Why the business elite are ditching their private jets and hiring them instead

It’s the ultimate first-world problem: should I buy a private jet or hire one?

According to people in the industry, there is a seismic shift among the super-rich business elite towards the latter.

And that should be seen as a “wake-up call” to private-jet operators, according to Thomas Flohr, founder and chairman of VistaJet.

“Stop buying air planes, just buy the hours you need. It is part of a big trend towards a shared economy globally,” said Flohr. “It’s a wake-up call that needs to be very loud and clearly communicated: that it is a corporate waste to buy an air plane.”

VistaJet, headquartered in Malta, is one of the biggest private jet operators in the world. It has adopted the fairly novel approach of offering flights at hourly rates (from US$12,000 to US$17,000) in a market dominated by the “per-flight”and “fractional ownership” business models. In fractional ownership, people buy a share in a single aeroplane and enjoy access to it as and when needed.

The fractional segment is largely the domain of traditional operators like Warren Buffett’s NetJets, whereas the per-flight market is finding itself increasingly disrupted by a growing number of young, aggressive players – like VistaJet.