Full Transcript for Driving a Deeper Change in Aviation

remain consistent. 00:02:40 Speaker 2: Yeah, so, thanks Carl. So we have fifty seven hundred card owners within our community, and the demographic ranges right now from obviously personal travel, personal aviation right down to some corporate travel. And the changes that you mentioned we're seeing too, I think kind of demographic changes, which is getting younger certainly into kind of like mid to late forties. But secondarily the other change that we're seeing as well is multi generational family trips. You know, I think post COVID, what we certainly saw as people doing that revenge travel aspect of it kind of hasn't slowed down in that regard the experiential part of it is certainly top of mind for folks now, and you know, we see it manifest especially during the seasons, the seasonality and the peak travel seasons through you know, I said, multi generation, bigger, further travel. 00:03:33 Speaker 1: Can you remind everybody about the relationship that you have with Flexjet and you know, the parent company, Directional Aviation Capital, like just how that structure works and if you're using each other's aircraft. 00:03:46 Speaker 2: Sure, thanks, so, yes, we are part of the Directional Aviation family. I wouldn't say we very defined swim lanes though, that we don't cross over on. You know, sister company FX here is very firmly rooted in the chart market, Sentient very much in the jet card market, where we have our own operator network that we stringently and rigorously controlled for our safety program. We probably use about thirty five percent of the available network of operators across the US, whereas Flex obviously very much in his own swim land with its own assets that are fully focused on the fractional release business. 00:04:23 Speaker 1: So you wouldn't would you ever use Flex's assets. 00:04:26 Speaker 2: You know, not necessarily because. 00:04:28 Speaker 1: It's because those jets are owned by the Flexjet customers right. 00:04:33 Speaker 2: That is correct, I said, you know, it's so different, different brands within the global brand. 00:04:37 Speaker 1: So it comes came on my radar last year because El Cadderton, the private equity firm back by Bernard Arnaud, the French billionaire, led an eight hundred million dollar equity investment in flex jet. You don't see any of that money. That's a completely separate business. 00:04:53 Speaker 2: It is a completely separate business. And I think there's a much longer you know, term strategy there with the flexbit flex jet business, I should say. So, you know, from assension side, even though we're part of the same family, I think that's firmly rooted in the flex jet space, you know, and we'll see that manages over the next couple of years. 00:05:10 Speaker 3: What's the benefit of having them all, you know, as invest you know, as directional as investors investing in all these different properties. What's the advantage that you get being under this umbrella. 00:05:21 Speaker 2: So that's a really good question. So I think from her side, Carl, it's like this. You know, when we come across any type of a prospect into the private aviation world, part of our role is being consultative, and you know, entry into that is we'll have that conversation around you know, what's the problem you're trying to fix, what's the solution, what's the right solution for you? And what we'll do is work on a solution with you. So in some cases it could be fractional, some cases it's check cards, some cases it could be charter for us coming together as the global brands. What it really lows is we have the right solution for you, and as your needs over time scale up or scale down depending on your personal business situations. You can move within the family for it. So it certainly provides it the one stop shop. That's really advantageous because no, we know each other's brands pretty intimately, and were you guys in the right direction? 00:06:12 Speaker 3: No? In fighting? You know how that is, you know, wanting to be the favorite child. 00:06:18 Speaker 2: Yeah, healthy coopetition, that's probably the best way to say it, right, there's always the shore. I think there's some healthy competition. But ultimately, do you know what, it makes us all better because we learned from what each other is doing. But yeah, of course, I mean we'll be interfew're in somewhat competitive rate. 00:06:33 Speaker 1: Allan. It's a special aviation day for us because a couple of hours ago, we spoke with George Mattson over a wheels Up, the CEO of the company, and I'm breaking like a cardinal rule here, I'm asking you to weigh in on a competitor. But you knows it. Wheels Up is a public traded company and has been for some time, and the stock has just gotten hammered, and the company has had its share of challenges which have been publicly documented, and it's in the midst of a turnaround right now. Just from a strategy perspective, I'm curious about your view, why why that strategy hasn't necessarily worked out. 00:07:05 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a great comment, you know. For me, I'd look at that with him, and I just say, the way the way they're warned their businesses is certainly you know, it's it's it works for wheels Up. You know that they're doing what they need to do. I think ours when we when we look at it is really coming from very much a position of financial strength across the brands, which is which is very deliberate. So you know, I think George, they're working through their plan, We're working through our plan. Uh, you know, And that was just probably the greatest. 00:07:35 Speaker 1: How do you see that, how do you see sort of the value proposition that you offer customers And to borrow a phrase that you used earlier, like your swim lane versus their swim lane and sort of where they overlap and where they don't overlap, because at the end of the day, I think it's fair to say you are going after similar demographic. 00:07:49 Speaker 2: We are, we are, I

know, as you know, our swim Lane is really looking at the reliability, the consistency, the guarantee of ail ability. You know, when we look at what we're doing is our own dependability. You know, we we We've consistently delivered that for over twenty five years. That's why we've got such a high loyalty. You know within our cardolder community, they know what we're going to deliver. We're there for them twenty four hours a day from a service standpoint and an experience standpoint. But really what we're giving them is that reliability and the confidence that we're there. 00:08:24 Speaker 1: We're speaking with Alan Walsh, president of Sentient jat joining us from Quincy, Massachusetts. 00:08:29 Speaker 3: Well, you know, it's interesting just going back to you know, Tim saying Okay, we don't like to ask you about a competitor, we just head on. But having said that, you know they've been doing some capital raises. Is also being part of this larger company that when you do need capital it's easier to access. 00:08:44 Speaker 2: Well, yeah, I mean if you look at the financial position, I think of the Directional Aviation Group, it's been in a very very very strong and healthy financial situation forever. You know, there's never been that time where there's been that type of a constraint. I think if you look at the overall strategy on a CARL, you know, it's it's really based on that is what's going to work, what's best, how do we optimize it, but also take advantage of, you know, the confidence of of the financial situation. The company is run strategically on that. It's worked on making sure that we hit our financial targets. It's made hit we're exceed our financial targets, and never really compromise it in any way. 00:09:23 Speaker 3: One thing I'm curious about, and just talking with our George Ferguson, who covers all the majors and the aerospace sector overall, and it's a story we've talked about Alan. I feel like over the last couple of years, shortage of pilots. Can you guys get all the pilots. 00:09:38 Speaker 2: That you need? Yes? I mean if when I look at again, so the way we work in this Carl, we have an operator network that we do business with, you know, the pilot you know we have I suppose contracts with them. They will actually go and source all of the pilots. It's not been a challenge. I mean, certainly we have people that move back and forth between the airlines for sure, what right now is going to say, you know, it's not a major challenge. The operators and the contracts and relationships that we have give us what we need in terms of availability. It hasn't come up as a concern. 00:10:11 Speaker 1: Alan back to the relationship with with your your sister company Flex. If we think about their swim lane, would that would would somebody like Sentien get would be like an entry level or like a you know gateway drug to private aviation for lack of a better term. And then once once they're uh hooked on it, maybe they and and maybe they get maybe they make more money, maybe they have a big exit. Then would they move to Flex because that would actually include fractional ownership and that's actually more expensive product. 00:10:44 Speaker 2: You know, it's it's a great question and help as well, help help explain the swim lane a bit more. You know, we look at it and certainly people's needs do change him for sure over time where they can scale up and they can scale down. But if you look at it in terms of the hours that you typically use in a year, you know, the cardon fits right in that swim line of somebody that's flying between twenty five and seventy five hours per year. If you scale up beyond that and who needs change and you're in you know, one hundred hours plus a year, depending on what your personal needs are, the fraction is the right certainly is the right fit for you in that regard because you know it's going to give you the economies a scaler for sure. So you know, again I go back to us being the consultative mode. Is if we see somebody that's graduating into that swim lane, yeah, by all means we'll make sure that we broke and bridge the relationship so that they can scale all right. 00:11:32 Speaker 3: You mentioned that your demographics getting younger mid to late forties. Just tell me, has Tim taken a ride on your plane? 00:11:38 Speaker 1: Hi, highly confidential segment just between us. That's part between us. 00:11:43 Speaker 3: Hey Alan, good to catch up. As always, be bu Alan Wash, you bet take care Alan Wash, he's president of Senti and Jed joining us from Boston on this Thursday,