An aviation business founder recalls nearly going bankrupt in his first six months, then built a showroom to attract clients from Russia and China. He works 24 hours a day answering calls and says 70% of private jet passengers are middle managers, not CEOs.
To tell you the truth, the first 6 months we were open, I thought we were going to go just bankrupt. Nobody was coming in. But more on that later. Today, some students from Kensington Park School came to visit my showroom. They wanted to know all about the industry, and I was really impressed with their curiosity.
One question about this beautiful construction here. What gave you the idea?
Yeah, it doesn't exist anywhere in the world, actually. Wall in Germany came down, the Cold War with Russia ended, and then they started buying all the airplanes. So I wanted to go see these clients, but I couldn't. I mean, it's hard to get on a plane and fly to Russia and to China. It takes too many days, it's too expensive. So I came with this crazy idea: how do I build something that I can get the clients to come and see me? I mean, most people told me I was completely nuts, but, you know, I did it, and eventually it worked. I'm 24 hours a day. If I get a phone call at 3 in the morning, I answer it. The perception of people flying around these things with golf clubs and skis and champagne, it's not really that way. 70% of all the people flying on a corporate jet are middle management, and about 20% are the CEOs
