Only the super-wealthy (individuals and companies), often meaning those with more than $1 billion in net assets, own their own jets, according to a recent report by Wealth-X for jet operator VistaJet. “The Jet Traveler Report: The Global Perspective on Who Flies Privately and How” also corroborates the view that younger high-net-worth individuals (HNWI) prefer to charter or belong to membership schemes, rather than own aircraft.
Winston Chesterfield, Wealth-X director of customer support, speaking at the launch of the report in London on March 26, said that his company looked at three main groups—owners, members of a private flying program (such as VistaJet), and “the wider ultra-HNWI group” who might charter, for example. It was clear, he said, that for any of these categories aircraft users tend to have much higher wealth than Wealth-X’s threshold for an ultra-HNWI, at $30 million.
“We think there are 226,000 ultra-high-net-worth individuals worldwide,” said Chesterfield, who went on to explain that in his three groups, the average wealth levels were $1.5 billion, $1.16 billion, and $610 million, respectively.
Wealth-X also interviewed jet users to “try to get the UHNWI consumer voice and to understand their priorities,” said Chesterfield. The five priorities that influenced how ultra-HNWIs chose to fly were maximizing time; control over their lives; perceptions of safety; mitigating risk (linked to discretion and privacy, and vulnerability); and perceived value. Perceptions implied that users were often judging safety and quality by how smart/new-looking the aircraft and cabin were, and value was related simply to seeing private flying as “worth spending the money.”
In addition, the report found that “owners are much older” than those who charter or belong to a membership club. “Most are old men who have spent years and years building up vast wealth before they bought an aircraft,” said Chesterfield. Very few have built up vast wealth overnight. The top sector is financial services, with tech accounting for 6 percent of the ultra-HNWIs.
Among other trends Wealth-X identified were a move to longer range and larger cabins and a focus on technology, both in the cabin and for booking and managing travel arrangements.
Ian Moore, chief commercial officer of VistaJet, stressed that “every client has a distinct and different need,” but there are trends in terms of wealth and region. He also predicted that as the “new wave of young rich” comes along over the next five to 10 years, “We’ll see more of a move away from ownership unless it makes commercial sense.” He claimed the report validated VistaJet’s business model. “The more the market evolves, the more our model will work,” with its worldwide fleet of 72 aircraft (including Bombardier Globals) to date, and a focus on a uniform, high-standard service.