Superior Air Charter (previously JetSuite) is a private jet charter company[1] based out of Dallas, Texas. The company was founded in 2006 by Alex Wilcox. In 2008, the company was re-branded from Magnum Jet after a push from financial backers.[2][3] Wilcox is CEO of the company.[4]
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| Founded | 2006 | ||||||
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| AOC # | 9SUA667M | ||||||
| Focus cities | Dallas, Texas | ||||||
| Fleet size | 3 | ||||||
| Parent company | JetSuiteX, Inc. | ||||||
| Headquarters | Dallas, Texas | ||||||
| Key people | Alex Wilcox, Founder and CEO | ||||||
| Website | www | ||||||
On April 17, 2020, JetSuite, as it was called then, halted operations and furloughed most of its crew members due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5] On April 28, 2020, JetSuite's parent company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.[6] JetSuite has safely operated over 111,000 flights since 2009. In September 2020, the company closed the Chapter 11 filing and retired the name JetSuite. Flying recommenced in November 2020 as Superior Air Charter, operating 3 Phenom 100 aircraft.
History
editJetSuite was born out of a re-branding of Magnum Jet after the company's financial backers decided to restructure the company.[7][8] As part of this restructuring, the company also steered away from advertising as an “air taxi” with shared rides and began focusing solely on private charter flights.[8]
Alex Wilcox, a JetBlue founding executive, is the company's CEO.[9][10] Wilcox has over two decades of airline industry experience and has been named a Henry Crown Fellow by the Aspen Institute.[2][9] In addition to receiving funding by private investors in 2010, Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh invested $7 million into JetSuite in 2011.[11]
Early on, the company was recognized for streamlining its business through the use of four-passenger Embraer Phenom 100s as its primary aircraft.[9][12] This simplifies maintenance and piloting.[13][12] Moreover, these planes are fuel efficient because they consume 90 gallons of gas in an hour versus more than 230 gallons per hour on some other private jets.
In 2013, JetSuite installed Aircell WiFi for its Phenom fleet.[14]
In 2018, Qatar Airways became a minority stakeholder in JetSuite.[15] In 2018, the company appointed Stephanie Chung as its new president, making her the first African American to lead a major private aviation company.[16]
On April 15, 2020, the company announced it was grounding the entire JetSuite fleet due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 28, 2020, JetSuite's parent company Superior Air Charter LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, with Wilcox attributing the company's collapse to a 90% decrease in business caused by widespread stay-at-home orders.[6]
In November 2020, JetSuite recommenced operations as Superior Air Charter.
Services
editJetSuite offered charter flights on its fleet of Embraer Phenom 100s, Phenom 300s and a Legacy 650. Amenities included WiFi-enabled private flights throughout the United States, Mexico, and Canada.[7][9] Unlike many of its counterparts, JetSuite did not require membership nor ownership fees, and offered guaranteed online pricing.[citation needed] JetSuite offered an optional "SuiteKey" membership program in which customers would make non-refundable deposits of $100,000 to $500,000 and redeem them for flights at predetermined hourly rates within 24 months.[citation needed]
The company earned the ARG/US Platinum safety rating - the highest-level safety audit rating in private aviation – in 2010 and has maintained it for its flight safety standards.[17] During 2011, the company's jets flew over 10,000 times.[12]
In 2016 it established a charter company, JetSuiteX, which was later renamed JSX.
Fleet
edit
As of March 2021,[18] the Superior Air Charter fleet consisted of:
| Aircraft | In Service | Orders | Passengers | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Embraer Phenom 100 | 3 | — | 4 | operated by Superior Air Charter | ||
| Total | 3 | — | ||||
Awards
editReferences
edit- ^ "JetSuite". JetSuite. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
- ^ a b "JetSuite Leadership". JetSuite. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
- ^ Kristina Peterson (June 29, 2011). "Republicans, Jet Industry Delicately Defend Tax Breaks". JetSuite. Archived from the original on 27 February 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
- ^ "Why new arrival JetSuite ditched California for Dallas to grow its private jet business". 30 September 2018. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
- ^ Evan Hoopfer (April 17, 2020). "Dallas private aviation company halts flying, furloughs 'most' crew members". Dallas Business Journal. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
- ^ a b O'Donnell, Paul (April 28, 2020). "Dallas private aviation service JetSuite's parent company files for bankruptcy". The Dallas Morning News. Dallas, Texas. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
- ^ a b PETER SANDERS (October 26, 2010). "Charter-Jet Operator Lifts Low-Cost Airline Playbook". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
- ^ a b "Jetsuite Alex Wilcox". Forbes. Archived from the original on December 26, 2010. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
- ^ a b c d "JetSuite CEO on Private Jet Business". Fox Business. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
- ^ "Private Jet Budget". CNN Money. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
- ^ Tsotsis, Alexia (September 13, 2011). "Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh Leads $7M Round In Private Jet Company JetSuite". Tech Crunch. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
- ^ a b c KATHERINE DUNCAN (July 25, 2012). "JetSuite Brings Efficiency and Speed to the Private-Jet Set". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
- ^ Scott Friedman (February 3, 2011). "Private Jets for the Price of a Plane Ticket". NBCDFW. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
- ^ "Clay Lacy Aviation's Award-Winning Maintenance Repair Station Climbing High". Aviation News. Retrieved November 21, 2013.
- ^ Bachman, Justin (12 April 2018). "Qatar Airways and JetBlue Help Boutique Charter Go National". Bloomberg. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
- ^ "An Aviation Industry Exec Who's Smashing Barriers". 4 November 2018.
- ^ a b "Jetsuite Safety". Jetsuite. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
- ^ "JetSuite | Private Jet Charter Flights – Private Jet Rental Service".
- ^ "Meet the Job Creators". INC. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
- ^ "Bell & Ross Vintage Collection". Dapperd. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
- ^ "Introduction to IS-BAO – Get Started". International Business Aviation Council. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
