Worldwide Jet Charter

Phoenix-based Worldwide Jet Charter, which specializes in one-way and transient charter trips, has 13 owned and leased jets whose primary destinations are Teterboro, New Jersey, and Van Nuys, California.

Founders and current owners Cliff and Katherine Russell incorporated Worldwide Jet Charter in Florida in 2002 and in New Jersey in 2003. The company began operations that year with a Hawker 700 based in Orlando, Florida. Worldwide Jet quickly added larger aircraft such as Challengers and Gulfstreams to its charter fleet and started to offer discounted one-way trips to mitigate the expense of empty legs. Today the company’s website lists “premium one way” and “transient availability” booking options for specific flights in addition to traditional charters.

The company moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, in 2007 and hired South Carolina–based Advanced Aircrew Academy to expand the online training program for its charter pilots. Current president and CEO Andrew Kaufman joined Worldwide Jet as a Challenger 601 captain shortly thereafter, and he became chief pilot of the fleet in 2008.

Worldwide, which moved its headquarters to its present location in Phoenix in 2009, has earned the ARG/US Platinum rating for operations safety every year since 2010. The company is also Wyvern Wingman and IS-BAO Stage 3 approved.

After a short sabbatical to earn his MBA at the Thunderbird School of Global Management in nearby Glendale, Arizona, Kaufman rejoined the company as president and chief operating officer in April 2013. By the end of that year, he had been promoted to CEO, with Cliff Russell becoming chairman of the board.

In 2020 Worldwide Jet implemented several programs in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including its trademarked Covid/Clean aircraft cleaning and disinfecting program and 72-hour testing protocols for crewmembers. It is also partnering with MedTech Air to provide telemedicine preflight screening of every passenger and crewmember.

Having increased its revenues by 56 percent over three years, Worldwide Jet Charter ranked number 4,972 on Inc.’s 2020 list of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies.

Worldwide Jet purchased a Gulfstream GIV in late 2020 and a Canadair Challenger CL-600 in February 2021. The company plans to add a Hawker 800XP to its charter fleet in mid-March.

Worldwide Jet Charter

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