Flexjet

Flexjet launched on May 15, 1995, as a fractional ownership venture of Bombardier Aerospace Group and AMR Combs, a division of AMR Corp, and was among the first shared-ownership operators. In 1998 AMR Combs withdrew from the partnership and Bombardier became the sole owner.⁠[1][2]

When the program began in 1995, Flexjet offered only three Bombardier types: the Learjet 31A, the Learjet 60 and the Challenger 601-3R.⁠[3]

In 2004 Flexjet launched an extended service program covering Europe and Hawaii, and in 2006 it introduced the Flexjet 25 jet card with several options for travelers.⁠[1]

On September 5, 2013, Directional Aviation Capital, the private equity firm headed by Kenn Ricci, announced it would buy Flexjet from Bombardier for $185 million through a newly formed company, Flexjet, LLC. Directional already owned Flight Options, Sentient Jet, Nextant Aerospace and Constant Aviation, among others. Ricci said all Flexjet employees would be retained. The deal was expected to close by year-end, pending U.S. government approvals.⁠[4]

Alongside the purchase, Flexjet, LLC placed a firm order with Bombardier for 85 business jets worth about $1.8 billion—25 Learjet 75s, 30 Learjet 85s, 20 Challenger 350s and 10 Challenger 605s—with options for 160 more, for a potential total of about $5.2 billion. At the time Flexjet operated 79 aircraft, mostly high-end types.⁠[4][5][6]

Jones Day represented Bombardier in the transaction.⁠[6]

The sale closed in early December 2013. After purchase price adjustments the price was estimated at $195 million, including the assumption of about $70 million in customer advances. The firm order now stood at 115 jets worth $2.4 billion (25 Learjet 75s, 60 Learjet 85s, 20 Challenger 350s and 10 Challenger 605s), with options for 150 more worth $3.2 billion. Most of Flexjet’s roughly 80 program aircraft were owned by its customers.⁠[7]

After the acquisition, Michael Silvestro, previously chief executive of Flight Options, became chief executive of Flexjet.⁠[1]

At its twentieth anniversary in May 2015, Flexjet held firm orders for 207 new aircraft, with options that could bring the fleet to 445 planes and an investment that could top $8 billion. Fractional sales in the first quarter of 2015 were up 70 percent on 2014, and the fleet’s average age was about six years. The company was led by chairman Kenn Ricci and chief executive Michael Silvestro.⁠[3]

The same year Flexjet introduced Red Label by Flexjet, a premium line with a dedicated crew for each aircraft and custom interiors, and it later opened its first Flexjet-exclusive private terminal, in Naples, Florida.⁠[1][2]

After 2013 Directional expanded Flexjet internationally, acquiring FlairJet of the United Kingdom in 2016, PrivateFly and Sirio in 2018, and SIMCOM the same year.⁠[8]

In 2018 Andrew Collins led the acquisition of the jet card and charter provider PrivateFly, a key step into Europe. Flexjet’s European operation launched in 2019, with Flexjet House in London’s Mayfair, a Tactical Control Centre at Farnborough Airport and an operational centre in Malta.⁠[2]

In 2021 Flexjet acquired Associated Aircraft Group (AAG) in the United States and Halo Aviation in London, which were later combined to form its helicopter division; in 2022 the company added private helicopters, Sikorsky S-76s, to its fleet.⁠[1][2]

In July 2021 Flexjet obtained a Maltese air operator certificate (AOC) and opened an operations centre in Sliema, Malta; the first aircraft to fly under the Maltese 9H registration was an Embraer Legacy 500. Flexjet’s European fleet grew by 40% that year; its European sites included a London Mayfair headquarters, St Albans in the UK and a maintenance facility in Milan, Italy.⁠[9]

On October 11, 2022, Flexjet signed a business combination agreement with Horizon Acquisition Corporation II, a special purpose acquisition company whose chief executive, chief financial officer and chairman was Todd Boehly, to go public at a pro forma enterprise value of $3.1 billion and trade on the New York Stock Exchange as “FXJ,” backed by up to $300 million in common equity commitments. The announcement projected 2022 revenue of $2.3 billion and adjusted management EBITDA of $288 million, and described a fleet of more than 250 aircraft and helicopters, about 10,000 committed contracts and 3,100 employees, including 1,000 non-union pilots, serving customers through five storefronts—Flexjet, Sentient Jet, FXAIR, PrivateFly and Sirio—covering fractional ownership and leasing, jet cards, on-demand charter and whole-aircraft ownership.⁠[10]

On April 11, 2023, the parties announced the termination of the agreement. Flexjet remained private and agreed to pay Horizon a termination payment of about $30 million; Horizon, unable to pursue another deal before its charter deadline of September 30, 2023, decided to liquidate its trust account.⁠[11]

On September 12, 2023, Flexjet held the grand opening of its new $50 million global headquarters at Cuyahoga County Airport in Richmond Heights, Ohio, a 51,453-square-foot expansion within a 243,000-square-foot campus. Its operations control center has 137 seats and an LED screen 176 feet wide and 19 feet high. The headquarters had more than 670 staff, plus about 1,100 non-union pilots based at hubs worldwide.⁠[12]

Flexjet’s revenue in 2024 was $3.8 billion.⁠[13]

In February 2025 Flexjet announced a firm order for 182 Embraer business jets, with options for 30 more, valued at $7 billion, and said it planned to grow its fleet from 320 aircraft to 600 within five years.⁠[14]

At about 8:50 a.m. on February 25, 2025, a Flexjet business jet entered a runway at Chicago Midway Airport without authorization, forcing Southwest Airlines Flight 2504, approaching RunwayRunwayRunway (Runway AI, Inc.) is a New York–based artificial intelligence company that grew out of the ITP program at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in 2018. It develops video generation models and tools for the film, advertising and creative industries, has released the Gen-1 through Gen-4.5 series of models, and has extended its research to “general world models” that simulate the world in real time.Open the full entry 31C, to abort its landing; the Southwest flight went around and landed safely. The Federal Aviation Administration opened an investigation, and Flexjet said it was conducting a thorough investigation and would take any necessary corrective action.⁠[15]

On July 21, 2025, Flexjet announced an $800 million equity investment led by L Catterton, a consumer-focused investment firm with a special relationship with LVMH, with affiliates of KSL Capital Partners and the J. Safra Group participating; the company called it the largest equity investment in the history of private aviation. Existing shareholders and management kept control, and Jefferies, Morgan StanleyMorgan StanleyMorgan Stanley is an American global financial services firm that grew from an investment banking partnership into a publicly traded financial group spanning investment banking, securities trading, wealth management, and investment management.Open the full entry and Goldman SachsGoldman SachsGoldman Sachs is an American financial services group headquartered in New York whose businesses include investment banking, securities trading, asset management, and wealth management. It traces its origins to the commercial paper business Marcus Goldman founded in 1869; it listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1999 under the ticker GS and became a bank holding company in 2008. David Solomon serves as chairman and chief executive officer.Open the full entry acted as co-advisors to Flexjet.⁠[16]

It was LVMH’s first investment in private aviation. The money was to go toward Flexjet’s global network of private terminals (11 operating or in development), its in-house maintenance operation and its cabin attendant training academy; a London Farnborough terminal was expected to open early the following year.⁠[17]

The round valued Flexjet at $4 billion, above the $3.1 billion set in its abandoned SPAC deal.⁠[18]

In September 2025 Flexjet launched a fractional program for the Gulfstream G700 with three aircraft, each valued at about $96 million, and expected to have more than 60 large-cabin, long-range aircraft (G450, G650 and G700) and a total fleet of more than 340 aircraft by the end of 2025.⁠[19]

At the time Flexjet’s fleet stood at 325 aircraft and averaged 41 transatlantic flights a week. Ricci expected 12 G700s by the end of 2026, which he called “critical mass.” The company planned fleet growth of roughly 10–12% a year and saw the Middle East as a possible market in about five years.⁠[20]

On June 12, 2026, Flexjet announced the acquisition of The Jet Business, a London aircraft brokerage and advisory firm, on undisclosed terms. Founded by Steve Varsano in 2011, The Jet Business created what it calls the world’s first street-level corporate aviation showroom and continues to operate under its own brand; Varsano became President of Flexjet, focusing on product innovation and international growth.⁠[21]

On July 1, 2026, Formula 1 and Flexjet announced a multi-year exclusive global partnership making Flexjet the Official Private Aviation Supplier of Formula 1, providing fleet access for VIPs, executives and teams using sustainable aviation fuel; it launched ahead of the 2026 British Grand Prix.⁠[22]

In July 2026 the Ohio Tax Credit Authority approved a 15-year, 1.92% payroll-tax credit for Flexjet worth up to about $18.6 million depending on actual job growth. Flexjet plans to add 976 full-time jobs in Richmond Heights by December 31, 2031, with $62.5 million in new annual payroll, and must keep operations there for at least 18 years. At the time it had more than 4,000 employees worldwide and operated more than 340 aircraft.⁠[23]

In October 2026 Global CEO Andrew Collins, speaking at the National Business Aviation Association convention in Las Vegas, said Flexjet had acquired the maintenance businesses Constant and Flying Colours, performed about 95% of its maintenance in-house with about 1,500 technicians across more than two million square feet, and produced aircraft seats at Flexjet Technical Services in Peterborough, England; the company had opened a new terminal at London’s Farnborough Airport in September 2026. He said, “In five to 10 years, if we’ve done our job, Flexjet should be synonymous with luxury.”⁠[24]

On David Senra’s podcast released October 28, 2026, Ricci said Flexjet’s fleet numbered 365 aircraft, of which about 70 form a core fleet that is never sold and covers peak demand, and that with 85 Gulfstreams Flexjet is the world’s largest Gulfstream operator.⁠[25]