The Omaha-based private jet company touches down at Dulles International Airport.
Falcon 900c (Photo Courtesy of Jet Linx Aviation)
Time is money, and no one understands that better than business executives who are forced to juggle hectic schedules that pull them in multiple directions at once.We spoke to private aviation firm Jet Linx’s president and CEO, Jamie Walker, and Greg Kinsella, the company’s president of Washington operations, to discuss how they are able to provide customers with the most valuable asset of all: time.
Jet Linx, which has been flying clients across the globe for 17 years, boasts 14 hangar locations throughout the U.S. and the nation’s third largest fleet. During the recession, when many rival companies were cutting back, Jet Linx’s competitive business model allowed it to thrive. Now, even in an improved economy, Kinsella and Walker continue to take pride in a steady and diligent growth strategy that focuses on finding success one city at a time.When thorough analysis showed that the nation’s capital was an underserved market, Jet Linx pounced, opening its Dulles International Airport terminal in early June.
Walker chalks it up to opportunity and timing.“Washington is a step toward those much larger markets like New York and Los Angeles.
We are definitely a national player, but we’ve chosen to stay local in all of our efforts from a public relations and brand perspective,” he says.
Jet Linx offers clients two options. One is a Jet Card that provides users preset hourly rates and the guaranteed availability of a wide range of jets including those with transatlantic capabilities, all for a modest annual fee.
For jet owners, the company also offers aircraft management.
Both ensure the same quality of service and unquestionable convenience. Clients can arrive at the airport 15 minutes before their scheduled departure and be 51,000 feet in the air shortly thereafter. Due to more advanced aviation technology, Jet Linx’s fleet is able to reach new heights, quite literally, flying above the weather to minimize turbulence and slash flight times. Walker calls his jets “time machines” because they allow travelers to be in several places at once.A private aircraft cabin, he notes, makes for an outstanding conference room and a great place to conduct business. Kinsella cites the National Business Aircraft Association’s “No Plane, No Gain” study, which showed that corporations using private aviation were more profitable than those that didn’t.
Jet Linx differentiates itself in the “noisy” private aviation market- place with personalized service and staff who have boots on the ground at all of its hangar locations.“We know our clients and they know us,” Kinsella says.“They fly on the same airplanes with the same pilots and they know their service representatives.” Before flying, clients complete a profile detailing any special preferences they may have. Despite some unusual requests, the Jet Linx team is never judgmental – not even when someone flies their dog eight hours round trip to catch a groom- ing appointment! It is clear the slogan “Your Personal Jet Company” is not an empty set of words.
Walker and Kinsella dismiss criticism that flying private is frivolous. They prefer to focus on the customers whose lives they are changing for the better.
One new Jet Linx client is able to fly across the country for a board meeting in the morning (typically a three day trip) and turn right around to make his son’s soccer practice that afternoon. In that regard, they believe that time is priceless.
This article appeared in the Summer 2016 issue of Washington Life.
