Global Air Charters is planning to grow its core business, including adding more aircraft on its Part 135 charter certificate and eventually expanding into the Part 91 aircraft management business, where it currently does not operate, chief executive Michael Vanacore-Netz told ch-aviation in an exclusive interview in Las Vegas.

"I took over the CEO role last year, and the board of directors has said they want to grow our core business. They want to shift a little bit to make sure that we're focusing on our core. And part of that would be that growth into the Part 91 segment, and then bringing assets under management that we also utilise on Part 135 for charter," he explained.

Its fleet currently consists exclusively of Gulfstream Aerospace aircraft, namely four GVs and one GIV. Despite this homogeneity, Global Air Charters is not strategically prioritising a single OEM. It is currently in talks with prospective owners who would bring new types into its fleet.

"We're looking right now at increasing our assets under management by adding Challengers in the 600 series - the 604s and the 605s. We're also talking to a few prospective owners and principals who would be looking at bringing their Falcon 2000s onto our certificate. And we're talking to one individual who owns a Global 6000," Vanacore-Netz said, adding that he was looking at "multiple" Challengers and Falcons.

Even though its current fleet comprises exclusively large jets, Global Air Charters is ready to venture into the small jet segment. It is talking to the owners of six HA-420s previously placed with Volato, which is exiting its Part 135 business. Part of the logic is that these owners could later transition into larger types.

Fleet expansion details

The operator defines itself primarily as a charter company with a much smaller aircraft management business. Although all five operated aircraft are managed for their owners, Vanacore-Netz explained that the company has a pool of customers who very rarely use the aircraft themselves. He said that about 95% of all flights are charters. Each airframe currently operates between 800 and 1,000 charter hours a year, and such a high utilisation is key to lowering fixed costs.

"Our clients are searching for revenue generation, they're searching for passive income, they're searching for depreciation, and we're creating that value for them with the charter flying that we do," he outlined.

The Gulfstream-only fleet is a byproduct of the carrier's evolution, which included a transfer of the certificate to Southeast Asia and back to the US in 2016. The ongoing search for new customers is a "paradigm shift", as the operator is talking to aircraft owners who currently operate their assets under Part 91. This process requires Global Air Charters to adjust its product to fit the needs of new clientele.

Despite plans to expand the charter fleet, Global Air Charters does not intend to own any aircraft outright. All of its prospective customers already own the aircraft that would be brought onto Global Air Charters' certificate.

Vanacore-Netz added that the company's strategy when pursuing new aircraft includes considering whether the aircraft would fit its existing charter mission profile. It also focuses on economies of scale and would prefer adding a few jets of a new type rather than just unique aircraft.

"I don't think we would ever say no to a specific airframe outside of those guidelines, but it would definitely make it more challenging," he said. "Staying in the turbine market is a must. I don't think we're going to be adding any propeller-driven airframes."

Base and maintenance strategy

In 2023, the company acquired CAVU Aircraft Maintenance and Avionics, a Part 145 maintenance company with facilities at nearby Hazelton Regional. This gives the operator an additional revenue stream and more vertical integration, although it is not a part of its core business. Global Air Charters wants "to control its own maintenance".

"We're very fortunate that we do end up [in the US Northeast] quite often. We're a 15-minute flight away from Teterboro, White Plains, Morristown Municipal, or Long Island to our own hangar, where we can have the aircraft in the barn, as they say, for the night," Vanacore-Netz said.

The Hazelton location is focused on smaller aircraft, while larger jets are serviced at Allentown International. The company is now looking at opportunities to expand its maintenance footprint beyond Allentown and Hazelton. A third location might be announced soon.

Earlier this year, the company inked a joint venture agreement with UAE-based broker Mayfair Jets. As part of the deal, it planned to base an aircraft in the Middle East. Vanacore-Netz admitted that the agreement did not work out and was now over. The company remains open to opportunities to base its aircraft elsewhere, but it would have to be carefully planned with all of the logistical challenges taken into account.

Global Air Charters has no plans to expand into the FBO segment within the next few years.

Charter market

Vanacore-Netz conceded that the last two years were bad for the charter market, with double-digit declines in 2023 and 2024. Demand is currently plummeting the fastest since the 2007-2008 financial crisis, but the executive expects this decline to end soon.

"We're starting to get to the bottom of it, where I think pricing will start to stabilise a little bit this year. Interest rates are starting to come back down, so the ability to borrow money is becoming cheaper," he said.

Due to the current market uncertainties, customers are less likely to buy aircraft. With more expensive capital and lower demand, many aircraft purchased in 2021-2022 are now coming off certificates as they are not generating sufficient return on investment. This reduces the supply of Part 135 aircraft, which also helps to stabilise prices in the market.

Regulatory issues

When asked about the industry's most pressing regulatory challenges, Vanacore-Netz criticised the rules governing securing permits for business charters in the United Kingdom. After Brexit, the UK Civil Aviation Authority requires an application 48 hours before the flight but only processes them during weekday working hours.

"It makes it so difficult for us as a US entity to fly into the UK legally and do charter flights on last-minute ASAP flights," Vanacore-Netz pointed out. "I understand the premise of it is to protect the economy - I'm fine with that - but I think there's a better way to do it."

He stressed there was no reciprocity, as UK-registered carriers could easily fly charters into the US. To address this competitive disadvantage, he suggested that US politicians consider reciprocal restrictions unless the UK changes its system.

He added that the pilot training regulations were ripe for change. While he stressed that the regulators' drive to prioritise safety was "an amazing thing", the increasingly complex training regulations need to be made more efficient, particularly in the environment of staff shortages and ageing pilots and aircraft.

"They're not changing how we train. They're changing what we need to train. So we're not looking at how the pilots are getting through training," he said. "There's no real easy way to bring standardised curriculum or evidence-based training to the Part 91 and Part 135 community right now, and unfortunately, until we can do that in a cost-efficient manner, it's going to hurt our side of the industry."