NetJets

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.[4] 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 generals Curtis E. LeMay and Paul Tibbets, Washington lawyer and former military pilot Bruce Sundlun, and entertainers and pilots James Stewart and Arthur Godfrey, with Lassiter serving as president and chairman of the board.[6][7]

Shortly after its founding, EJA began receiving regular investments from the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), 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.[8] To hide the investments from the PRR board, Bevan made the payments through a subsidiary, the American Contract Company, which he was president of.[8]

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, but these could not be operated in revenue service without being an airline, so EJA attempted to buy Johnson Flying Service (JFS), a small Montana charter airline. EJA even negotiated an order for Lockheed L-500s, the nascent civil version of the C-5 Galaxy, contingent on acquiring JFS, which required approval from the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), the now-defunct Federal agency that, at the time, tightly controlled almost all commercial air transport.[9][8] The PRR argued its EJA stake was legal as it consisted of non-voting stock. Anticipating CAB approval, EJA licensed its larger jets to foreign airlines. But the CAB saw PRR's involvement as illegal, EJA found itself deeply unprofitable, and the PRR attempted to sell off its stake. However, potential buyers lost interest after corporate spies for Pan Am acquired and leaked information on EJA's illegal interests.[8] The PRR 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.[8]

In 1970, the trustee for Penn Central's EJA shares voted to oust Lassiter and replace him with Bruce Sundlun. 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.[8] 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.[7][8] 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.[10]

1980s

In 1984, Executive Jet Aviation was purchased by mathematician and former Goldman Sachs 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.[11]

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.[12][13]

1990s

In 1998, Berkshire Hathaway acquired EJA and NetJets Inc from Richard Santulli for US$725 million, half of which was paid in stock.[14] 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 Jets 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.

2010s

In 2010, NetJets acquired Marquis Jet from founders Jesse Itzler and Kenny Dichter.[15] The prepaid Marquis Jet card 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's largest business jet fleet owner.[16]

In September 2014, NetJets acquired approval to launch its aircraft charter service in China, 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.[17]

The Internal Revenue Service (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.[18]

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 (5 ft) 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.[19] An Ohio federal judge ruled in favor of NetJets in 2022, citing the plaintiff's failure to prove sex discrimination.[20]

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. 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.[21]

In October 2020, the company made initial moves to reduce its carbon footprint. 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.[22]

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 in 2020, the company expected to take delivery of 40 new aircraft in 2021 in anticipation of industry recovery.[23]

In February 2021, the company purchased a stake in WasteFuel, a business that will convert landfill 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.[24]

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.[25][26] Aerion abruptly announced its closure on 21 May 2021, due to the inability to raise the needed capital to continue.[27]

The company announced in March 2022, that it would partner with Lilium GmbH to establish an eVTOL network in Florida. NetJets will buy 150 Lilium Jets and operate them under a FAR Part 135 charter operation.[28] 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.[29]