Premier Private Jets: Owned Fleet of 15 Jets, FBO and MRO Operations East of the Mississippi

Premier Private Jets, founded in 2013 by pilot-entrepreneur Josh Birmingham, has grown from a single aircraft to a fleet of 15 owned aircraft operating primarily east of the Mississippi. The company offers on-demand charter, jet cards, aircraft management, maintenance, and fixed base operator (FBO) services, and Senior VP Stephen West discussed the company's services and evolution in remarks to SherpaReport.

The fleet consists of light jets — Cessna Citation Bravos and Ultras — and mid-size Hawker 800XP jets. The Citation Bravos seat seven passengers with a range of up to 1,597 miles (2,570 km), while the Hawker 800XPs seat up to eight passengers with a range of up to 2,920 miles (4,699 km). Premier acquires aircraft at value-driven prices, often near end-of-life from prior owners, then refurbishes them at its own FAA-approved Part 145 MRO facility in Dayton, Ohio, with work including full interior refurbishment, new exterior paint, engine overhauls, major inspections, and avionics and cabin upgrades including Wi-Fi. The company also operates FBOs at Detroit (PTK), Dayton (DAY), and Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky (CVG).

Premier describes approximately three-quarters of its charter business as wholesale, supplying lift to brokers and other charter providers, with the remainder from retail clients including jet card holders, Florida Jet Club members, individuals, and family offices. Its jet card program requires 72 hours booking notice and is priced at all-in hourly rates of $7,891 for light jets and $9,331 for mid-size jets at the $100,000 deposit level, inclusive of FET and fuel, with daily minimums of 1.7 hours on light jets and 2.2 hours on mid-size jets. Deposits above $250,000 qualify for hourly rate discounts and fewer peak days. The primary operating region is east of the Mississippi, with access to Canada and the Caribbean for an international fee, and flights to the West Coast possible at a higher charge. The Florida Jet Club, aimed at seasonal flyers commuting between a primary residence and Florida, offers fixed pricing for packages of four, eight, or sixteen flights between Florida and destinations across the eastern United States rather than an hourly rate structure. Premier's operating area is structured around the eastern United States, where, according to the company, roughly 70% of U.S. private aviation demand is concentrated.

Premier's structure illustrates a specific charter model: buying aging light and mid-size jets cheaply, refurbishing them through an owned Part 145 facility, and monetizing both the airframes and the maintenance capacity through wholesale lift, retail jet cards, and a fixed-package club product. Owning the MRO removes a layer of third-party cost and scheduling risk that many charter operators face when refurbishing acquired aircraft, and pairing that with FBO ownership at three regional airports gives the company control over more of the value chain than a pure charter broker or asset-light operator would have.

The wholesale-heavy mix — about three-quarters of charter business supplying brokers and other providers — also shows how much of the light and mid-size jet segment runs on capacity supplied by operators who are not the customer-facing brand. Regional concentration matters here too: an operator whose fleet and FBOs sit entirely east of the Mississippi, where the company says roughly 70% of U.S. private aviation demand sits, can standardize aircraft types and refurbishment work rather than carrying a geographically dispersed, mixed fleet.

What determines whether this model keeps scaling is the pipeline of end-of-life aircraft available to acquire and refurbish at value-driven prices, and whether wholesale demand from brokers holds up alongside the retail jet card and Florida Jet Club segments.