Premier Private Jets at a Glance: Products, Fleet, and Infrastructure

Premier Private Jets is a vertically integrated private aviation company providing on-demand charter, jet cards, aircraft management, and maintenance, and fixed base operator (FBO) services. Its fleet of light and mid-size jets primarily operates east of the Mississippi. SherpaReport spoke to Stephen West, Senior VP at Premier, about the company's services, products and evolution.

Company Background

Premier Private Jets was founded in 2013 by Josh Birmingham, a pilot-entrepreneur who built the business from a single aircraft into a multi-base operation.

Premier has grown to a fleet of 15 owned aircraft, comprised of:

• Light jets – Citation Bravos and Ultras
• Mid-size jets – Hawker 800XP aircraft

It also has its own Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) and FBO facilities.

The company describes its charter business as roughly three-quarters wholesale - supplying lift to brokers and other charter providers - with the remainder coming from retail customers, including jet card and Florida jet club members, individuals, and family offices.

The core idea is to retain as much operational and cost control in-house as possible, rather than relying on third parties.

MRO and FBO Operations

Premier operates its own maintenance capability through FAA-approved Part 145 repair stations, with its principal facility in Dayton, Ohio, handling airframe and engine maintenance, avionics and cabin system upgrades, interiors, and paint. This MRO underpins the company’s strategy of buying aircraft at attractive prices, fully refurbishing them in-house, and then operating them as standardized fleet assets.

The company also operates FBOs with locations at Detroit (PTK), Dayton (DAY), and at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky (CVG) airport.

All-Owned Fleet, Refurbished Internally

A key part of Premier Private Jets model is acquiring aircraft at value-driven pricing, often at or near end-of-life from the prior owner’s perspective (e.g., facing double engine overhauls or major capital events). Then it brings these aircraft into its own MRO facility in Dayton for, full interior refurbishment, new exterior paint and consistent livery, engine overhauls and major inspections and avionics and cabin upgrades (including Wi Fi).

The result is a standardized fleet look and feel - new paint, new interiors, consistent branding - built on a lower acquisition and refurbishment cost base, which underpins the economics of its programs.

The Cessna Citation Bravos in the fleet offer seating for seven and a range of up to 1,597 miles (2,570 km). The Hawker 800XPs seat up to eight passengers and have a range of up to 2,920 miles (4,699 km).

Geographic Focus: East of the Mississippi

Premier’s operating model is built around demand density east of the Mississippi, where roughly 70% of U.S. private aviation demand resides. The fleet and operating area are structured to shuttle between the Southeast (Florida), Midwest (Ohio), and North and Northeast with short repositioning times, enabling efficient use of aircraft and crew, quick access to in-house maintenance if issues arise, and reduced reliance on third-party operators for recovery.

Flights west of the Mississippi are possible, but incur a higher charge.

Jet Card & Florida Jet Club

Premier offers a traditional cash-deposit private jet card product, designed for flyers who want program-like consistency.

The jet card program features:

• 72-hour booking notice
• Primary operating region: east of the Mississippi (with access to Canada and the Caribbean for an International Fee)
• Use of Premier’s owned, standardized fleet.
• Deposits starting at $100,000. Deposits over $250,000 offer hourly rate discounts and fewer peak days.
• All-in hourly rates of $7,891 on light jets and $9,331 on mid-size jets (inclusive of FET and fuel), for the $100,000 deposit.
• Daily minimum flight times of 1.7 hours on the light jets and 2.2 hours on the mid-size jets.
• 15% surcharge on peak days.
• 20% discount on round-trip flights.

The deposit can also be used for flights outside the operating area eg for charter flights to the West Coast.

The Florida Jet Club is designed for clients who routinely fly to or from Florida. Rather than an hourly rate structure, it offers fixed pricing for a set number of flights - packages of four, eight, or sixteen - between Florida and destinations across the eastern United States. Stephen West noted that it's primarily aimed at seasonal flyers who regularly commute between a primary home and a Florida residence.