Professional Pilot, October 2018

the aircraft all of which are wholly owned by the company Interiors were designed by Flohr and his daughter Nina to maintain that similarity fleetwide Onboard passengers will find fully equipped business suites Italian leather upholstery Egyptian cotton linens cashmere socks libraries of books and movies custom scents a signature selection of wines and dinner menus prepared by renowned chefs This philosophy of likeness is carried over to the brand of aircraft as well After the initial purchase of his Learjet 60 Flohr eventually turned to Bombardier and hasnt looked back With just 2 aircraft in 2004 by 2007 he had added 5 jets as well as placed orders with Bombardier for several more Fleet expansion hit its stride in 2008 with 19 aircraft increasing to 23 in 2009 and 26 in 2010 In 2012 Flohr placed the largest jet order in Bombardiers history up to 142 Global aircraft including 5000s 6000s and future models totaling 78 billion The following year they entered the USA market where they fly exclusively Global 5000s and Challenger 350s Currently the 72 aircraft all Bombardier global fleet consists of 21 Challenger 350s 10 Challenger 605s 6 Challenger 850s 6 Global 5000s and 29 Global 6000s VistaJets also owns 1 Leonardo AW109 GrandNew light twin helicopter which is based in St Moritz Switzerland and is used for short hops to various close cities and heli skiing Although these numbers are impressive for VistaJet its not about quantity We dont think in terms of numbers of aircraft We think in numbers of flighthours and our global coverage van der Meer explains Even with the growth we are experiencing we have the potential to double our hours in just a couple years and that of course would include adding many more aircraft 48 PROFESSIONAL PILOT October 2018 Ways to fly VistaJet offers 2 methods of accessing their aircraft Program and Direct Under the Program approach customers purchase a set number of flight hours through a subscription plan designed specifically for the needs of the individual or corporation This guarantees access for the client to the worldwide fleet at any time To maintain transparency and predictability in pricing in 2017 VistaJet was the 1st business aviation operator to eliminate positioning fees of its aircraft across all routes for Program customers The other model they have is referred to as Direct This avenue allows customers to request service through the VistaJet app or by phone with the 24 7 sales team and provides access to empty and 1 way legs There is no set number of hours sold under the Direct method and access is based on aircraft availability The future for VistaJet This year has already seen record growth for VistaJet In the 1st half of the year new customer membership in the Program model increased 32 yearon year with European operations seeing double the new signups compared to the same period in 2017 Renewal hours showed a 33 increase while flight revenue flight hours and the total number of flights grew by 27 Customer retention is at 91 While these are remarkable numbers they show no sign of slowing down Flohr has stated We are committed to becoming the number 1 player in every market in which we operate This will be accomplished by more aircraft additional personnel and further service offerings for their clientele Recently VistaJet partnered with Avinode Marketplace to ease booking of flights and debuted Adventures in the Sky an interactive program for children involving entertainment education and specialized dining Recognizing the ever increasing size of their fleet by 2019 they anticipate establishing their own Part 145 MRO station in a new facility at the Malta headquarters Bombardier will soon be certifying their flagship Global 7500 which will be a perfect fit for the VistaJet business model of worldwide coverage Expect to see them added to their already robust stable in the near future Conclusion Thomas Flohr saw an opportunity to offer a service that was lacking in the aviation industry He believed individuals wished to enjoy the benefits of private travel without the hassles and expense of ownership Clearly he was right In only 14 years VistaJet has become the fastest growing private jet company by flying over 132000 flights with 330000 passengers to 1600 airports in 187 countries on their fleet of 72 identically equipped branded luxury aircraft Whether or not it was the goal at the onset Flohr and VistaJet havent so much transformed an industry but have instead created a new one the 1st and only global aviation company With solid financial backing over 1000 dedicated employees worldwide and customer driven expansion at their core VistaJet is positioned to dominate the market they created for years to come Brent Bundy has been a police officer with the Phoenix Police Dept for 27 years He has served in the PHX Air Support Unit for 17 years and is a helicopter rescue pilot with nearly 4000 hours of flight time Bundy currently flies Airbus AS350B3s for the helicopter side of Phoenix PDs air unit and Cessna 172 182s and 210s for the fixed wing side Top VistaJet partners with renowned restaurants and chefs around the world to offer the finest dining options R Every aircraft in the fleet is similarly outfitted to assure that the VistaJet experience is felt no matter which model is flown Deputy Accountable Manager Cliff Berrington monitors operations at the Malta based Ops Control Center and supervises training of the 350 VistaJet pilots posted across the globe