Jet It Expands Fractional Private Jet Program To Embraer

Jet It, which launched in 2018 selling HondaJet fractional shares, is adding Embraer’s Phenom 300 and Praetor 500 aircraft types to its lineup.

The company has not made an official announcement. However, it has been discussing the move with current owners in recent weeks and even has posted a landing page on its website promoting the top-selling light jet. It has also been advertising for Phenom 300 pilots.

Last year, the Greensboro, North Carolina provider added the Gulfstream G150.

Glenn Gonzalez, CEO and Founder of Jet It, confirmed the move, which was first reported in Private Jet Card Comparisons.

In adding the best-selling Phenom 300, Jet It will be competing for fractional share owners against the biggest private jet operators. NetJets ordered 100 more of the type last year and currently has 113. Flexjet, the second-largest player, has 49, while Airshare, operates a regional program.

There are also several private aviation flight providers that offer the Brazilian OEM’s light jet in jet card format, including operators GrandView Aviation and Nicholas Air, as well as broker Magellan Jets. Denver-based broker OneFlight International features the Phenom 300 as an option; however, it doesn’t guarantee the type. Naples, Florida-based operator Elite Jets flies the Phenom, although its jet card program is currently closed to new members.

NetJets, which had suspended sales and renewals of jet cards in August 2021 as demand reached record levels, reopened the offering to current and former customers on Thursday, featuring just four jet types. Included is the Phenom 300. It has continued to sell leases and shares on the type, although prospects say deliveries aren’t until early 2024.

For Jet It, the move means it will also be going up against PlaneSense, which offers the Pilatus PC-24, and FlyExclusive, which announced earlier this year it was jumping into the fractional market with Textron Aviation’s Cessna Citation CJ3+.

Fractional ownership is seeing a renaissance as jet card providers have been adding more peak days and lengthening the time to reserve flights, meaning less flexibility. For example, NetJets cards now have a non-peak callout of 48 hours, 45 blackout dates and 45 more peak days. That compares to as little as 10 hours and 30 peak days prior to the spike in private flying. Fractional owners can still fly with as few as four hours notice and have only about a dozen peak dates. There are no blackouts.

Jet It apparently will continue using a days-based approach as it has with the HondaJet.

Most fractional program work on an hours basis. You buy a share corresponding to a fixed number of hours you can fly annually. For example, a 1/16^th share equals 50 hours of access per year. Jet It divides its aircraft by days, and you can fly as much as you want that day. The formula favors flyers who take longer or multiple short flights in a single day, a sweet spot for range-challenged VLJs. Jet It’s programs begin at 25 days usage per yet.

Airshare has been selling its Phenom 300 and Phenom 100 programs on a days basis, and when Flexjet launched its Gulfstream G650, it offered a similar setup.

Gonzalez says the adding Embraer addresses the changing needs of owners and prospects.

The Phenom 300 can seat up to eight passengers in the cabin compared to five for the HA-420 and has more range. According to Conklin & de Decker, the larger jet can fly nonstop up to 2,077 nautical miles with four passengers compared to 1,188 nautical miles for the HondaJet. The Praetor 500 can fly coast-to-coast nonstop.

The first two Phenom 300s will join the Jet It fleet this year, growing to 10 next year and 35 for 2025, at which time Jet It expects to be flying nine Praetor 500s.

Jet It plans to keep operating the HondaJet, although 10 of them will be owned by the operator and used for charter to third-party customers. Volato and Jet Token, which each launched HondaJet fractional programs last year, offer jet cards on the airplane, something Jet It has eschewed so far.

While, on the one hand, there are efficiencies from parts to training of using a single OEM, the recent trend has been towards diversification. Airshare’s fractional program added the Challenger 350 from Bombardier last year, and Volato recently announced it would launch a super-midsize, shared ownership program with Gulfstream Aerospace’s G280. NetJets operates aircraft from four manufacturers, while Flexjet features three different OEMs in its fleet.