The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) authorized the Treasury Department to provide up to $32 billion to compensate aviation industry workers and preserve jobs. This included both commercial and private aviation companies. Here’s a look at the largest private jet and jet card companies that received some of this funding.
If you are looking at buying a jet card it could be reassuring to know that the company received Payroll Support Program Payments under the CARES Act. After all, it means that this helped the company keep employees engaged and the aircraft well maintained. Just one major jet card provider, JetSuite, filed for bankruptcy and this was at the start of the pandemic. Since that time demand for private jets has rebounded, suggesting that companies are seeing improvements in their finances.
OneSky Flight, which counts Flexjet, Sentient Jet, FXAir and PrivateFly among its brands was the largest private aviation recipient at $84,362,984. Three of these entities, Flexjet, Sentient and PrivateFly offer jet cards, with Sentient generally being considered the inventor of the jet card. Flexjet is also one of the largest fractional jet operators, and the companies are ultimately part of Directional Aviation.
Private aviation membership company Wheels Up received the second largest amount at $74,227,036. Wheels Up has grown rapidly and has acquired several other aviation providers over the last couple of years.
Van Nuys, California based Clay Lacy Aviation came in third with $26,937,934. The company manages over 100 aircraft and while it doesn’t have a formal card program, their Clay Lacy Preferred membership offers preferred charter rates and guaranteed availability for a minimum deposit of $100,000.
Jet Linx head quartered in Omaha, Nebraska received $20,033,063. The company has 19 base locations around the country and manages over 100 aircraft. They offer an Enterprise Jet Card and an Affiliate Jet Card with different levels of access to the fleet.
XOJET offers a variety of membership plans, with the “Elite Access” membership providing jet card like fixed hourly rates and guaranteed availability with 24-hour notice. XOJET Aviation operates several mid-size and larger aircraft and received $13,146,562.
NetJets, owned by Berkshire Hathaway, was a notable exception on the list. NetJets said they did not apply for any funds and cited their “unmatched financial stability.”
A list of major private aviation companies and amounts received includes:
| COMPANY | PAYROLL SUPPORT AMOUNT |
| One Sky Flight LLC | $84,362,984 |
| Wheels Up Partners Holdings LLC | $74,227,036 |
| Clay Lacy Aviation INC. | $26,937,934 |
| Jet Linx Aviation LLC | $20,033,063 |
| XOJET Aviation LLC | $13,146,562 |
| Western Air Charter INC. | $11,485,372 |
| Southern Airways Corporation | $8,291,546 |
| Mountain Aviation Inc | $7,173,077 |
| Exclusive Jets LLC | $7,098,628 |
| Corporate Flight Management Inc. | $6,993,262 |
| Executive Flight Services LLC | $6,928,679 |
| Cobalt Air LLC | $6,889,049 |
| Talon Air LLC | $5,202,329 |
While the amounts received by the private aviation companies may seem large, the commercial airlines received much bigger sums under the CARES Act. American, Delta, United and Southwest each received at least $3 billion of payroll support, plus further amounts as loans.