NetJets
NetJets Inc., a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, is an American company that sells part ownership or shares of private business jets. NetJets was founded in 1964 as Executive Jet Aviation. It was the first private business jet charter and aircraft management company.
History
NetJets Inc., formerly Executive Jet Aviation, was founded in 1964 as the first private business jet charter and aircraft management company in the world. 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 retired Air Force Brigadier General Olbert F. "Dick" Lassiter serving as president and chairman of the board.EJA initially began operations in 1964 with a fleet of ten Learjet 23 aircraft. Bruce Sundlun became EJA president in 1970, and Paul Tibbets became president in 1976. By the late 1970s, EJA was doing business with approximately 250 contract customers, and logging more than three million miles per year.
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.
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.
In 1998, Berkshire Hathaway acquired EJA and NetJets Inc. NetJets soon expanded to Europe and then Russia, and by 2006, it was the largest operator of business jets in Europe.
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.
In 2010, NetJets acquired Marquis Jet from founders Jesse Itzler and Kenny Dichter. The prepaid Marquis Jet card allowed customers to purchase 25 hours of guaranteed flight time on the NetJets fleet.
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 2020, NetJets restructured its Jet Card program eliminating fuel surcharges and adding the Latitude, Challenger 350, and 650 to the options.. As part of its enhanced COVID-19 procedures, the company announced it would begin testing all flight crews as well as make testing available to all employees.
Operations
NetJets sells fractions of specific aircraft, chosen from several available types at the time of purchase. Owners then have guaranteed access to that aircraft with as little as four hours' notice. If the owner's aircraft is unavailable for some reason, another aircraft of the same type, or a larger aircraft, will be provided.Fractional owners pay a monthly maintenance fee and an occupied hourly operating fee. The latter is charged only when an owner or guest is on board, not for ferry flights.
For companies or individuals that require less than the minimum 50 flight hours and the five-year commitment of fractional ownership, they can buy flight hours in 25-hour increments via its Marquis Jet and NetJets jet card programs.
Fleet
NetJets is the largest private jet operator in the world.Orders
On June 11, 2012, NetJets placed the largest aircraft order in private aviation history totaling $17.6B. NetJets 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.In 2015, the company purchased up to 175 Citation Latitudes, by 2018 100 were ordered and 75 were delivered.
On October 15, 2018, NetJets announced the purchase of up to 325 Cessna Citations for nearly $10 billion: 175 Citation Longitude, sold for $26 million each, and up to 150 Citation Hemispheres, priced at $35 million.
Subsidiaries
; Executive Jet Management, Inc.; NetJets Aviation, Inc.
; Marquis Jet Partners, Inc.
; QS Partners
; NetJets Europe
Concerns and conflicts
Taxes
The Internal Revenue Service sought back taxes and penalties of $643 million from NetJets for periods beginning in 2003. 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.Discrimination complaint
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 to properly control the rudders of an Embraer Phenom 300. She states 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.Accidents and incidents
| Date | Flight | Aircraft | Location | Description | Fatal | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
| 09 05 1970 | N434EJ | Learjet 23 |  Pellston, Michigan | Controlled flight into terrain while landing at Pellston-Emmet County Airport. UAW President Walter Reuther, his wife May, and architect Oscar Stonorov were killed in the crash. | 6 | — | — | — |
| 22 01 1999 | N782QS | Cessna 650 Citation VII |  Columbus, Ohio | During a training flight, the aircraft was landing at Port Columbus International Airport, when the right main landing gear collapsed during. Two certificated airline transport pilots, a company pilot, and a company intern on board. During the investigation, a design flaw was found. | — | — | — | 4 |
| 02 05 2002 | N397QS | Cessna Citation 560 |  Leakey, Texas | Arriving from Houston Hobby, the aircraft landed more than halfway down the runway at Real County Airport. The aircraft overran the departure end of the runway and collided with trees. A post-impact fire consumed the aircraft after the crew and four passengers were able to evacuate. | — | — | — | 6 |
| 03 11 2003 | N632QS | Cessna Citation 560 |  Savannah, Georgia | NetJets Flight 632 was a flight from Chicago Executive Airport to Beaufort County Airport. During the flight, the crew experienced issues with malfunctioning landing gear. The aircraft was diverted to Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport and landed with the nose gear retracted. | — | — | — | 6 |
| 18 08 2004 | N961QS | Cessna 750 |  Jackson, Wyoming | Netjets Flight 961 was a flight from San Jose International Airport to Jackson Hole Airport. After landing and slowing down to approximately, the right main landing gear failed, causing minor damage to the aircraft. | — | — | — | 4 |
| 26 09 2005 | N669QS | Cessna Citation 560 | Columbus, Ohio | Netjets Flight 669 experienced a landing gear failure while taxiing for departure at Port Columbus International Airport. | — | — | — | 2 |
| 05 01 2006 | N391QS | Cessna Citation 560 |  Woodruff, Wisconsin | Netjets Flight 391 was a flight from Chicago Executive Airport to Lakeland Airport/Noble F. Lee Memorial Field. During landing the right wing contacted the runway causing the aircraft to depart the runway and impact a snow bank. The NTSB found that the Captain failed to "maintain adequate airspeed during the landing which resulted in a stall." | — | — | — | 7 |
| 28 08 2006 | N879QS | Hawker 800XP |  Smith, Nevada | Netjets Flight 879 was a flight originating from McClellan–Palomar Airport. While on approach to Reno–Tahoe International Airport, Flight 879 collided midair with a glider west-northwest of Smith, Nevada, at an altitude of above sea level. Flight 879 landed safely with only minor injuries on board; the pilot of the glider parachuted to safety, but sustained minor injuries while landing. During the investigation, the pilot of the glider stated that glider's transponder was off in order to preserve the batteries for radio use. | — | — | 2 + 1 | 3 |
| 27 05 2011 | N749QS | Gulfstream G200 |  Newburgh, New York | NetJets Flight 749 was a flight originating from Greenville–Spartanburg International Airport bound for Westchester County Airport. During the flight, the crew experienced issues with the landing gear. The aircraft was dirverted to Stewart International Airport. After an emergency landing, the right main landing gear collapsed. | — | — | — | 3 |
| 23 07 2014 | N731QS | Gulfstream G200 |  Aspen, Colorado | NetJets Flight 731 was a flight originating from Dallas Love Field. Upon landing at Sardy Field the aircraft experienced a loss of control event upon landing. The airplane came to rest on the runway, sustaining minor damage. | — | — | — | 3 |
| 19 09 2014 | N322QS | Embraer Phenom 300 | Conroe, Texas | NetJets Flight 322 was arriving from Nashville International Airport when it departed the end of the runway at Lone Star Executive Airport and impacted a ditch. The area had recently been inundated by the remains of Hurricane Odile. There were no injuries but the airplane was substantially damaged. The first officer's use of the emergency brake system during landing was found to be the cause by the National Transportation Safety Board. | — | — | — | 2 |