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Jet Aviation Overview
Overview
Jet Aviation, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), founded in Switzerland in 1967, is one of the leading business aviation services companies in the world. Close to 5,100 employees cater to clients needs from 24 airport facilities throughout Europe, the Middle East, Asia and North and South America.
More than fifty percent of Jet Aviation's business is generated in Europe, followed by North America, the Middle East and Asia. As the company's global growth continues with new acquisitions or the expansion of existing facilities, Jet Aviation will continue to provide its clients with an ever-broadening menu of complementary services combined with the highest level of customer support.
Today, Jet Aviation provides:
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History
Owned by the Hirschmann family since its foundation in 1967, Jet Aviation changed ownership in October 2005 when the company was purchased by the Permira Funds, one of the leading private equity specialists in Europe.
Nearly four decades ago, Carl W. Hirschmann bought the former Globe Air hangars in Basel, Switzerland to establish Jet Aviation as the first maintenance facility for business aircraft in Europe. Two years later, the Pilatus maintenance and airline handling operations in Zurich and Geneva, Switzerland were acquired.
In the 1970s, the company expanded its services to provide aircraft management and charter services for European and Middle Eastern customers. The first maintenance base outside of Switzerland was established in 1975 in Dusseldorf, Germany, and in 1979, a partnership was formed with a group of Saudi businessmen in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to operate an FBO facility in Jeddah. In 1977, Jet Aviation added outfitting services as a new line of business at its Basel operation and the facility has since then grown to become the largest independent completions center in world.
1980s brought further expansion to the company in Europe and the Middle East, but more importantly, Jet Aviation successfully entered the U.S. market to become the first global player in the business aviation industry. Since the mid '80s, the company bought existing FBOs in Boston/Bedford, Massachusetts, Palm Beach, Florida and added a FBO in Teterboro, New Jersey, in 1988 to serve the strategically important New York City corporate marketplace. The same year, Jet Aviation acquired Teterboro based Executive Air Fleet - the largest aircraft management and charter company in North America.
The consolidation and steady growth in the EMEA region and North America marked the 1990s. Jet Aviation Basel, Switzerland and the three U.S. FBOs in Boston/Bedford, Palm Beach and Teterboro were expanded to enhance the overall quality and services at these facilities. In 1994, Jet Aviation was granted the right to expand its airline handling services in Zurich and Geneva, Switzerland to provide services to scheduled airlines and IATA carriers. A major move into the Asian market was the opening of a maintenance and FBO facility in Singapore in 1995. Two more locations, including a maintenance facility in Hannover, Germany and a full-service FBO operation in 1999 at Love Field in Dallas, Texas, in the United States were added to Jet Aviation's global network.
The new millennium brought a change in ownership for Jet Aviation and further expansion to the company in both, EMEA and North America. To better serve the United Kingdom and especially the London market, Jet Aviation acquired a maintenance, refurbishment and FBO facility at London Biggin Hill airport. The same year, an aircraft management and charter firm was established in Hong Kong, China. Near San Antonio, Texas, the company opened Jet Aviation Engineering Services to support its own completions facilities in Basel, Switzerland and Palm Beach, Florida and to provide services to third-party modification centers. In April 2005, Jet Aviation's presence in the Middle East was strengthened when the company opened a new maintenance and FBO operation in Dubai, United Arab Emirates which was built in partnership with local partners.
Finally, in October 2005 Jet Aviation was acquired by the Permira Funds, which marked the end of 38 years of family entrepreneurship and in March 2006, the company, under new ownership, announced the acquisition of St. Louis, Missouri-based Midcoast Aviation, one of the leading maintenance, repair and overhaul, modifications and completions companies in North America. After almost 40 years as part of the group, Jet Aviation sold its airline and cargo handling division in Switzerland on November 6, 2007 to Dnata, the largest supplier of air travel services in the Middle East. Since December 2007 Jet Aviation also provides line maintenance, defect rectification and AOG services at Moscow's Vnukovo International Airport. In January 2008, Jet Aviation acquired U.S. based maintenance and completions company Savannah Air Center located at Savannah / Hilton Head International Airport. In Spring 2008, Jet Aviation and Beijing-based Deer Air, signed a joint venture to operate a FBO and line maintenance facility at Beijing's Capital International Airport.
November 5, 2008 marked another chapter in Jet Aviation's history when the company was acquired by U.S.-based General Dynamics, headquartered in Falls Church, VA. General Dynamics is a market leader in business aviation; land and expeditionary combat systems, armaments and munitions; shipbuilding and marine systems; and information systems and technologies. As part of General Dynamics, Jet Aviation will operate as an independent business unit within the General Dynamics Aerospace Group to continue with its successful business model.
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Organization
Peter G. Edwards was appointed as President of the Jet Aviation Group at the company's worldwide headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland in May 2007. His management team and direct reports include the group's CFO, Dr. Hartwig Grevener; Stephan Bruhin, Senior VP Group Human Resources; Laurie Phelan, Senior VP and Group Counsel and Compliance & Ethics Officer; Dave Paddock, Senior VP Group Business Development & Strategic Planning and Heinz R. Aebi, Senior VP Group Marketing & Communications. In addition, all operational senior staff members from EMEA & Asia, including Jürg Reuthinger, Senior VP Aircraft Management; Charles Celli, Senior VP Completions; Christof Späth, Senior VP MRO & FBO services; Martin Bernegger, Senior VP Aircraft Charter and from the U.S., Gary Dempsey, President of Flight Services for The Americas and Don Petersen, President of Midcoast Aviation and Head of MRO and Completions are also reporting to Peter G. Edwards.
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Subsidiaries and Support Facilities
Subsidiaries
In Europe, Jet Aviation maintains operations in Basel, Dusseldorf, Geneva, Hannover, London Biggin Hill, Lugano, Moscow and Zurich. The company's facilities in the Middle East and Asia are located in Dubai, Jeddah, Riyadh, Singapore and Hong Kong. In North America, Jet Aviation operates in Boston/Bedford, Massachusetts; Chicago, Illinois; Dallas, Texas; Palm Beach, Florida; St. Louis, Missouri; Savannah, Georgia and Teterboro, New Jersey.
Jet Aviation has become the largest employer at Basel's EuroAirport and with its work force of close to 1,500 professionals; the company represents the largest operation in terms of personnel within the Jet Aviation group. The facility includes eight large hangars with a total of 353,425 sq.ft. (31,808 sq.m.) and its services include maintenance, completions and refurbishment for aircraft as large as Boeing and Airbus airliners. Jet Aviation has also built a new wide-body completions hangar at the south zone of the airport large enough to accommodate an A380 and a Boeing 747-8 simultaneously.
In Zurich, over 400 employees offer FBO, maintenance, aircraft management, provided from three different Jet Aviation locations at the Zurich International Airport.
With a total of 200,000 sq.ft. (18,600 sq.m.), Jet Aviation Teterboro's facility includes seven hangars and employs a staff of more than 400 which provide FBO, maintenance, aircraft management and charter services.
Midcoast Aviation, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Jet Aviation Group of Companies, located at St. Louis Downtown Airport and Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, occupies eight hangars, backshop and office space. The company employs over 1,300 professionals. Midcoast Aviation provides avionics, component/accessory overhaul and repair, complex structural repair, completions and interior refurbishment, paint and FBO services. Currently, Midcoast is building a new 145,000 sq.ft hangar to support narrow body completions, which will bring the company's hangar space at St. Louis Downtown Airport to nearly 650,000 sq.ft.
Savannah Air Center (SAC), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Jet Aviation Group of Companies, is a full-service aviation center located at Savannah / Hilton Head International Airport. SAC employs more than 280 professionals and provides services from its 220,000-sq-ft state-of-the-art facilities.
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Services of the Jet Aviation Group
Aircraft Management
Jet Aviation operates a fleet of close to 200 corporate and private jets in EMEA, North and South America. Managed aircraft range from Sikorsky S76 helicopters, to Beechjet 400As, Hawkers, Learjets, Cessna Citations, Dassault Falcon Jets, Gulfstreams, Challengers, Global Expresses, Boeing 707s, 727s, 737s to BBJs and Airbus 319CJs.
The company's four 24-hour international planning and reservation coordination centers are strategically located in Zurich, Hong Kong, Teterboro and Dubai. Jet Aviation provides two distinctive programs to serve aircraft owners and operators. In the flight support program, a client can choose from a menu of aviation support services while for aircraft owners who do not wish to be involved in the complexity of daily flight operations, Jet Aviation offers a complete turn-key aircraft management program.
Aircraft management services offer owners and operators tailor-made solutions, developed to suit their individual needs. Jet Aviation's aircraft management includes in-house international and domestic flight planning and scheduling, flight crew staffing, line operations and maintenance services as well as insurance, accounting and administrative services. Additionally, savings that the company generates based on its substantial buying power, on fuel, insurance premiums and other operating expenses, are passed on to clients. And if they wish, Jet Aviation can even charter a client's aircraft so that they earn income from their asset while reducing fixed expenses.
In a flight support program, Jet Aviation can be an extension of a flight department while they retain full control of their aircraft operation. The company has designed a menu of aviation support services from which aircraft owners or operators can easily select those best suited to their specific needs. With 24-hour worldwide scheduling, domestic and international planning and a host of other services including participation in the company's insurance and fuel program, Jet Aviation can bring much-needed relief to flight departments.
Aircraft Charter Services Worldwide
Jet Aviation is one of the largest international providers of executive charter services. The company provides clients with four decades of experience and quality standards with an unmatched safety record. From its charter offices in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, South America and the USA, Jet Aviation offers clients 24-hour global charter services with access to over 1,700 jets. In 2007, Jet Aviation logged more than 65,000 flight hours worldwide, and for the last four years Jet Aviation's charter operations in the U.S. ranked among the best charter providers according to a Professional Pilot Magazine poll.
In Europe and Asia, Jet Aviation holds Air Operator Certificates for Germany, Switzerland, and Hong Kong and operates a fleet of owned and managed aircraft of all sizes, including Citations, Falcons, Learjets, Challengers, Global Expresses, Hawkers, Gulfstreams, Boeing 727s and Bell 430 helicopters.
In the USA, Jet Aviation offers a pre-paid Privileged TRAVEL jet card. It is a debit card, with the cost of travel deducted on a per-trip basis and was the industry's first program to offer a 10-hour introductory card. In Europe, the company launched Skylliance in 2006, an alliance of high-quality charter operators and aircraft following stringent service standards defined by Jet Aviation.
Business Aircraft Sales & Acquisition
Jetcraft Trading, a strategic alliance between the Jet Aviation group and Jetcraft Corporation, established in 2007, offers worldwide solutions for aircraft sales and acquisition services. The new company plans to open future offices in Singapore, Hong Kong, Sao Paulo, Moscow, Beijing and on the West Coast of the United States, joining those already in place in Minneapolis, MN; Teterboro, NJ; Raleigh-Durham, NC; St. Louis, MO; Redding, CA; and Zurich, Switzerland. In the near future, Jetcraft Trading will be positioned to offer a true global solution for consolidated access to business/VIP aircraft buyers and sellers throughout the world.
Jetcraft Corporation was founded in 1962 and is a well-established market leader in mid-size and large-cabin executive aircraft acquisitions, sales, brokerage and trading worldwide. Jetcraft buys and sells aircraft for its own account, and provides professional fee-based trading and transaction related consulting services to its clients.
Aircraft Maintenance
When Jet Aviation was founded in Basel 1967, its main business was to provide maintenance, repair on business and corporate aircraft. Today, Jet Aviation enjoys an excellent reputation with all major aircraft and component manufacturers and has been designated as a factory-approved service center for many of those organizations around the world. In addition, aviation authorities worldwide officially recognize Jet Aviation as an authorized maintenance and repair facility. Maintenance capability ranges from helicopters, turboprops and business jets to transport aircraft such as the Airbus A319 Corporate Jetliner, Boeing Business Jet, Boeing 707 and 727 and McDonnell Douglas DC-8 and DC-9.
Aircraft engine maintenance and support covers the most widely used business-aircraft power plants including piston engine, turboprop and fanjets. Jet Aviation capabilities range from minor repairs and hot section inspections to module changes and partial overhauls. The company also offers non-destructive testing (NDT) and can perform Zyclo dye penetrant, eddy current, ultrasonic, X-ray radiographic and ComScan testing.
Aircraft maintenance, including airframe, engine, systems and avionics service is offered at all Jet Aviation locations. Maintenance is the company's largest division and accounts for approximately half of total revenue.
Fixed Base Operations (FBO)
Jet Aviation operates an extensive international network of FBOs throughout the world providing passenger handling, aircraft refueling and quick turnaround assistance. These facilities cater specifically to the diverse needs of the business aviation community ensuring that excellent care is provided to passengers, flight crews and the aircraft. Jet Aviation's FBOs, located in EMEA and North America, have consistently ranked in the top ten in international polls.
Completions and Refurbishment
The Jet Aviation group maintains two major completions and refurbishment centers in Basel and in St. Louis under Midcoast Aviation.
Jet Aviation Basel operates its own interior design and engineering department and its own cabinet, upholstery, fiberglass, sheet metal and paint shops. The company's highly skilled, professional craftsmen have the ability to fully complete and outfit "green" aircraft or refurbish already completed aircraft requiring anything from a minor "touchup" to a major refinishing. Capability and experience ranges from small through large-cabin business jets, including Learjets, Falcons, Challengers, Gulfstreams, BBJs, Airbus 319CJs up to the size of Boeing 747 and 767. In addition, Jet Aviation Basel is a designated, factory approved completions center for the BBJ and the Airbus 319CJ.
Midcoast Aviation is the only fully integrated, non-manufacturer completions center for large and long-range business jets in North America. All functions of an interior project are performed by Midcoast Aviation including design, engineering, composites fabrication, cabinetry, upholstery, cabin electrical, finishing, installation and certification. The company provides green completions for Bombardier Challenger and Global family aircraft. Additionally, Midcoast provides interior refurbishment services for Falcons, Gulfstreams and Hawkers.
Aircraft owners who plan to refurbish or reconfigure an existing cabin interior can also visit Jet Aviation's facilities in Geneva and Zurich, Switzerland; Dusseldorf, Germany; London Biggin Hill, U.K.; Singapore; and Palm Beach (Midcoast), Florida. These facilities have interior specialists who take pride in every project they undertake and are dedicated to making an owner's vision reality.
Aircraft Exterior Paint
Most outfitting work entails exterior painting as an integral part of a completions process. As a result, Jet Aviation Basel maintains its own exterior paint facility. Basel's operation include a state-of-the art paint hangar that can accommodate aircraft up to the size of BBJs and Airbus 319CJs
In St. Louis, Midcoast Aviation maintains a paint hangar large enough to simultaneously accommodate two aircraft, such as a Bombardier Global Express and Gulfstream 550.
Engineering and Avionics Retrofit
Jet Aviation facilities worldwide specialize in installation solutions custom designed for any flight deck or aircraft cabin. Jet Aviation Basel has expanded and refined its engineering and shop capabilities over the last three decades to include the design, engineering, manufacture, assembly, installation, ground-check, flight-testing and certification of virtually any executive interior or avionics modification.
In addition, nearly all Jet Aviation locations are authorized to test and repair delicate instrumentation, avionics and electronic devices produced by major avionics and entertainment equipment manufacturers ranging from complete "glass cockpit" displays to live TV and global communications and information systems.
Jet Aviation Engineering Services specializes in airframe and interior modifications for business, head-of-state and general aviation aircraft. Structural design services are offered as well as analysis and testing, aerodynamic load analysis, aircraft systems design and analysis, aircraft configuration design and FAA certification. In addition, Jet Aviation Engineering Services develops FAA Supplemental Type Certificates (STCs) for client-requested modifications or alterations to aircraft and provides structural testing (both static and fatigue) for components, large assemblies or entire aircraft, in house or at a client's facility.
Jet Professionals
Jet Professionals has enjoyed a solid reputation for almost three decades by placing outstanding temporary and full-time professionals within the aviation industry. Additionally, the company also offers payroll outsourcing, personnel risk management and administration services.
The company provides a full range of personalized and confidential employment services for mid and executive management, flight attendants, pilots, mechanics, maintenance and avionics technicians, engineers, designers, dispatchers, schedulers, and other corporate aviation personnel. For highly-skilled corporate aviation executives, crew and support personnel, Jet Professionals' career centre offer attractive aviation positions.
Jet Professionals' comprehensive aviation personnel services include full-time employee search, evaluation, and placement, temporary employee re-sourcing, consulting services to keep operations running safely and efficiently, outplacement services, PRO/PI, background/ drug testing, management services and risk management.
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We Have a mission: To serve you best!
In business today, maintaining a close working relationship is the corner stone of exemplary customer service. Jet Aviation strives toward that goal by offering services that complement each other. In doing so, the company has created an opportunity for its customers to deal with one single supplier and an opportunity for Jet Aviation to build an enduring relationship with its clients. This is the very best way to understand customer's needs and to serve clients even better in the future. Sensitivity to customers is something that has driven Jet Aviation's success from the outset. Although the company has experienced significant growth in the past and will continue to expand its capabilities in the future, customers can rest assure that maintaining these important relationships is something that will never change.
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