In a SEC filing on Tuesday morning, the AMS includes an option for Volato to merge into a wholly owned subsidiary of flyExclusive. This option expires one year from the date of the agreement and allows an option for flyExclusive to purchase Volato during that time.

This comes as Private Jet Card Comparisons reports widespread layoffs at Volato. A source familiar with the situation at Volato confirmed such layoffs and provided FLYING with a letter of termination they received from the company.

• READ MORE: Volato to Drop 5 Leased Jets, Furlough Pilots

“In light of market conditions this year, Volato has been actively seeking ways to improve its operating costs and increase efficiencies,” the letter stated. “As part of that, Volato has been undergoing talks with several private aviation companies and has recently signed a letter of intent (LOI) with flyExclusive. The LOI outlines an immediate move to combine certain operations through cooperative agreements. This strategic move is expected to strengthen our position in the market and provide new opportunities for growth. However, as we transition through this period, it has become necessary to adjust our workforce to better align with our current and future operational needs.”

The letter further stated that the step was part of Volato’s strategy to improve operational efficiency and reduce costs as the company anticipates the delivery of new aircraft and the successful completion of its merger with flyExclusive.

Terms of the AMS

Tuesday’s agreement will see flyExclusive manage flight operations, sales, and expenses of Volato’s fleet, which consists of 13 fully fractionalized aircraft, eight leased aircraft, and four managed aircraft. The goal under the AMS is to transfer aircraft to the flyExclusive certificate, which will occur over the coming months in coordination with the FAA.

“As a fully integrated operator, flyExclusive is well positioned to offer synergistic value to Volato’s clients and deliver enhanced value for our overall growing customer base,” said Jim Segrave, founder and CEO of flyExclusive, in a news release from the company. “Over the years, we’ve made strategic investments to remove industry bottlenecks and grow and maintain a leading, consistent customer experience. We’re proud to welcome Volato’s customers and look forward to offering them access to our growing fleet of light, midsize and super-midsize jets.”

In addition to managing Volato’s retail and wholesale business, flyExclusive will execute flights for Volato’s customer base of approximately 184 fractional customers and 265 block customers until they are moved over to FLYX agreements. 

The release states that this agreement will significantly increase the FLYX direct-to-customer facing business in the United States. FlyExclusive expects approximately $75 million in revenues from Volato—excluding aircraft sales—to transfer to FLYX. FlyExclusive states in the release that it is confident these flights can be executed with minimal additional overhead. 

The AMS will also provide flyExclusive with access to Volato’s technology through a software license agreement.

“FlyExclusive is a proven operator with a robust platform and unwavering focus on the customer experience,” said Volato CEO Matt Liotta in the release. “This agreement provides mutual benefit to both of our companies and, most importantly, our customers benefit by increased flight and service options with the reliable and high-quality service they have come to expect from best-in-class operators.”

Volato did not immediately respond to FLYING’s request for comment.

The post Volato Lays Off Employees During Transition appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Volato, which offers fractional ownership, aircraft management, jet card, deposit, and charter programs, announced its plans to become a publicly traded company last August. PACI shareholders approved the move at a special shareholders meeting on November 28. Volato’s common stock and warrants are set to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on December 4.

“We believe that this transaction provides not only the capital to accelerate our fleet growth and strategy, but also a level of transparency and institutional support that should make our product even more attractive to new fractional owners and private fliers,” said Volato CEO and co-founder Matt Liotta. “After founding the company in 2021 and quickly ramping to nearly $100 million of revenue in 2022, we are now positioned to build on this momentum as a public company.”

PACI also announced the closing of $12 million in private investments. Combined with funding from an earlier Series A funding round and the conversion of Volato convertible debt, the company reports that it has raised over $60 million in capital. The money is expected to be used to fund business operations and grow Volato’s fleet, which is made up primarily of HondaJets.

• READ MORE: Volato Closes Deal for 25 HondaJets

“This transaction and recent new investments come at an ideal time for Volato, as we see strong demand for our product in the market,” said Volato chief commercial officer and co-founder Nicholas Cooper. “The private aviation industry has undergone a secular expansion in recent years due to changes in customer behavior along with greater customer awareness of the options and solutions available for private travel.”

The post Volato Completes PACI Merger, Prepares to Go Public appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The fleet agreement extends over the next 15 years, with deliveries of the Ascend to begin after type certification is achieved and entry into service projected for 2025. The deal also includes the Citation Latitude and Longitude.

“NetJets customers around the world continually select Citations as their aircraft of choice,” said Ron Draper, president and CEO, Textron Aviation. “We’re honored to be the largest provider of industry-leading aircraft to NetJets and look forward to continuing to work together to design and deliver the best aviation experience based on customer feedback. Expanding and adding the Citation Ascend to the NetJets fleet will provide its global customers with even more versatility and flexibility to accomplish their missions, building upon the exceptional performance and popularity of the Latitude and Longitude.”

In a media briefing on Tuesday, Draper talked about the strength of the fractional market overall, as well as indicating the Ascend has been part of the company’s commitment to introducing a clean-sheet design on a regular cadence with significant improvements to popular Textron Aviation models. “We’re proud of our current product lineup, but we’re excited about the new [models] we’re bringing,” he said.

Since the partnership began more than 40 years ago, NetJets has taken delivery of more than 800 aircraft, including the Citation SII, V, Excel/XLS, Sovereign, X, Latitude and Longitude.

“As a longtime, trusted ally who shares our commitment to safety and service, Textron Aviation is the ideal partner to help us expand our offerings to NetJets Owners with the introduction of the new Ascend to our midsize jet class, as well as by growing our overall fleet,” said Doug Henneberry, NetJets executive vice president, aircraft asset management. “Based on past demand for the popular Citation Latitude and Longitude, the new Ascend and all our new Citations will undoubtedly be well received by our owners, particularly those who depend on NetJets to help them do more and miss less.”

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Flexjet previously added the Embraer Praetor 600 to its North American fractional-ownership fleet after operating the aircraft in Europe for two years. The company said it also operated the Praetor 500 and its predecessor, the Legacy 450, for seven years. Flexjet also operated the Bombardier Challenger 3500 in the super midsize category.

• READ MORE: Flexjet Expands Its Terminal Network

“Together with the existing Embraer Praetor 500 and Challenger 350 aircraft flying in our fleet, the addition of the Praetor 600 and the Challenger 3500 has given Flexjet the industry’s leading offering of mid- and super midsize aircraft,” said Flexjet executive vice president of sales D.J. Hanlon. “The aircraft available to travelers within this offering present mission versatility that is unmatched by any other private aviation provider.”

The company said the Praetor 600 has been the “backbone” of its European fleet since 2020 and has been similarly successful in its U.S. operations.

• READ MORE: Flexjet Plans to Hire 350 Pilots

“Our ability to fly our aircraft owners on these in-demand aircraft today, and not at some distant time in the future, is further validation of our forward-looking approach,” Hanlon said. “We take pride in foreseeing where the desires of the market will be well into the future to ensure we are always offering the leading experience in global private jet travel.”

According to the company, it plans to boost its fleet size to more than 270 airplanes by the end of this year, which is more than double its size in 2018. The fleet includes the Embraer Phenom 300 and Praetor 500 and 600; Bombardier Challenger 350 and 3500; and Gulfstream G450 and G650. Flexjet also said it hired 350 additional pilots last year and plans to add 388 flight crew members and 338 aircraft maintenance technicians in 2023.

The post Flexjet Plans to Add 22 Jets to Fleet By Year’s End appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

As reported exclusively by FLYING, the initial grounding of Jet It’s HondaJet fleet just started the snowball rolling. Soon after, Jet It grounded its entire fleet—including its Embraer Phenoms—and terminated its employees through a letter sent on May 26. The share owners of Jet It aircraft had also been told to find new homes for their assets.

While operators such as Volato and Jet Token have swooped in to court customers—and hopefully find positions for the type-rated pilots and other employees left hanging—the manufacturer of the HA-420 series is also standing ready to assist. 

Honda Aircraft has established a team that will help provide “seamless transitions to alternative aircraft management options for the HondaJet fractional owners who have been released from Jet It,” according to a statement from the company. This includes parking at HACI headquarters in Greensboro, North Carolina, for up to 90 days, including any pilot services needed to move those aircraft into position—free of charge to the customers.

This is no small thing, as several tails had been left in various states of “hangar limbo” following the Jet It shutdown—and some have been parked for nonpayment of maintenance and other outstanding bills.

“We understand the challenges faced by fractional owners who have been impacted by the suspension of their aircraft management after being released from contract by Jet It, and are now seeking alternative arrangements,” said Amod Kelkar, chief commercial officer and vice president of customer service for Honda Aircraft. “Consistent with our dedication to customer satisfaction, we have developed and established this assistance plan for those HondaJet owners in need of additional support during this transition period.”

Owners who think they might be eligible are encouraged to contact Honda Aircraft at hacifieldsupport@haci.honda.com.

The company is collaborating with the HondaJet Owners and Pilots Association and other groups on an upcoming safety standdown to address recent incidents involving runway overruns in the past 12 months. Runway excursions form a hot topic amongst business jet pilots and operators across the industry, as they make up the most common type of accident in business aviation, according to the National Business Aviation Association. Mitigating the risk will be the focus of the standdown.

“The HondaJet remains a reliable and safe aircraft to operate, and we reaffirm our confidence in the aircraft’s safety through our engineering and analysis,” said Kelkar, supporting the model. Honda Aircraft has delivered a total of 227 of the HA-420 series since 2015 through the first quarter of 2023, with approximately 212 of those on FAA registration. Jet It operated 21 tails through its program, encompassing roughly 10 percent of the total fleet.

The post Honda Aircraft Offers Free Logistics Help to Jet It Customers appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Hopefully, by now all of the owners have had the chance to meet. We received a list of the individual owners from Jet It, along with contact information. If you’re an owner, you should organize a call with your specific owner group ASAP. You are all on the same team, now is the time to get a game plan together.

Appoint one to two people on the team to keep the process moving forward, regardless of direction. Ideally, someone with experience in aviation, as they will need to understand all of the moving parts.  

Even though Jet It CEO Glenn Gonzales suggested “patience” on owner calls last on May 24—but that isn’t great advice.

• READ MORE: Jet It Tells Owners To Find New Home for Aircraft

You own a very expensive asset that needs to be dealt with. Every day that you own it, the more expenses it will rack up. Hangar fees, maintenance, insurance, etc., all cost money. Nothing like having an expensive toy that you can’t use. 

You need to track down the aircraft. Every owner group I’ve spoken with has figured out where their aircraft is. 

Most importantly, find out what your owner group wants to do with the aircraft. You have a few options: you can sell the aircraft; you can put the aircraft up into a dry-lease with another operator; a single (or group of owners) can buy the airplane.

While Gonzales suggested that owners could contract directly with former Jet It pilots, this strikes me as challenging for larger owner groups that are geographically distributed, not to mention questions about legality of such a process. If you do decide to go this route, I would engage with an aviation attorney to make sure you are protected here.

The worst thing to do here is to let the aircraft sit long without a plan. We are all responsible for the bills on our aircraft from here on out (along with unpaid bills that Jet It racked up) and those bills aren’t going to cheap. 

If you decide to sell the aircraft, find a Honda broker or dealer that can help with this. Brokers will be glad to take you on as a client, but I would recommend doing diligence on the broker. Have they sold HondaJets in the past? Do they have experience with the aircraft? Can they help you navigate all of the maintenance issues you need to contend with?

Honda Aircraft Company has a list of dealers on its website, and you can find a dealer to assist here. I would recommend going with this group over a non-Honda dealer because of their familiarity with the jet and mutual interest in seeing a positive outcome for the Honda ecosystem. 

Keep in mind that the aircraft is not going to be flown much over the next few weeks, so find someone that has experience with the airplane and will agree to keep it in compliance with the maintenance up to date.

• READ MORE: Why Jet It Failed 

I live in Tennessee and our Honda Aircraft dealer is Banyan. They provided us with a turnkey proposal, including hangar access to help us manage the aircraft while we figured out what we wanted to do with it. 

Selling the aircraft is only one option. With nine owners, we felt that selling the aircraft was the best path for our ownership group. That way we could move forward making decisions as to our future missions individually. 

Another option is to put the aircraft into a short-term lease with another operator. 

Volato—Jet It’s biggest competitor among Honda Jet operators—has offered a 90-day lease for ownership groups. It is billed as a dry-lease arrangement, where all expenses are taken care of (except for maintenance labor). At $650 per hour, it’s an interesting proposal to get the airplane in the air and generate some revenue to offset most of the fixed expenses, including insurance, hangar fees, and operational fees. 

Matt Liotta, CEO of Volato told FLYING: 

“We feel for the customers who are facing this difficult situation. The entire team at Volato is here to help as much as we can, and we are prepared to take on any number of planes and customers. We do recommend that anyone consult with a lawyer before deciding on how to move forward.”

As noted earlier, getting a good aviation attorney is critical. This will be a long and drawn-out process, with lots of nuances. Getting someone with experience navigating all of the issues (aviation, corporate, and tax law) is critical.

There is some good news out of all of this. 

Unlike a jet card or membership program, Jet It’s fractional program offered direct ownership of an actual aircraft. This means that fractional owners will recoup a large percentage of their investment in the airplane after some initial headaches. 

If it were a membership program, where the asset is prepurchased time on an airplane from a charter operator, like in Wheels Up’s case (NYSE: UP), the only thing that program members would be guaranteed is a position of being a junior creditor in a bankruptcy. 

The post What’s Next for Jet It Fractional Owners appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

NetJets said the agreement will help it provide “an enhanced customer experience” as it conducts an average of 1,200 flights per day worldwide.

• READ MORE: NetJets Orders 100 More Phenom 300s from Embraer

The companies’ relationship dates back to at least 2010, when NetJets entered its first purchase agreement with Embraer for 50 Phenom 300 jets with options for up to 75 additional aircraft. NetJets said the Phenom has since become one of its most requested aircraft. 

In 2021, following the delivery of more than 100 aircraft to NetJets, the companies entered a continuing agreement for as many as 100 additional Phenom 300E aircraft. The deal was valued at more than $1.2 billion.

“We are eager to add the Embraer Praetor 500, one of today’s most state-of-the-art business jets, to our midsize fleet,” said Doug Henneberry, executive vice president of NetJets’ aircraft asset management. “This historic fleet agreement is another way that we are growing our fleet for the benefit of our loyal customers. By adding up to 250 aircraft to our fleet, we will continue providing NetJets owners with exceptional service and seamless access to all corners of the globe.”

Said Michael Amalfitano, president and CEO of Embraer Executive Jets, “Since 2010, Embraer has enjoyed NetJets’ ongoing commitment to our industry-leading aircraft, which is a true testament to the value of our brand and our ability to deliver the ultimate experience in business aviation. After building this successful foundation with the Phenom 300 series, it’s our pleasure to have now signed this monumental deal for the Praetor 500 midsize jet, and we look forward to an even more exciting future ahead.”

Embraer said the Praetor 500’s speed, runway performance and range, making it capable of coast-to-coast U.S. flights, help set it apart from other jets in the midsize category. In addition to fly-by-wire controls, the Praetor 500 offers the lowest cabin altitude and the tallest, widest cabin cross-section in its class.

The post NetJets Signs Deal for Up to 250 Embraer Praetor 500 Jets appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Honda Aircraft, also known as HACI, said Jet It “continues to remain an important customer to   HACI, and HACI will continue to provide service and support.”

Late last year Honda Aircraft filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit against Jet-It, one of its largest customers, in the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. In the suit, Honda alleged that Jet-It had violated terms of certain agreements and made “disparaging comments” about the aircraft maker. Both companies are based in Greensboro, North Carolina.

• READ MORE: Jet-It Pivots Away From HondaJet to Phenom 300

Prior to the lawsuit, Glenn Gonzales, the founder and CEO of Jet-It, had claimed that his company suffered significant losses attributable to poor reliability of the Honda aircraft in the company’s fleet and inadequate customer service.

Gonzales had also told customers that the company was adding the Embraer Phenom 300 aircraft to its fleet after having a “disappointing” experience working with Honda Aircraft. At the time Honda said its dispatch reliability stood at 99.7 percent, while Gonzales said it was far less, claiming that “for every nine days that we fly a HondaJet, it requires six days of maintenance.”

The post Honda Aircraft Says It Settled Its Lawsuit Against Jet-It appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The three new terminals, which will more than double its current number of domestic locations, are set to be located at Opa-Locka Executive Airport (KOPF) in Miami, Florida; Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport (KBZN) in Montana; and Scottsdale Airport (KSDL) in Arizona. 

Flexjet currently operates private terminals in Dallas, Texas (KDAL); Naples, Florida (KAPF); Teterboro, New Jersey (KTEB); Van Nuys, California (KVNY); and White Plains, New York (KHPN).

The expansion was driven by demand, according to Megan Wolf, chief experience officer for the company.

“More people than ever are electing to travel by private aircraft,” Wolf said. “This increase in traffic means the large general aviation fixed base operators (FBOs) in popular departure and arrival points are more hectic than in the past. Flexjet’s Owners-only lounges offer comfort and amenities to ease the transition from the jet to your final destination.”

• READ MORE: Flexjet Plans SPAC IPO Valued at $3.1 Billion

The expansion comes on the heels of a year marked by growth for the company. In October, Flexjet announced it is going public through a merger with Horizon Acquisition Corporation II (NYSE: HZON), a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. The deal, which has an estimated value of $3.1 billion, is expected to close in the second quarter of 2023, the company said at the time.

The post Flexjet Expands Its Terminal Network appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

HondaJet unveiled the new Elite II in October during the National Business Aviation Association’s Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (NBAA-BACE) in Orlando, Florida.

Watch: CEO Matt Liotta on Business Air TV

Volato currently has 17 HondaJets in its fleet, and the 25-unit order announced Thursday is incremental and firm, the company said. The company also recently announced it has ordered four Gulfstream G280 super midsize jets.

• READ MORE: Private Jet Company Volato Adds Gulfstream’s G280 to Its Fleet

Volato said in a statement that its fractional owners would have immediate access to the wider fleet upon delivery.

“We believe in the vision and future of Honda Aircraft Company as they continue to optimize the private jet experience with the HondaJet,” Matt Liotta, CEO, and co-founder of Volato said.

Volato’s news comes on the heels of its competitor, Jet It, announcing last week that it was pivoting away from the HondaJet because of what it described as poor service.

• READ MORE: Jet It Pivots Away From HondaJet to Phenom 300

In a scathing letter sent to customers, Glenn Gonzales, the founder and CEO of fractional company Jet It, accused the Honda Aircraft Company of costing the company tens of millions of dollars due to its gaps in customer service. 

In Volato’s case, Liotta said his company is taking a different approach.

“Every business decision we make aims to deliver the best experience for our customers,” Liotta said. “Volato’s fractional ownership program provides an unmatched offering in the industry, and it makes sense that one of our key partners would have the equivalent offering in aircraft manufacturing. Receiving such a large order from HACI is a big win for Volato and further reinforces our strong working relationship.” 

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