Founded

1997

Headquarters

Oxford, Mississippi

Key People

Nicholas Correnti, founder/CEO

Number of Employees

138

Phone Number

(662) 570-6722

Website

Nicholas Air

Nicholas Air

A membership-based private jet company providing both U.S. and international services, Nicholas Air offers aircraft charter and management programs, including jet cards, leases, and fractional ownership. Its 15 owned and managed aircraft (average age less than five years) range from a Pilatus PC-12 turboprop to Bombardier Challenger 300s.

Founder Nicholas Correnti began flying at age 12 and amassed 1,000 flight hours prior to earning a world record for the most complex aircraft soloed on a 16^th birthday (the earliest age to legally fly a powered aircraft solo in the U.S.). As a teenager in Arkansas, he worked as a line and ramp service agent for an FBO and dabbled in the steel industry where his father served as president and CEO of Nucor Corp.

In 1997, Correnti launched Nicholas Aviation in Columbus, Mississippi, with a twin piston-engine Cessna 340. Soon the company was flying clients from Arkansas, Mississippi, and North Carolina. Its big break occurred during the Great Recession of 2008–2009, when some businesses were forced to close their flight departments and saw charter as an economical alternative. 

Rebranded as Nicholas Air, the company acquired and offered fractional shares in a PC-12, then launched its first “jet” card product, now called Blue, which allows customers to pre-purchase a set number of hours on a specific aircraft. By 2013 the company’s Blue jet card also provided access to Embraer 100 and 300 light jets; a Cessna Citation joined the fleet in 2016. 

Correnti established a new company, Corr Aviation, at University-Oxford Airport in Oxford, Mississippi, in 2016. Primarily an aircraft maintenance business with six facilities spread across the Southeast U.S. and three providing aircraft-on-ground (AOG) support, Corr owns a Cessna Caravan turboprop that it uses for parts delivery and maintenance support of Nicholas Air aircraft. The Caravan is also available for booking by Nicholas Air members for custom cargo and courier services.   

Nicholas Air built a state-of-the-art headquarters and operations center at the Oxford Airport in 2019, the same year it acquired a Citation CJ3 and its first Bombardier Challenger 300. With the diversification of its fleet, the company introduced a deposit-based jet card called Rise that provides access to any aircraft in the fleet. In 2021, the company launched its $200,000 deposit-based Lite jet card for leisure travelers. 

Nicholas Air accepts cryptocurrency and invites members to bring their pets along on its aircraft.