marquis jet card

NetJets Acquires Marquis Jet

Filed under: Wings

There's a little consolidation happening in the private jet business. Berkshire Hathaway's NetJets announced an agreement to purchase Marquis Jet, a top seller of private jet cards for an undisclosed amount. Per the terms of the deal, Marquis Jet became a wholly-owned subsidiary of NetJets. Marquis sells cards that offer 25 hours of flight time on NetJets aircraft. The newly branded Marquis Jet Card by NetJets will continue to be a part of a full set of private jet services offered by NetJets which previously only sold increments as small as 50 hours. In a statement NetJets Chairman and Chief Executive Officer David Sokol said that by bringing NetJets and Marquis Jet together "we combine the unquestioned industry leaders in safety and Owner service and, simultaneously, we create the finest sales and marketing organization in private aviation."

The decision is part of the NetJets 10-year business plan, which also includes the consolidation of U.S.-based business functions and an order to purchase up to 125 new aircraft. The company is also planning major expansion into China. Last year NetJets laid off pilots but it is bouncing back. BusinessWeek mentioned that in August that NetJets had a $114.5 million pretax profit in this year's second quarter.

The Columbus Dispatch also reports that NetJets promoted Jordan Hansell to president. He was previously NetJets' chief legal counsel. David Sokol, who was tapped by Warren Buffett to run NetJets last year, will keep the title of CEO. Hansell will be supported by Adam Johnson and Bill Noe, two veteran NetJets employees, who have been named co-presidents of NetJets North America.

Tags: Marquis Jet, marquis jet card, netjets

Business Jets See Drop In U.S. Demand

by Tracy Chait (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

At the recent Farnborough International Air Show, usually abuzz with the latest in jet envy, market experts were instead agreeing that the U.S. demand for business jets has softened considerably. And some companies are pulling the plug on private jet travel unless the circumstances truly justify it. Supposedly due to the current economic downturn and not a response to surging fuel costs, the decrease in U.S. demand for corporate jets is in stark contrast to burgeoning sales in Russia and the Middle East, whose new moguls are shelling out between $3 and $40 million for aircraft ordered at the air show.

It's not that execs are flying commercial -- the rough equivalent of trading in your Lamborghini for a used minivan full of crying babies -- but they are chartering flights instead of buying their own wings. Business jetsetters are turning more frequently to NetJets fractional ownership or a Marquis jet card, a kind of jet use debit card. Not exactly the Greyhound of the skies just yet, a Marquis jet card starts at $126,900 for 25 hours of flight time. And you won't have the joy of pimping out your cabin like that renowned Airbus A380, whose on-board hot tub and "desert oasis" tacked on an additional $150 million to the aircraft's pricetag.

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Tags: airbus a380, AirbusA380, bombardier, business jets, BusinessJets, marquis jet card, MarquisJetCard, netjets, private jet, PrivateJet