A minority equity investment from JetBlue, announced Monday at NBAA 2016, has JetSuite CEO Alex Wilcox excited about where his company is going. In just seven years the business aviation charter company has expanded from whole-airplane charters—with a fleet of Phenom 100s, 300s and Citation CJ3s—to offering public charters sold by the seat online to a half-dozen destinations and expanding through its JetSuiteX product. JetSuiteX passengers ride on converted airliners, departing from JetSuites hangars, not airline terminals.
JetBlue’s investment comes with a seat on the JetSuite board of directors, which will be held by Jim Hnat, Jetblue’s executive v-p of corporate affairs. “JetBlue’s investment provides capital for JetSuite to grow fast. We believe the two companies share a focus on a high-quality customer experience and disrupting traditional airlines,” Wilcox said. “We are now holding a square on the JetBlue website, and as a result our sales have more than doubled in a week. We expect to sell JetSuiteX flights on the airline’s website by January,” he continued. In addition, JetSuiteX passengers will soon earn trueBlue points on flights throughout the west. The companies are also cooperating on network connectivity programs.
JetSuite is using some of the capital from the investment to expand its fleet of Phenom 100s, Legacy 600/650s and CJ3s. It also plans to push the JetSuiteX charters to the East Coast in the next year.
The company is also creating a portfolio of managed jets, something Wilcox said they already do, but is now formalizing under the banner of JetSuite Managed, a new product. In other company news, Wilcox expects the complete refurbishment of the JetSuite Phenom 100 fleet by early next year.
