PrivateJet.com Extends Wilbur AI Charter Assistant to Instagram Direct Messages
Why It MattersPutting a quoting assistant inside a social messaging app shows charter brokers treating consumer chat channels as a first point of contact, moving early flight-cost discovery out of phone and email routines.
What happened
PrivateJet.com, a Miami-based charter broker, has expanded its AI jet charter assistant, Wilbur, so that it can be reached by sending a direct message to the broker's Instagram account. The assistant is named after Wilbur Wright.
Wilbur first went live on the broker's website in September 2025, and it remains available there. Users can search sample flights either by selecting checkboxes or through a casual chatbot-style exchange.
The assistant lets users compare aircraft, estimate charter costs, get answers to aviation questions and receive sample quotes. Michael Loff, PrivateJet.com Director of Charter Sales, commented on the expansion in a press release.
Industry impact & what to watch
Charter brokers earn their margin on the first conversation: the party that answers a prospect's initial question about aircraft options and likely cost tends to be the one that handles the booking. Placing an assistant that estimates costs and produces sample quotes inside Instagram direct messages puts that first conversation on a channel many consumers already open daily, rather than on a phone line or an email inbox.
Sample quotes and cost estimates generated by software are indicative figures, and the step that matters commercially is the hand-off from an automated estimate to a confirmed, operator-backed price. How that hand-off is handled is where brokers using such tools will differ from one another.
The move also keeps the website and social channels running side by side, so the assistant now serves two entry points with the same core functions. If other brokers follow, early-stage discovery in the charter market would shift further toward messaging platforms.
