Founded

2017

Headquarters

Stuart, Florida

Key People

Sam Harris, president

Number of Employees

4

Phone Number

(561) 717-2121

Website

JetLoan Capital

JetLoan Capital

Founded by investment banker Sam Harris in 2017, JetLoan Capital provides aircraft and yacht financing from its headquarters in Stuart, Florida. Using a network of more than 100 banks, credit unions, leasing companies, and private equity sources, the company originated approximately $125 million in loans in 2020. 

A 1985 graduate of Ohio’s Bowling Green State University, Harris began his career in aircraft financing at Provident Bank, where he was involved in originating hundreds of aircraft loans over 14 years. In 2010, he founded Aviation Advisors Group, in Cincinnati,  focusing on corporate aircraft loan origination and problem resolution.

Harris partnered with a south Florida businessman in January 2014 to form JetLease Capital, a financial brokerage firm based at Palm Beach International Airport. In its first year, JetLease Capital closed loans or leases on at least eight aircraft.

In 2017, Harris left JetLease Capital to launch JetLoan Capital as an independent aircraft loan originator in nearby Stuart. During 2018, its first full year of business, JetLoan Capital closed 70 transactions worth more than $100 million in funded loans on small, midsize, and large business jets. That year the company also began adding loan services for turboprops and piston-powered aircraft, building relationships with large banks that didn’t want to deal with relatively small loans, and finding other financing sources for these aircraft owners. 

JetLoan Capital added yacht loans to its services in mid-2020. It closed two such loans in addition to approximately 75 aircraft loans that year, despite the pandemic. As of early 2021, the company reported its loan mix percentage split 30/30/30 among jets, turboprops, and piston aircraft, with helicopters and yachts accounting for the remaining 10 percent.

Throughout its existence, JetLoan Capital has been involved in philanthropic endeavors, including the arranging of private air transportation for the nonprofit Patient AirLift Services and the Rescue, a no-kill dog shelter in Massachusetts. JetLoan also financially supports charities such as the Martin County Humane Society, St. Jude’s, Tunnel to Towers, and Smile Train.