Chicago-based Jet Support Services Inc. (JSSI) and Fleet Capital Leasing have entered into a strategic alliance agreement to bundle JSSI’s engine, airframe or tip-to-tail hourly cost maintenance program with Fleet Capital aircraft financing.
“This is a very positive development for both Fleet and JSSI,” said Michael Amalfitano, division manager of Fleet Capital Leasing’s Corporate Aircraft Finance Group. “As the marketplace has expressed an interest in ‘one-stop shopping,’ this agreement affords JSSI and Fleet a real opportunity to test the concept on a large scale.”
Operators with aircraft leased through Fleet Capital could receive one or more pricing enhancements, including lower leasing rates, reduced enrollment fees, and/or simplified lease-end aircraft return conditions, upon placing the aircraft on a JSSI maintenance program.
Headquartered in Providence, R.I., Fleet Capital Leasing is one of the largest bank-owned commercial equipment leasing and finance companies in the U.S. with assets in excess of $20 billion. The company’s corporate aircraft unit has enjoyed explosive growth over the past five years, building alliances with aviation companies such as Cessna, Raytheon, FlightSafety and Avpro. Fleet Capital claims to be the largest lease financing source for Cessna aircraft, and the number-two owner of leased aircraft in the U.S.
This is not the first alliance agreement for maintenance provider JSSI, either. Billed as the only independent hourly cost engine program provider not directly affiliated with an engine manufacturer, parts manufacturer or any maintenance facility, JSSI works with Gulfstream Aerospace to provide scheduled maintenance for GIV, GIV-SP and GV under Gulfstreams’ ServiceCare program. JSSI provides a similar program, called Falcon First, for a variety of Falcon business aircraft models.
“By entering into this Alliance with Fleet Capital Leasing, JSSI continues to introduce new programs designed to support aircraft operators,” said JSSI president Rick Haskins. “We will be working together diligently to ease the application and enrollment process for operators seeking both aircraft leasing and a scheduled maintenance program such as ours.”