Sentient Jet holdings split in two

Macquarie Global Opportunities Partners, an unlisted fund managed by a subsidiary of the Macquarie Group of Australia, announced after Labor Day that it had completed the acquisition of several business units of Sentient Flight Group, Inc. from Berwyn, Pa.-based JetDirect Aviation Holdings, LLC (formerly Sentient Jet Holdings, LLC). Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The newly formed, Macquarie-owned Sentient Flight Group, which is being led by former Sentient Jet Holdings, LLC president and COO Steven Hankin, includes Sentient Jet Membership (a jet card and charter broker business) and AvBuy, a fuel volume discount program for Sentient clients and operators. These businesses, based in Weymouth, Mass., retain the Sentient brand as a standalone company. (Sentient Flight Group, Inc. and Sentient Jet Holdings, LLC were formed in April 2007 by the merger of Sentient Jet, Inc., and JetDirect Aviation, LLC.)

Meanwhile, the aircraft management and charter operations of JetDirect Aviation Holdings, LLC will operate under the newly established JetDirect Aviation, Inc., an FAR Part 135 certificate holder. JetDirect Aviation Holdings also retains ownership of JetCorp Technical Services and three JetDirect Aircraft Services-branded FBOs. The reborn JetDirect Aviation, Inc. also said it is reestablishing an aircraft acquisition and sales department.

JetDirect Aviation Holdings is being led by Sentient Jet Holdings' former chairman Gregory Campbell, who was CEO of JetDirect Aviation, LLC before its merger with Sentient Jet, Inc. Jake Cartwright will serve as president and CEO of the aircraft management and charter company, JetDirect Aviation, Inc. Cartwright was previously president and CEO of TAG Aviation USA, which Sentient Jet Holdings acquired on January 31 this year.