Interview with Vista's Leona Qi

Leona Qi, president of Vista, U.S., is a former Wall Street sales trader who spent more than a decade structuring asset-backed financing. She was cofounder of Global Jet Capital, a firm that finances and leases private jets. When she met Vista founder Thomas Flohr, she was ready for a new challenge. Vista Global Holding, founded by Flohr in 2018 and based in Dubai, is the parent company of VistaJet and XOJet, offering fixed-fee membership flying and on-demand private jet charter, respectively. Through acquisitions including XOJet, JetSmarter, Air Hamburg, Jet Edge, and Apollo Jets, Vista has grown into one of the largest private aviation groups in the world. In 2016, she left finance to join Flohr, first building VistaJet’s Asia-Pacific business. She took over the U.S. market in 2018. 

What does VistaJet offer, what does XO offer, and how can a customer tell them apart?

VistaJet is our flagship program. We own around 250 aircraft, from super-midsize all the way up to ultra-long-range. We just converted our first Global 7500 to a Global 8000, and the rest of the Global 7500 fleet will follow. That bit of extra range matters: on a route like New York to Hong Kong, the 8000 can fly it nonstop from either direction. We have also announced a firm order for 40 Challenger 3500s from Bombardier, with options for many more, and we are taking delivery right away. You subscribe to a number of hours per year on a multi-year commitment, usually three years, at an almost all-inclusive, fully transparent hourly rate. The closest comparison in the market is fractional ownership, but the key difference between us and any competitor in the world is that we are a truly global operator.

And XO?

XO is a product we built after acquiring XOJet in 2018. We absorbed the fleet, repainted it in the Vista silver and red, and retrained the pilots. Today, XO is an app-based, open-fleet membership program. It functions almost like a broker, but without the broker layer, because everything runs through the app with instantaneous pricing. We use a network of more than 2,000 aircraft. We block charter brokers from the platform. Each member has to also be an end user.

In the charter market, the most frustrating moment is a recovery situation. You charter through a broker tied to a single aircraft, it breaks down, and there is no backup. We have a network of vetted aircraft plus 250 Vista aircraft under our own operational control, so we can look after those customers far better.

How do you advise someone on which product is right for them? 

For someone brand-new to private aviation, we usually do not recommend jumping straight to VistaJet. We want people to try it first. I always say it is like going on a date versus getting engaged. The nice thing about being an XO member is that you get priority access to the Vista fleet ahead of the general charter market. When our VistaJet members are not using the fleet, we sell that availability, and XO members get first crack at it. So they get to try the Vista experience a few times, and a lot of XO members end up graduating to VistaJet. 

We have Fortune 100 companies that own 10 aircraft and just need a little supplemental lift—less than 50 hours a year—or when their own aircraft is out of region. They will buy an XO product for that. We also manage fleets for clients who use XO when their aircraft is down for maintenance, or to move executives and family. Once you are flying more than about 50 hours a year, we would recommend a VistaJet membership.

VistaJet is known for very personal, high-touch service. I have heard stories about you personally calling customers when there is a problem. Why?

We refuse to think of ourselves as a logistics business. We want to be the one that makes sure the flight is part of your life, not a disruption to it. But so many things are outside our control: weather, a presidential flight restriction, any number of factors. When something goes wrong, what matters is how the customer is communicated to, how quickly, and what the backup plan is. There is always a plan B and a plan C. I call customers personally because I want them to know we have their back. That is the core of the business, and it is why we can charge a premium.

You came from Global Jet Capital, and before that, Wall Street. From the outside, those worlds feel very different from VistaJet’s culture. Tell me about your path and about the culture now.

By training, I am a finance person; I have a degree in financial engineering. I started in sales and trading on Wall Street and did that for more than 10 years, with my last stop at Guggenheim. Then two partners and I founded Global Jet Capital. That is how I got to know Vista. When I first met Thomas Flohr, I connected with his thesis. At the time, if you wanted to fly private, you either owned a jet or joined a fractional program, and he saw a third way, where the company owns the fleet and you buy hours. VistaJet had a small fleet then, around 20 to 30 aircraft, and had just placed a historic order. I was hired first to grow Asia-Pacific, and when VistaJet entered the U.S., I came over to lead it. In the 10 years since I joined, our U.S. customer base and our fleet have both grown roughly tenfold.

Why leave finance for this?

At some point, I realized VistaJet was the more entrepreneurial place, and the work fascinated me in a way finance did not. On Wall Street, every aircraft is a number, a commodity on a balance sheet. At VistaJet, every flight is different. We have around 300 flights taking off and landing a day. We fly someone to ring the bell at their IPO, and we fly a singer to a sold-out concert. Sometimes we fly people through the worst moments of their lives—to a loved one’s funeral. I feel privileged to be part of that. That is what keeps me going.

What are you looking for when you hire? 

Passion and hard work first. If you are not willing to go above and beyond, this probably is not the job for you, because our peak days are everyone else’s holidays. You might have to get up from Thanksgiving dinner to take a call because a customer needs you. It is not a nine-to-five job. It takes grit and consistency, and you have to love it.

Looking back at your own upbringing, is there a thread you can trace to how you lead now?

From a young age, I have been fascinated by how things work and how people’s minds work. I started playing poker and bridge very young, and I still love that. Our last New York holiday party was casino-themed. I find it fascinating that everyone is motivated by something different. I am also naturally good with numbers. I have three kids now, and I want them to understand math the same way—not just the answer, but the mechanics of how things work.

That is why I went to Wall Street. It is an industry where you face a lot of pressure and imperfect information, and you have to make a decision anyway, ideally knowing a little more than the person on the other side of the table. That training shaped me. I make dozens of decisions a day, about flight planning, about customers, when a thousand things can go wrong, catering caught in traffic on the highway, whatever it is, and often without complete information. I have been preparing to make those calls my whole career. I did not actually realize I would end up here until my mid-30s; I always assumed I would spend my life in finance.

When something does go wrong, how do you handle it internally? 

I try to make every decision based on facts and information rather than emotion. We recently brought in a former U.S. fighter pilot to speak to the commercial team. He made a point that stuck with me: As human beings, we are wired to focus on the squeaky wheel and whoever is screaming loudest. But that may not be the problem you actually need to solve. Under pressure, you have to fight tunnel vision and instead analyze the facts, figure out the best achievable outcome in the circumstances, and then make a decision.