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NetJets Inc. is an American company that sells fractional ownership shares in private
business jet A business jet, private jet, or bizjet is a jet aircraft designed for transporting small groups of people, typically business executives and high-ranking coworker, associates. Business jets are generally designed for faster air travel and more ...
s. Founded as Executive Jet Airways in 1964, it was later renamed Executive Jet Aviation. NetJets became the first private business jet charter and aircraft management company in the world. It launched its fractional ownership business in 1986 and became a subsidiary of
Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. Originally a textile manufacturer, the company transitioned into a conglomerate starting in 1965 under the management of c ...
in 1998.


History


1960s

The company was founded in 1964 and originally known as ''Executive Jet Airways''. The name was later changed to ''Executive Jet Aviation'' (EJA), and again in 2002 to NetJets, after Berkshire Hathaway purchased it in 1998. NetJets was the first private business jet charter and aircraft management company in the world. The idea came from retired Air Force Brigadier General Olbert F. "Dick" Lassiter, who had experience running the Air Mission Squadron, an air taxi service for the Air Force. The idea was to run a similar service for private companies, with a pool of corporate jets providing transportation instead of each company having to purchase and maintain their own plane. The founding members of the board of directors included
US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
generals Curtis E. LeMay and Paul Tibbets, Washington lawyer and former military pilot
Bruce Sundlun Bruce George Sundlun (January 19, 1920 – July 21, 2011) was an American businessman, politician and member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party who served as List of governors of Rhode Island, 71st governor of Rhode Island ...
, and entertainers and pilots
James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military aviator. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morali ...
and
Arthur Godfrey Arthur Morton Godfrey (August 31, 1903 – March 16, 1983) was an American radio and television broadcaster and entertainer. At the peak of his success, in the early to mid-1950s, Godfrey was heard on radio and seen on television up to six days ...
, with Lassiter serving as president and chairman of the board. Shortly after its founding, EJA began receiving regular investments from the
Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...
, which were managed by accountant David Bevan. In June 1965, the railroad purchased a majority of shares in EJA, despite the fact that rail carriers were barred from owning air carriers by the Federal Aviation Act of 1958. To hide the investments from the PRR board, Bevan made the payments through a subsidiary, the American Contract Company, which he was president of. EJA initially began operations in 1964 with a fleet of ten Learjet 23 aircraft. The company soon moved to acquire competitors and larger aircraft, including two 707 jets and two 727 jets from
Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...
, but these could not be operated without approval from the Civil Aeronautics Board. The Pennsylvania Railroad argued its majority stake in EJA was legal as it consisted of non-voting stock, and anticipating approval from the CAB, EJA licensed its larger jets to foreign airlines. When the CAB instead ruled against EJA, the company now found itself deeply unprofitable, and the Pennsylvania Railroad attempted to sell off its stake. However, potential buyers lost interest after corporate spies for
Pan Am Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and more commonly known as Pan Am, was an airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States for ...
acquired and leaked information on EJA's illegal interests. The Pennsylvania Railroad merged into Penn Central in 1968, and the search for a buyer continued. Penn Central and EJA were ultimately fined $70,000 by the CAB in 1969. In 1970, the trustee for Penn Central's EJA shares voted to oust Lassiter and replace him with
Bruce Sundlun Bruce George Sundlun (January 19, 1920 – July 21, 2011) was an American businessman, politician and member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party who served as List of governors of Rhode Island, 71st governor of Rhode Island ...
. On July 1, the day before he was voted in as president, Sundlun led a midnight raid on EJA's corporate offices with the assistance of Pinkertons. Lassiter attempted to retake the office with armed guards of his own shortly after, but they were stopped by Sundlun's guards. Lassiter was later sued for his role in diverting $21 million of PRR money into EJA, much of which had gone to his personal expenses. Sundlun, Robert L. Scott Jr. and Joseph S. Sinclair bought out the Penn Central interest in EJA in 1972 and stabilized the company's finances. Paul Tibbets became president in 1976.


1980s

In 1984, Executive Jet Aviation was purchased by mathematician and former
Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...
executive Richard Santulli who owned a business that leased helicopters to service providers of offshore oil operations. When Santulli became chairman and CEO of the corporation, he closely examined 22 years of pilot logbooks, and began to envision a new economic model where several individuals could own one aircraft. In 1987, the NetJets program was officially announced becoming the first fractional aircraft ownership format in history. Around the same time, painted on every NetJets US aircraft is a registration ending with QS, symbolizing the concept of selling quarter shares of an aircraft—a feature that is still representative of the NetJets brand today.


1990s

In 1998, Berkshire Hathaway acquired EJA and NetJets Inc from Richard Santulli for US$725 million, half of which was paid in stock. NetJets soon expanded to Europe and then Russia, and by 2006, it was the largest operator of business jets in Europe.


2000s

The company operated a fleet of nine Boeing 737-700
Boeing Business Jet A Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) is a version of a Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Boeing jet airliner with modifications to serve the private, head of state, and corporate jet market. The first BBJ, based on the 737-700, rolled out on July 26, 1998; a ...
s in the mid-2000s, since then sold off. In early August 2009, Santulli resigned as CEO and was replaced by David Sokol. Shortly afterward, NetJets moved its corporate headquarters from New Jersey back to its original home in
Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...
.


2010s

In 2010, NetJets acquired Marquis Jet from founders Jesse Itzler and
Kenny Dichter Kenny Dichter (born January 16, 1968) is an American entrepreneur and the founder and chairman oREAL SLX a sports and lifestyle experience platform launched in September 2024 anREAL JET a global private aviation brokerage launched in May 2025. REA ...
. The prepaid Marquis
Jet card A jet card is a private aviation product that enables holders to use different aircraft at agreed-upon fixed hourly rates. Jet cards are offered by large and small fleet operators and charter brokers. There are as many as 65 variables between jet ...
allowed customers to purchase 25 hours of guaranteed flight time on the NetJets fleet. On 11 June 2012, NetJets placed the largest aircraft order in private aviation history totaling US$17.6B. The company placed a firm order for 30 Bombardier Global 5000/6000 jets, 25 Bombardier Challenger 650 jets, 75 Bombardier Challenger 350s, 25 Cessna Citation Latitudes and 50 Embraer Phenom 300s. As a part of this purchase agreement, it also placed conditional orders for an additional 40 Bombardier Global 5000/6000s, 50 Bombardier Challenger 650, 125 Bombardier Challenger 350s, 125 Cessna Citation Latitudes and 75 Embraer Phenom 300s. As a result of these orders NetJets became
Cessna Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufactu ...
's largest business jet fleet owner. In September 2014, NetJets acquired approval to launch its aircraft charter service in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
, having worked with Chinese authorities since 2012 to secure the operating certificate. In 2015, the company's pilots picketed the Wynn resort in Las Vegas where company owner Warren Buffett was hosting some of his wealthiest customers. The event was symbolic of deteriorating labor relations within the company at this time. The
Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...
(IRS) had sought back taxes and penalties of $643 million from NetJets for periods beginning in 2003, including on its maintenance and service fees. NetJets filed a lawsuit challenging the IRS assessments. In January 2015, the United States District Court issued a decision in NetJets' favor, holding that the IRS assessments were unlawful. In 2019, a former NetJets pilot filed a lawsuit alleging that in March 2017, the company violated US Civil Right and Ohio anti-discrimination law when she was fired for being too short () to properly control the rudders of an Embraer Phenom 300. She stated that male pilots who were too tall were reassigned to different aircraft, while her employment was terminated without the opportunity to fly a different plane. An Ohio federal judge ruled in favor of NetJets in 2022, citing the plaintiff's failure to prove sex discrimination.


2020s

In the spring of 2020, the company saw a boom in demand, as wealthy individuals sought to avoid the risks of airline flying during the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. Previously, many potential customers had concerns about the optics of opulence and the environmental issues of private jet transport, but NetJets President of Sales, Marketing and Service, Patrick Gallagher noted in May 2020, that the health risks associated with flying on commercial airlines during the pandemic had trumped those concerns. The company introduced regular employee COVID-19 testing to try to contain the risks of an outbreak on its aircraft. In October 2020, the company made initial moves to reduce its
carbon footprint A carbon footprint (or greenhouse gas footprint) is a calculated value or index that makes it possible to compare the total amount of greenhouse gases that an activity, product, company or country Greenhouse gas emissions, adds to the atmospher ...
. The company committed to buying "up to 3 million gallons" (11.4 million litres) of sustainable aviation fuel to be used at two of its bases, San Francisco and Columbus, Ohio. The company is also encouraging its customers to buy carbon offsets for their flights. The company will also buy its own offsets for its administration and training flights. As of November 2020, almost half of the company's fleet was manufactured by Textron, and the rest by Bombardier Inc. and Embraer. After reducing its delivery target for 2021 by more than half, due to decreased demand caused by the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
in 2020, the company expected to take delivery of 40 new aircraft in 2021 in anticipation of industry recovery. In February 2021, the company purchased a stake in WasteFuel, a business that will convert
landfill A landfill is a site for the disposal of waste materials. It is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of waste with daily, intermediate and final covers only began in the 1940s. In the past, waste was ...
waste into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). NetJets plans to purchase 100 million gallons of SAF from WasteFuel over the next 10 years as part of the deal. In March 2021, NetJets announced that it had ordered 20 Aerion AS2s supersonic business jets. The memorandum of understanding between NetJets and Aerion called for the two companies to operate a larger "Aerion Connect" network. Aerion abruptly announced its closure on 21 May 2021, due to the inability to raise the needed capital to continue. The company announced in March 2022, that it would partner with Lilium GmbH to establish an
eVTOL An electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft is a variety of VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) aircraft that uses electric power to hover, takeoff and landing, take off, and land vertically. This technology came about owing to m ...
network in
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
. NetJets will buy 150 Lilium Jets and operate them under a FAR Part 135 charter operation. In October 2024 Lilium filed for insolvency. NetJets announced in September 2023, that it will be purchasing up to 1,500 Cessna Citation jets from Textron Aviation. Deliveries for this 15-year deal are expected to begin in 2025.


Subsidiaries

NetJets Europe, also known by its corporate legal name, NetJets Transportes Aéreos, S.A., was launched in 1996 as a sister company of NetJets and is now a subsidiary. It is based in
Oeiras, Portugal Oeiras () is a town and concelho, municipality in the western part of Lisbon metropolitan area, located within the Portuguese Riviera, in continental Portugal. The municipality is part of the urban agglomeration of Lisbon and the town of Oeiras is ...
, and serves more than 5,000 airports globally. Also among NetJets subsidiaries is Executive Jet Management (EJM), based in Cincinnati, Ohio, which offers aircraft management and charter services. QS Partners is the whole-aircraft brokerage arm of NetJets, launched in 2016 and officing in Columbus, Ohio; Boulder, Colorado; and London; it also exclusively resells used aircraft from NetJets' fleet. QS Security Services was launched by NetJets in October 2019 with "tiered security packages" based on passenger needs and threat level at destination. Initially only available at Paris Le Bourget and in Mexico, future plans include worldwide coverage by 2023.


Business model

NetJets sells fractions of specific aircraft, chosen from several available types at the time of purchase. Owners then have guaranteed access (50–400 hours annually, depending on share size) to that aircraft with as little as four hours' notice. If the owner's aircraft is unavailable for some reason, another aircraft of the same type, or a larger aircraft, will be provided. Fractional owners pay monthly maintenance fees for a minimum of 50 annual flight hours and a five-year commitment, as well as operating fees by the hour for use of aircraft. Alternatively, customers may buy flight hours in 25-hour increments by way of jet card programs. Fractional owners also pay an occupied hourly operating fee, but it is charged only when an owner or guest is on board, not for ferry flights. NetJets is the largest fractional aircraft provider. In 2021 its fleet flew 478,444 hours. For companies or individuals that require less than the minimum 50 flight hours and the five-year commitment of fractional ownership, they can buy flight hours in 25-hour increments via the NetJets jet card programs. Due to a surge in demand for private aviation during the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, NetJets suspended its card program in August 2021. Sales restarted in March 2023. This program features "blackout" days, when service is not available due to expected high demand, such as on holidays or during major sporting events.


Fleet

NetJets is the largest private jet operator in the world. The data below is limited to aircraft registered on the United States operating certificate. Additional aircraft not included in this data exist within the NetJets Europe, and Executive Jet Management fleet. The NetJets fleet : As of March 2024, NetJets' global fleet included more than 750 aircraft.


Accidents and incidents


See also

* AirSprint *
Air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. History The concept of air taxis existed as early as the 1910s. This concept goes back as early as 1917 with Glenn Curtiss’ prototype, the auto-plane. Furthermor ...
*
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. Backg ...
* Fractional ownership of aircraft * List of charter airlines * PlaneSense * VistaJet *
Wheels Up Wheels Up is a provider of "on demand" private aviation in the United States and one of the largest private aviation companies in the world. It was founded in 2013 by Kenny Dichter, using a membership/on-demand business model. Wheels Up members ...


References


External links

* {{Berkshire Hathaway Airlines established in 1964 American companies established in 1964 Airlines based in Ohio Berkshire Hathaway Companies based in the Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area Fractional aircraft ownership companies Air charter Arthur Godfrey