Stedman Stevens, CEO, Vū Systems

How long have you been at your current organization?

I have been a part of this organization from the beginning. The first meetings were over 6 years ago on September 21, 2013.  It has been an exhilarating roller coaster ride building out an idea to a prototype, then to production scaling, and landing an international strategic partner like Saab.

What are your responsibilities within your organization?

Directing strategy, sales and product development.

Describe a typical day or week in your role.

I spend my time building relationships with employees, suppliers and customers. This includes flying at the last minute to see a customer, editing legal documents, pushing engineers to speed up, flying in King Air test flights, reviewing costs and schedules, and lying awake at night worrying about what I forgot…

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The EMEA region is remarkably consistent across each market, considering how divergent the social, political and economic landscapes are. This makes it a very interesting area to operate within.

In recent years, stability has been the overriding trend across all EMEA markets, despite geopolitical tensions in the Middle East; economic stagnation in parts of Europe; and a lack of progress on business aviation infrastructure in Africa.

This stability speaks to the strength of business aviation globally, and the value private aircraft bring to our customers. The challenges in each region have resulted in new areas of opportunity for Jetcraft.

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Product Overview

The Challenger 604 is a super mid-sized class aircraft introduced as a major upgrade to the Challenger 601 design. This updated model incorporated more powerful engines, larger fuel supply, completely new undercarriage, structural improvements to wings and tail, and a new electronic flight instrumentation system. The Challenger 604 is a longer-range derivative of the 601-3R with a larger fuel capacity and upgraded engines.

As of October 2019, 87% of Challenger 604 aircraft were purchased pre-owned by their current owner, the other 13% new. 6.2% are for sale with the majority of those (82%) under an exclusive broker agreement. When for sale the average time on the market is 320 days.

Brief History

The Challenger 604 started deliveries in 1995 when it replaced the Challenger 601 and was one of the first business jet designs with a super-critical wing. Several variants of the Challenger 604 have been manufactured to meet demanding missions of various military entities around the world. A total of 365 Challenger 604 business jets have been built with 10 retired.

Worldwide Appeal

There are 355 Challenger 604 business jets in operation today. Most of these are wholly owned (344) with 11 in shared ownership. 6% are currently leased. North America has the largest percentage of wholly owned Challenger 604 aircraft (66%), followed by Europe (17%), and Asia (9%).

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Tim Yue, Sales Director
Location: Hong Kong

How long have you been at Jetcraft?

I have been with Jetcraft for about 1 and a half years.

What are your responsibilities within the global Jetcraft team?

I am a Sales Director in Asia Pacific, my region covers mostly SE Asia. I maintain relationships with the customers in my region to best assist them on any of their aviation requirements. Given Jetcraft’s financial strength and geographical reach I am able to offer options that others might not be able to.

Describe a typical day or week in your role.

There is not a typical day or week in this job. Aircraft sales is very fluid and dynamic. When I am in the office I’m mostly doing intensive research, following up on existing deals that are in the pipeline and trying to close them out. When I’m on the road, which is actually the majority of my time, I’m zig-zagging around Southeast Asia meeting with clients and hoping to help by finding the right deal!

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It has been a fascinating year for business aviation in Asia Pacific, bringing us into 2020 with the promise of strong growth potential in the region.

For several years, we have been discussing the possibility of Asia becoming Jetcraft’s second-largest market, overtaking Europe and behind only the US. While Europe’s use of light aircraft means it is likely to retain its number two position in terms of units, Asia’s fleet may soon surpass it in value, as buyers here predominantly choose large, long-range jets.

The reasons why larger aircraft are favored by Asian buyers are twofold. First, the infrastructure across the continent is restricted for business aviation users. For example, there are only around 250 airports in China that cater to private jets; while the US – which has a similar landmass – has more than 5,500. The need to fly longer distances between airports demands an aircraft with those mission capabilities.

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Product Overview

The Cessna Citation XLS is the second aircraft in the Citation Excel series. It is an updated version of the original Citation Excel (Model 560 XL). Upgraded Pratt & Whitney PW545B engines allow for an enhanced powerplant performance.

As of October 2019, 64% of Citation XLS aircraft were purchased pre-owned by their current owner, the other 36% new. 3.7% are for sale with the majority of those (75%) under an exclusive broker agreement. When for sale the average time on the market is 231 days.

Brief History

The first delivery of the Citation XLS occurred in 2003 and production ended in 2008. The Citation XLS was replaced by the XLS+ model which was another upgraded model in the Excel series. A total of 330 Citation XLS business jets have been built with 1 retired and 1 still at the manufacturer.

Worldwide Appeal

There are 328 Citation XLS business jets in operation today. Most of these are wholly owned (236) with 12 in shared ownership and 80 in fractional ownership. 7% are currently leased. North America has the largest percentage of wholly owned Citation XLS aircraft (70%), followed by Europe (15%). NetJets – US has the largest fleet of Citation XLS aircraft (56) followed by NetJets – Europe with 24 aircraft, for a total of 80 in fractional ownership.

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Tom Cyr, Director, Business Development, JSSI

How long have you been at your current organization?

It will be twelve years in February.

What are your responsibilities within your organization?

Sales. I have a nine-state area in the Upper Midwest.

Describe a typical day or week in your role.

As is typical for any business development type; prospecting, pursuit and maintenance of current client relationships. Lot’s of travel.

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We want to thank all of our customers and partners for your continued support in 2019. From all of us at Jetcraft, Happy Holidays and all the best for 2020.

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We spoke to several of our senior leadership team members who provided tips for flying private. Here’s what they had to say.

Share one piece of advice for a first-time private jet flyer

It is a special experience and not everybody gets to fly private, so just take it all in and enjoy the experience.
– Chris Brenner – Senior VP of Sales, Americas

Don’t plan anything, just grab a plane and decide at the last minute where you want to go, that’s the beauty of private jets.
– Jahid Fazal-Karim – Owner and Chairman of the Board

My advice when flying privately for the first time is to be courteous to everyone that is assisting you. Everybody has a function and in order to make private air travel happen it takes a lot of people in a lot of different disciplines. So you always have to remember to be courteous to those people and treat them well.
– Peter Antonenko – Chief Operating Officer

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