Flexjet Launches Helicopter Division

Fractional jet share provider Flexjet is launching a private helicopter division that will integrate Sikorsky S-76 operator Associated Aircraft Group (AAG), which was acquired last year by Flexjet parent Directional Aviation unit OneSky Flight. Service will begin with 12 helicopters finished in the Flexjet livery and interior and “scale up from there as necessary,” according to the company.

Flexjet helicopter operations will be seasonally located in the northeastern U.S. and in Florida throughout the year, connecting airports and city centers and short-haul regional destinations such as conventions, music festivals, and other sports and entertainment events. Flexjet also said it would provide complimentary helicopter hours to its Gulfstream G650 fractional owners and sell add-on fractional, lease, and charter access to the medium twin S-76s. 

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The new division will deliver on-demand regional transportation and last-mile transport for Flexjet aircraft owners traveling from airports to their final destinations. Flexjet called the service “a unique door-to-door travel solution not available through any other provider in the U.S.,” and said it expects the helicopter division to grow in the U.S. and Europe over the next five years as the worldwide demand for point-to-point vertical aviation increases.  

Flexjet’s Eli Flint will lead the division as president and will be joined by a staff of nearly 50 former AAG sales managers, mechanics, operations team members, and pilots.

The helicopter division will use a safety management system (SMS) through Baldwin Safety that includes a preflight risk-assessment program, a hazard-reporting system, and a customized landing-zone survey conducted for off-airport operations, allowing owners additional flexibility. It will use the same operational oversights for weather and performance planning as Flexjet’s jet program.