Story ID: 
Bizav Pioneer Santulli Leaving Milestone Aviation
By: Mark Huber
Caption: Santulli is best known as the father of the fractional jet industry.
Word Count: 192
One of the most storied careers in business aviation could be ending. Richard Santulli, 72, is resigning as chairman of Milestone Aviation, the Dublin-based helicopter leasing company he co-founded in 2009. GE acquired Milestone last year and today the company has a fleet of 215 helicopters worth $3.7 billion and supports 32 operators in 26 countries and has orders and options for new aircraft worth $3.2 billion. Santulli will continue to serve Milestone in an advisory capacity.

Milestone president Daniel Rosenthal, 41, will become CEO on January 1. Santulli first entered the helicopter leasing market in 1980, when he formed RTS Helicopter Leasing and quickly built it into the world’s largest helicopter lessor with 200 helicopters. But he is best known as the father of the fractional jet industry. In 1984 he acquired charter operator Executive Jet Aviation and went on to found the world’s first fractional business jet ownership company, NetJets, in 1986.

NetJets was sold to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway in 1998 for $725 million in cash and stock, but Santulli stayed on to run it until 2009, building it into the world’s largest private aviation company with annual revenue topping $4 billion, 7,000 employees and 800 aircraft worldwide.