For Responsible Growth, GAC Remains Committed to the Client Experience
Private charter companies often take on large sums of new debt to increase operational complexity. Global Air Charters offers a different take on growth in the aviation sector—debt averse, intentional, and focused on building relationships.
GAC’s strategy is to leverage our assets efficiently and approach our growth plan conservatively. We understand that delivering a reliable product reflects on the trustworthiness of our broker partners. As a matter of fact, those relationships have kept us in a strong position to pursue the modest growth objectives we lay out each quarter.
When private charter companies expand too rapidly, the overall reliability of their product and the company’s financial health tend to suffer. Recently, Michael Vanacore-Netz, Global Air Charters COO, addressed the leadership team and spoke on this exact topic:
“While we pursue our growth plan, let’s not lose sight of what matters most in this industry; the customer experience,” he said. “Safety, timeliness, and tailored service keep us in business, and we cannot sacrifice any of those just to add more airplanes and staff right away.”
What Does Sustainable Growth Look Like?
This question has a different answer for every organization in the private charter market. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to success in aviation. For Global Air Charters, sustainable growth first means avoiding red ink wherever possible. However, there are times when debt is good for business and times when it isn’t.
Evidently, our financial position has helped us expand our in-house maintenance department. This has reduced downtime and improved the operational reliability of our Gulfstream fleet. Moreover, our ability to get airplanes in and out of routine maintenance more efficiently increases our market cap and, ultimately, our ability to grow sustainably, taking on minimal-to-no debt.
Operational improvements fueled by equity capital can carry a significant sticker shock on the front end. The ability to remain free from excess leverage affords us peace of mind should another considerable dip in charter demand occur.
Intentional Expansion
In the past five years, our company has experienced healthy growth in personnel, facilities, and of course, our fleet of aircraft. For instance, five years ago, GAC operated just two Gulfstream aircraft. Today, we operate five Gulfstream Vs and are working on adding two more to the fleet to satisfy the strong demand in the long-range charter market.
Our fleet’s slow, intentional growth comes from our dedicated aircraft management services. We help aircraft owners offset costs by putting their craft on our operating certificate. Additionally, we have struck a nice balance between the number of aircraft our company stakeholders own and those owned directly by clients whose jets we manage and make available for private charter.
Our Employees are Our Strength
Above all the reasons to operate and grow sustainably, providing our valued staff with a place to call home sits high on the list. We want everyone in our organization to remain confident about the viability of our business model so they never have to worry about their future with us.
“If our employees feel good about the health of the company, and they feel empowered to make decisions, then there’s nothing holding them back from pursuing excellence every day,” says Vanacore-Netz.
The customer experience is the most important aspect of our service. Each department plays a critical role in our ability to offer a product that separates us from other operators. We continue to create sustainable growth in private aviation as a company because of what our employees do every day to make each journey unforgettable.
