For Swiss-born businessman Thomas Flohr, running a global private business aviation company didn’t start out as a life goal. He founded VistaJet because, as a businessman, he’s always on the lookout for opportunities. Two decades ago, he recognised one in corporate travel.
At the time, Flohr worked in asset finance. When he wanted to book flights for himself or clients, he found limited options and a spotty service. He also discovered that businesses that owned a private jet ended up sinking large amounts of money into an asset they rarely used. That led to Flohr creating VistaJet.
“What really inspires me in life is the challenge — if something doesn’t make sense, it’s my natural inclination to change it,” Thomas Flohr told Entrepreneur Middle East. “That’s what happened with private aviation many years ago. Prior to founding VistaJet in 2004, I was in asset finance and flying hundreds of hours each year. But the only way to be in multiple meetings in multiple countries in one day was to fly private.
“However, I was surprised by the amount of time that business jets would sit idle, and the lack of consistency from one to another. Which meant that as a customer, I didn’t know what would be waiting for me on the tarmac. So I saw an opportunity to offer an alternative.”
That “alternative” has become the go-to choice for business travelers around the world. VistaJet, which recently celebrated its 20th year, now operates as a leader in the private jet charter business. That success is driven by Flohr’s innovative approach and the level of service offered to clients.
Thomas Flohr’s Vision for Vista Involves Lower Asset Risk for Clients
When he created VistaJet, Flohr envisioned offering his clients “a completely new way to fly, with access to a global, consistently branded fleet, paying only for the hours you fly, with guaranteed availability and no asset risk,” he told Entrepreneur Middle East.
That vision became a reality in subsequent years. The subscription model allows businesses and individuals to join as members based on the annual flights they estimate they’ll need. The three-year membership is a simple contract that gives clients access to the Vista fleet of 300-plus aircraft, including 18 Bombardier Global 7500s, the longest-range jet in the world.
The model Vista uses is designed to remove the asset risk associated with private jet ownership for businesses. Clients have access to an aircraft whenever needed but without the steep cost of purchasing and maintaining a private jet. The purchase price of a plane can range from $2 million to $100 million, according to Investopedia, which also reports that annual maintenance costs tend to range between $500,000 and $1 million.
“We fly to 96% of the globe — essentially anywhere in the world where you can land an aircraft — and offer the added benefit of guaranteed aircraft availability with as little as 24 hours’ notice wherever you are in the world,” Flohr told Entrepreneur Middle East. “Our global infrastructure is what makes this possible. We have a floating fleet, which means none of our aircraft has a ‘home’ to fly back to — when you book with us, we simply move the nearest plane to pick you up.”
This eliminates repositioning fees charged by some jet charter companies to move a flight closer to the client. “Our clients only ever pay for the time they are in the air. It is a feature of our Program membership that delivers exceptional savings for private individuals and resonates particularly well with our corporate clients — especially when compared to the cost of ownership, which includes steep depreciation of the aircraft and high maintenance costs,” Thomas Flohr said in the Entrepreneur Middle East interview.
Providing an Exceptional Flight Experience Is a VistaJet Staple
In addition to providing a cost-efficient and asset-risk-free alternative to owning a private jet, Flohr developed VistaJet to provide a high level of service to clients. Consistency is vital to what the company offers.
For example, when you step on board a VistaJet, the interior and flight experience is consistent across every aircraft in the fleet. Flohr and his team of experts pay attention to every detail, providing the same interiors, colors, and atmosphere on every aircraft, even when the dimensions differ. This is all intentional: Thomas Flohr wants to give business travelers a space to focus, rather than one full of distractions.
“Hollywood has partially distorted the picture about this industry,” Thomas Flohr told French magazine L’Officiel. “This is really about efficient corporations. It’s about the chairpeople and the CEOs, business leaders flying from point to point.
“And business is not just done between New York and London … the real entrepreneurial investment opportunities are in second- and third-tier cities, and you have to get there fast, point-to-point. You have to make sure that when your staff is flying there, they’re safe, that they travel efficiently and come back straight to headquarters. And that’s what we do.”
The quality of service — what VistaJet refers to as “the ultimate cabin experience” — extends to the personnel on each flight. Every VistaJet flight has at least one cabin host as well as two pilots. Pilots fly only one type of jet to ensure their familiarity with the aircraft, and they train twice a year. The VistaJet cabin crew is trained by the British Butler Institute, MedAire, Norland College, and Wine & Spirit Education Trust.
All passengers also enjoy private dining service, a wine selection designed for consumption at high altitudes, and the VistaPet program of services for animals brought on the flight. The new VistaJet Wellness program also offers services like a preflight consultation with a nutritionist, jet lag-reducing apps, and postflight wellness guides prepared by a medical team.
How Thomas Flohr Sees the Future of the Private Business Charter Industry
The innovative approach used by Thomas Flohr has succeeded. VistaJet now connects over 200 countries and territories and employs people of over 60 different nationalities. In 2018, Flohr established Vista as the holding company for both VistaJet and XO. XO offers clients the chance to charter a flighton over 2,400 aircraft through a digital private aviation network.
Vista recently reported that in 2023 the company experienced unprecedented levels of activity, with flight hours reaching new highs — a 20% increase in both subscription hours and member base, and a significant fleet upgrade that included an extensive refurbishment of aircraft. The company achieved a 17% increase in fleet-operated hours worldwide, with double-digit growth across all regions. Program membership was a key factor, with live flight hours rising by 30%.
More than half of Vista’s flight hours now originate from outside the U.S., underscoring the global reach of Flohr’s business model and the advantages of its silver and red floating fleet. To provide the highest standards of cabin experience, 93 of Vista’s aircraft underwent refurbishments throughout 2023 alone, 50% more than initially planned.
Thomas Flohr told McKinsey & Co. that Vista will continue to thrive and grow as it focuses on perfecting what the company has established. “In today’s world, to build a brand is extremely difficult,” he said. “And you’ll see us advancing and accelerating because we’ve built a strong brand. I don’t think there is any revolutionary action needed other than providing service at the highest level and doing it consistently over a very long period of time.”
