraer Legacy 500. Flexjet began taking delivery of Legacy 450 and Legacy 500 aircraft in 2016. On October 21, 2019, Flexjet reaffirmed its confidence in Embraer with an order for 64 Phenom 300E s and Praetor 500/600 business jets, worth $1.4 billion.

In October 2014, Flexjet also announced that it would begin adding long-range aircraft that would significantly expand the potential range of its operations. It placed an order with Gulfstream Aerospace for up to 50 aircraft including the Gulfstream G500, for which Flexjet would be the exclusive fractional provider. The agreement also includes large-aircraft Gulfstream products such as the G450 and the G650.

Once the current procurement of new aircraft is completed, Flexjet's fleet will consist of:

In November 2015, Flexjet announced that it had placed a firm order for 20 Aerion AS2 supersonic business jets to be built by Aerion Corp in collaboration with Airbus Group. Flexjet was the first private jet travel provider to commit to purchasing the first supersonic business jet. The aircraft also will provide the world's first publicly available supersonic transport since commercial airline supersonic service ended service in 2003. The three-engine jet, now under development, is expected to make its first flight in 2021 and enter service in 2023.

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