Performance Flight, which operates a flight school and aircraft management services at Westchester County Airport, has acquired Custom Jet Charters based at the Palm Beach International Airport in Florida.
The acquisition includes Custom Jet”™s clearance by the Federal Aviation Administration to operate charter flights under a Part 135 certificate. Part 135 of the Federal Aviation Regulations contains FAA requirements for flight operations, maintenance, training and other areas when providing certain types of air transportation for compensation or hire, such as charter flights.
Lewis Liebert, CEO of Performance Flight, told the Business Journal that Custom Jet will retain its branding and together the Custom Jet and Performance Flight brands will operate a fleet of more than 40 aircraft. These include midsize and heavy-size jet aircraft such as Gulfstream and Embraer Legacy 600 models capable of transoceanic flight. In addition to smaller aircraft, Custom Jet”™s Part 135 certificate allows operation of larger aircraft with 10 seats or more. Liebert did not disclose financial aspects of the transaction.
“This is a growth step and it does a few things. The most important is that this is a charter operator and that is one side of the aviation business that we had not been participating in,” Liebert said. “It”™s increasing our capabilities; it”™s rounding us out better and very much positions us well to grow.”
“We”™ve been managing more and more jets over the years,” Liebert said of Performance Flight. “We, without making them available for hire, are operating nine jets on behalf of individual owners.”
Liebert said that they will not be offering individual seats for booking on the jets, but that charters would be for the use of the entire aircraft. He said that the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in increased interest in private aircraft.
“The market that we are supporting are individuals, families or companies that are looking to have exclusive use of the aircraft,” Liebert said. “On the business side, we are seeing that companies are not going to put their executives onto commercial aircraft at all or as often, so we see more use of the jets to support businesses.”
Performance is based at the Million Air facility at 136 Tower Road, at the southwest section of the Westchester airport, away from the passenger terminal building. Passengers for charter flights originating there do not have to undergo TSA screening since they”™re known to the aircraft operator.
“They pull up, the valets will take their car and they go straight to the aircraft,” Liebert said. “It”™s all about you, on your schedule, your way.”
