X-1 Jets overhauls business model with full fee disclosure and multimodal travel advice from October 2026
Why It MattersThe move signals growing pressure on charter brokers to disclose margins and offer multimodal alternatives as clients scrutinise the cost gap between private and commercial travel.
Monaco-based private aviation company X-1 Jets is abandoning standalone charter brokerage in favour of a transparent, multimodal mobility service from October 2026, combining private jets, turboprops, helicopters, secure ground transport, commercial airlines and rail.
The change follows an internal review and a client episode founder Benjamin Lehmann said exposed a conflict of interest in traditional charter brokerage. Earlier this year, a group of 12 passengers asked X-1 to price a private flight from London to Kerry; after producing the charter quote, the company also priced a scheduled airline alternative and found it would move the same group on the same day for roughly one-thirtieth of the cost, a saving of approximately 97 per cent. "That was the moment the model stopped making sense," Lehmann said. "We were being paid to sell the aircraft, and paid nothing to recommend the better alternative. Once you see that conflict clearly, it becomes difficult to defend."
Under the new structure, X-1 will charge a disclosed 10 per cent fee on private aviation, helicopter transfers and secure ground transport. Commercial airline tickets will be rebilled at cost with no added margin, and separate coordination fees for complex multi-modal itineraries will be agreed and published in advance. The company's Special Missions division will use a fixed published charge rather than a percentage. X-1 acknowledges a percentage fee still means it earns more from an expensive aircraft than a cheaper one and nothing from a commercial ticket, but argues the key difference is transparency. At higher service tiers, clients also pay an annual planning and advisory fee regardless of how frequently they fly privately, though those amounts have not been disclosed.
"If your revenue depends on the client boarding a jet, it becomes very difficult to advise them not to," Lehmann said. "We would rather be paid a smaller amount the client can see than a larger amount they cannot." The service promises availability within 48 hours of a request and penalty-free cancellation up to 48 hours before departure. X-1 has marketed the private mobility service since June 2026 but has not released usage figures, and has committed to publishing the proportion of private versus non-private journeys arranged in January 2027, disclosing the figure annually thereafter.
