The VIP Seat: Private Aviation News

521 kilos of crystal meth on a 1986 Learjet 55B, a rise in rogue pilot incidents on the flight deck, and Fortune taking another swing at business aviation. This week Jessie and Preston break down the Meth Jet bust in Laos, what the flydubai attack says about pilot mental health and cockpit security, and why bonus depreciation is no more a private jet loophole than it is a bulldozer loophole. We also look at IADA's tougher Certified Aircraft Broker program and the latest expedition hoping to find Amelia Earhart's Electra on Nikumaroro.

Chapters
00:00 Welcome to The VIP Seat
00:12 Meth Jet: 521 kg on an N-registered Learjet in Laos
07:04 Mile High Madness, presented by Wingform
09:42 Get your hat for NBAA-BACE
10:20 Rogue pilots and the threat on the flight deck
15:04 Fortune gets bizav wrong again
23:06 IADA raises the bar for aircraft brokers
27:50 The search for Amelia Earhart's Electra
30:58 See you at NBAA-BACE

Thanks to our sponsors
AB Jets: Argus Platinum-rated charter with a fleet of Challenger 3500s and Learjet 60s
Wingform: presenting sponsor of Mile High Madness
RealJet: aircraft brokerage built on real people and real conversations

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#BusinessAviation #PrivateJets #NBAA #BizAv #AviationPodcast

What do private jets and catheters have in common? Apparently, a publicly traded parent company.

This week on The VIP Seat, Jessie Naor and Preston Holland unpack Catheter Precision’s rebrand as Flyte Aviation, trading under VJET on the NYSE American—and the unusual combination of private aviation and cardiac technology. Then, they tackle Kissimmee’s proposed camera-based landing-fee system, the legal fight over delivery drones, and Global Jet Capital’s forecast for $247 billion in business-jet transactions through 2030.

In this episode:

• Flyte Aviation, formerly Flewber, and its public-market pivot.
• Airport cameras, ADS-B restrictions and the landing-fee debate.
• Fifteen states and Harris County challenge the FAA’s drone-delivery environmental review.
• Why heavier jets are expected to lead transaction growth.
• AOPA’s announcement that it was leaving X—and the online reaction.
• A helicopter, a limousine and a very questionable stunt.
• Confirmed information about the tragic Bermuda-to-Boston air ambulance accident, without speculation about its cause.

Update: After this episode was recorded, AOPA reversed its decision to leave X and said it would keep its account active.

Thank you to AB Jets and RealJet for sponsoring this episode.

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#BusinessAviation #PrivateJets #TheVIPSeat

The FAA has ended the single-pilot exemption pathway for several legacy Cessna Citation models, creating an immediate operational and economic issue for affected aircraft owners, contract pilots and charter operators.

In this episode of The VIP Seat, Jessie Naor and Preston Holland break down what the FAA’s move actually means for Citation II, Bravo, V, Ultra, Encore and Encore+ operators and why the CE-525 CitationJet family is not affected. They discuss the agency’s safety rationale, allegations of noncompliance in the exemption ecosystem, the impact on staffing and operating costs, and the possible implications for aircraft values.

Also in this episode:

• FAA proposes a $260,868 civil penalty against ExcelAire over alleged unauthorized charter operations.
• OneFlight faces growing scrutiny and multiple lawsuits, raising bigger questions about jet cards, prepaid charter funds, escrow and customer due diligence.
• FAA mechanic certificate issuance reaches a record level, while aviation maintenance employers still confront a long-term talent pipeline challenge.
• FAA proposes changes to high-altitude oxygen-mask rules for Part 91 and Part 135 operations.
• The Pilatus PC-12 PRO receives FAA and EASA approval for Garmin Safety Autoland.
• Mile High Madness: private-aviation social media, FBO confusion and the week’s strangest aviation moments.

The big takeaway: whether you are buying a jet card, booking charter, owning a legacy Citation, hiring a contract pilot or evaluating an operator, due diligence matters more than ever.

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Are Steve Varsano's viral phone calls real or staged? We finally asked. In part two of our conversation, recorded live from the A319 cabin mockup at The Jet Business in London, Flexjet Chairman Kenn Ricci and Steve Varsano go through the deal from the buyer's side. They cover who pitched it (over lunch, of course), why Kenn calls it 80% acqui-hire, how Flexjet plans to move 30–50 pre-owned aircraft a year, and Kenn's three types of M&A deals, including the two he never wants to do again.

First, the news. Canada joins the bonus depreciation club with PM Carney's Productivity Mega Deduction, covering both new and pre-owned aircraft. The HondaJet Echelon slips again, with first flight in 2028 and deliveries in 2031, and we ask whether it's the engines. We also ring the M&A gong for Derek Johnson and Mach One Aviation joining Citadel Aviation. Plus Mile High Madness: a social media aviation-investment pitch that earns a hat, and a helicopter giving birth.

Thanks to our sponsors: AB Jets, RealJet, and Wingform

Subscribe to the newsletter at https://www.thevipseat.com for the weekly Mile High Madness links and more.

Is private aviation really one industry anymore?

In this special edition of The VIP Seat, Kenn Ricci argues that the interests of charter operators, aircraft manufacturers and FBOs are increasingly pulling in different directions — while the organizations lobbying Washington have traditionally tried to represent them all.

Kenn gets into why airlines have access to a robust market for PMA replacement parts while business aviation operators face far fewer options, including manufacturers’ reluctance to provide the technical data needed to develop alternatives. He also takes aim at soaring FBO landing, handling and special-event fees — costs that ultimately hit operators and their customers.

For large companies, those pressures may be manageable. For smaller charter operators, Ken argues they’re making an already difficult business even harder to compete in.

His bigger question: when manufacturers, FBOs and operators have competing economic interests, who is actually standing up solely for the operator?

This week on The VIP Seat, we unpack who is gaining control across business aviation—from airport policy and FBO economics to charter platforms, premium terminals, and cockpit safety culture.

Chris Rocheleau is leaving NBAA to lead Airports Council International–North America, putting a former FAA leader at the helm of the organization representing airport operators across the U.S. and Canada. We look at why that move matters for airport access, infrastructure, FBO power, fees, and the future relationship between airports and business aviation. Rocheleau is set to become ACI-NA president and CEO on October 5, succeeding longtime leader Kevin Burke.

We also break down Priester Aviation’s “One Priester” rebrand and what it really says about the company’s acquisition strategy. With Mayo Aviation, Hill Private Aviation, Omni Air Transport, Elite Jets, and MaxAir now inside the broader platform, is this simply a brand consolidation—or a push to own more of the client journey from jet card to charter to aircraft management?

Then, OneFlight’s story gets more complicated. We discuss reports of financial and operational pressure, questions around operator payments, the company’s aggressive growth and marketing strategy, its short-lived surcharge, and why a jet-card company’s ability to deliver promised lift is ultimately a balance-sheet question.

We were also on site at Farnborough for Flexjet’s new $34 million private terminal—the company’s first dedicated facility outside North America. More than a lounge, it is a statement about global fractional growth, customer experience, training, maintenance, and who controls the private-aviation journey on the ground.

Finally, we examine the Nicholas Air whistleblower case and what AIR21 protections actually mean for pilots and other aviation workers. When a crewmember raises a reasonable safety concern, where does legal protection begin—and where are its limits?

In this episode:

• Chris Rocheleau’s move from NBAA to ACI-NA
• Airport influence, FBO consolidation, fees, leases, and access
• Priester Aviation’s rebrand and completed acquisition roll-up
• OneFlight’s financial and operational questions
• Flexjet’s Farnborough terminal and global fractional strategy
• Why pilots receive whistleblower protections under AIR21
• The difference between a safety culture statement and a safety culture in practice

Thank you to our sponsors AB Jets, REAL Jet, and Wingform for making this show possible as well as Wingform

Trump is taking aim at Bombardier again—threatening to stop the Canadian manufacturer from selling aircraft in the United States unless it builds more of them on U.S. soil. But is this a real policy move, another tariff negotiating tactic, or both? And what could it mean for Global and Challenger buyers, fractional operators, delivery customers, and the wider business-aviation supply chain?

This week on The VIP Seat, Jessie and Preston break down:

• Trump’s latest Bombardier threat and why calling it an enacted “tariff” may be premature
• Bombardier’s U.S. manufacturing footprint, including Global 7500 wing production in Texas
• Grant Cardone’s $80 million, “no tariffs” Global 7500 sales pitch
• Honda Aircraft subsidiary Arulean Air’s minority investment in Thrive Aviation
• Thrive’s new fractional program featuring HondaJet HA-420s and Challenger 3500s
• Whether a disciplined VLJ fractional model can actually work—and why the charter/fractional balance matters
• Bernie Ecclestone reportedly being detained in Portugal after a shotgun was found aboard his private jet
• The international-trip lesson: firearms, permits, customs, crew coordination, and why “last-minute” does not mean “skip the paperwork”
• Treasury declining senators’ request to change SIFL valuation rules for personal use of employer-provided aircraft
• Why politicians can potentially be subject to SIFL too—but campaign flights, government flights, and personal fringe-benefit flights are not the same thing
• L.A. County’s push to assess property taxes on aircraft tied to celebrities, billionaires, and high-net-worth owners
• What aircraft situs-tax enforcement could mean for owners, management companies, and privacy

Private aviation remains an easy political target, but the real-world issues are more complicated: U.S. manufacturing jobs, cross-border supply chains, fleet planning, tax compliance, aircraft location records, and the practical need for private aviation as a business tool.

This episode is commentary, not legal, tax, customs, firearms, or operational advice. Consult qualified advisers, your operator, and trip-support professionals for guidance on a specific transaction or trip.

Thanks to this week’s sponsors:

AB Jets — for Starlink-equipped Challenger 3500 charter and supplemental lift.
RealJet — for experienced, human-led international trip support and operational coordination.

Subscribe to The VIP Seat, leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and sign up for the newsletter at The VIP Seat.

#PrivateAviation #BusinessAviation #Bombardier #TrumpTariffs #HondaJet #Challenger3500 #FractionalOwnership #SIFL #PrivateJetTax #AviationNews

Vista Global is reportedly eyeing a European IPO that could raise over $1 billion at a valuation north of $10 billion, and Jessie and Preston break down what that means against a $600 million RRJ Capital investment, looming 2027 debt, and how Vista's 2025 flight hours stack up against NetJets and Flexjet. From there, Apollo's new stake in Atlantic Aviation values the FBO chain at nearly $10 billion, just five years after KKR bought it from Macquarie for $4.475 billion, and the hosts connect that to a Senate letter pressing the FAA on private equity's growing role in aviation maintenance and consolidation. Then it's OneFlight International's wild same-day 35% jet card surcharge and reversal, set against its McLaren F1 and PGA Tour sponsorships, and a debate over whether flashy marketing can outrun shaky pricing. Pentastar Aviation's new autonomous wing-walking robots from Airtrek Robotics, built to cut into the $100-150 million a year the industry loses to hangar rash. Plus, we're joined by special guest Chad Gilson from Gilchrest Aviation Law to break down recent updates to Beneficial Ownership Information and it's impacts on business aircraft privacy.

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Every general aviation airport in America is owned by a city or a county, and almost none of them can afford to build you a hangar. That is not a market failure. That is the system working exactly as it was designed.

This week on The VIP Seat, Jessie and Preston sit down with Tal Kenan, Founder and CEO of Sky Harbour, the publicly traded company building hangar campuses at airports where almost nobody can get land.

Tal grew up in military aviation, spent a decade running an investment firm between Tel Aviv and New York, then bought a Beech Baron and ran head first into the same hangar shortage everyone complains about. Instead of joining the waitlist, he went and read the FAA grant assurance guidelines. What came out of that is a real estate business that takes no transient traffic, charges a serious premium, and has a waiting list at most of its campuses.

They cover:

• Why the hangar shortage is a policy artifact, not a supply and demand accident
• How FBO economics quietly guarantee more ramp and less hangar space
• What it actually takes to win a ground lease on an airport, and why PDK took six years
• Why fuel and hangar have to be priced as a single number, not two
• How tax exempt private activity bonds fixed at 4.18% underpin the entire model
• Where the bond market and the equity market disagree about what this business is worth
• What a "home base operator" is, and why the FBO world is splitting in two
• The SPAC story, the REIT question, and why he is happy being public about five days out of seven

Supply is fixed, the fleet keeps getting bigger, and nobody is building new airports. This is the conversation about what happens next.

Thanks to AB Jets and Real Jet for sponsoring this season of The VIP Seat.

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Jessie Naor: flyingprivate.org | flyvizor.com
Preston Holland: prestigefinance.com | prestonholland.com

Disclosure: Sky Harbour is a publicly traded company. Jessie Naor has a small personal investment in it, which she discloses on the show. Nothing in this episode is investment advice and should be viewed for entertainment purposes only.

flyExclusive reported a $111 million Q2, but behind the headline are improving margins, positive adjusted EBITDA, a complicated capital structure, and a $5 million loan carrying a stated 26.5% rate.

This week on The VIP Seat, Jessie Naor and Preston Holland break down flyExclusive’s Q2 2026 results: revenue growth, gross-margin improvement, fractional-program revenue, MRO, Jet Club activity, debt, and the related-party disclosures investors should read carefully. This is industry commentary only: not investment or financial advice.

Also in this episode:

• SC Aviation acquires Heartland Aviation in Wisconsin
• Atlantic introduces its Ascend operator savings program
• LA County’s use of aircraft-tracking data in property-tax assessments
• An Indiana farmer charged after allegedly shooting at a crop-dusting aircraft
• Hera Flight’s reported Gulfstream G-IV runway-excursion and gear-collapse event
• The Atlanta Plane Train runway carpet is apparently installed backwards
• Aviation social-media nonsense, a $40 million “detailer” sale, and more

Thanks to this week’s sponsors, AB Jets and RealJet.

Subscribe for weekly private aviation news, aircraft-operations analysis, charter and fractional-market commentary, FBO economics, aviation finance, M&A, and business-aviation stories you will not find in a standard press release.

#PrivateAviation #BusinessAviation #flyExclusive #FLYX #PrivateJet #AviationNews #JetCharter #FractionalOwnership #FBO #AircraftManagement