Q&A with Global Jet Capital CEO Vivek Kaushal.
FAST FIVE
GLOBAL JET CAPITAL
Global Jet Capital has grown a lot since you joined it in 2015. How?
We have added people and we’ve opened offices in Hong Kong and Zurich. We have had an office in Mexico City from the beginning. Our brand has grown in terms of awareness and positive perceptions throughout the business aviation eco-system—which is so critical to success in this business. We’ve added services—like our pre-delivery financing offering—and really honed some of the keys to our value proposition in terms of ease of doing business, speed and flexibility. But, for me, the best part is being part of this team and putting all the building blocks together and seeing the business grow and thrive and bringing new people in. It’s been a great journey.
How do you see the business aviation market today?
If I were to use one word to describe our industry today, I would use the word “healthy.” The pandemic served to focus everybody on the key attributes of business aviation, which has a highly compelling value proposition that is about speed, productivity, convenience and now, health care security. We’ve seen a lot of new people enter the market who could afford private aviation even before the pandemic but chose not to. Those folks are here to stay. So far, demand has been driven more by high net worth individuals and entrepreneurs than the large corporate operators—many of whom are still dealing with COVID-related work procedures. When you think about corporate demand coming back and pent-up demand from countries still in quarantine—even Europe is just beginning to open up—the industry is very well positioned when we get back to full scale. When I think about our industry, we see this as a new equilibrium.
The preowned market is facing an all-time low of inventory. What’s been your experience?
We’re seeing fewer and fewer people list planes on the market. At the same time, if you look at the pace of transactions, it’s never been higher. We think of this as a highly efficient market. We’ve sold aircraft this year, none of which we needed to list simply because the market has been so efficient. With that said, I don’t see dramatic changes in values. What I see from time to time is a customer that may be willing to pay a bit more than others. The experienced players in the market—the repeat buyers—are waiting and watching. They are not going to pay an excessive premium but at the same time, they will not hesitate to pay the right price for a plane if it is the right plane. I see the industry behaving very, very rationally.
How are customers reacting? I think it’s a patience game. People have gotten used to an abundance of inventory being on the market. People are adjusting their expectations. They’re being patient. When the right plane does come up, they move on it. This is why we’re working with clients on pre-approvals, so that when an opportunity presents, they are able to act quickly.
What are the opportunities for your business?
We see huge opportunity ahead—this is a $30 billion a year transaction market and we see it growing steadily. We have built a platform that can bring financial solutions to business aviation users worldwide. We have highly seasoned and talented industry veterans deployed across the world. In Asia and Europe, we are just at the beginning of our journey, and we are going to grow rapidly from a smaller base. In the U.S. we are an established brand with tremendous credibility and growth runway.
—Molly McMillin, a 25-year aviation journalist, is managing editor of business aviation for the Aviation Week Network and editor-in-chief of The Weekly of Business Aviation, an Aviation Week market intelligence report.
