Your business aviation hot takes, served fresh.

June 17th, 2026 | Season 3 Episode 24 Companion

Good morning and welcome back to the VIP Seat. This week we are covering a leadership change at the top of FlyHouse, NetJets asking the FAA for longer crew duty on its Global 7500s, the Pentagon adding Cirrus to its Chinese military company list, a wire fraud conviction for the founder of AeroVanti, and Flexjet buying Steve Varsano's The Jet Business. Sit back, buckle up, and let's take off.

Listen Now: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Youtube

Today’s Newsletter is brought to you by AB Jets

Safe operators are ones who follow the rules and contribute back to the ecosystem. That’s exactly what AB Jets does, which is why we are excited to partner with them on The VIP Seat.

Owner-operated since 1999, ARGUS Platinum since 2014. When the owners are the ones who built the operation from the ground up and are still running it today, the standard doesn't slip. Because it's their name on it.

New Challenger 3500s, a fleet of Lear 60’s that are reliable, and no owner approval requirements. A fleet optimized to say “yes” to your trips. Thanks to AB Jets for sponsoring this season of The VIP Seat podcast!

Learn More At abjets.com

The Scoop: Jack Lambert has stepped down as CEO of FlyHouse, a role he had held since January 2023, according to Private Jet Card Comparisons, which reported the move based on back-to-back staff emails it obtained from the company. Executive Chairman Sanford Michelman confirmed the change and said he will take on CEO responsibilities for the next one to two years. Lambert will remain affiliated with FlyHouse, though his future role has not yet been defined. In his email to staff, Michelman credited Lambert with building industry awareness for the start-up and said Lambert first approached him about a new role roughly a year ago. Lambert wrote that the decision to step back was one he had thought about for some time and that the company is "in extraordinary hands." Michelman said FlyHouse is entering a new phase focused on scaling consumer engagement and expanding its market presence. The current FAA register lists 11 private jets across the company's certificates, and Michelman said the core of the business is its instant-booking platform, which features more than 2,300 aircraft from third-party operators. A March investor presentation from backer Benevolent Capital projected 2026 revenue of $420 million.

Our Take: On the show we wrestled with the strategy more than the personnel. FlyHouse bought a bank, an operator, an MRO, JetASAP, and stitched it all together into one platform. Stitching companies together is not a crazy idea on its own. The part that has always given us pause is pairing that with a plan to roughly double revenue every year toward a multi-billion-dollar run rate in four or five years. As Kenny Dichter reminded us last week, it took him the better part of nine years to get to around a billion, and that was after he had already built and sold a category leader. We talked about the platform claim too. Access to 2,300 tails is a brokered marketplace, the Amazon of private jets, not 2,300 airplanes FlyHouse controls. The operator side is comparatively small, and aviation is a slim-margin, expensive business where mistakes cost real money.

There is plenty of industry chatter swirling, and we will be honest that aviation loves to bet against any entrepreneur raising a big number. To keep the fundraising flywheel turning, the revenue has to show up. Watch the comms that come out of FlyHouse from here. With a corporate operator now in the CEO seat rather than the industry face, the company is clearly setting up for its next chapter. Whether it reaches cruising altitude on that revenue target is the question the whole industry is watching.

Read More: Private Jet Card Comparisons

The Scoop: NetJets Aviation has petitioned the FAA for relief from portions of the Part 135 flight time and duty rules for its Global 7500 operations, citing a Federal Register notice published June 12. The petition, docket FAA-2026-3840, asks for an exemption from requirements under 14 CFR 135.269(b)(2), (b)(3) and (b)(4), which govern flight deck duty, duty hours, and time aloft for unscheduled three- and four-pilot crews. Under the current rule, four-pilot crews are limited to 20 duty hours in a 24-hour period and 16 hours aloft within that duty period. NetJets is seeking permission to fly the Global 7500 up to the aircraft's maximum endurance, listed in the petition summary as between 16 and 17 hours, and is requesting a one-hour duty extension that would bring the maximum duty period to 21 hours for operations assigned four pilots. The company has not responded to a request for comment, per AVweb. Comments on the petition are due by July 2.

Our Take: This one is personal for the show. Jessie spent roughly two years on an FAA rest and duty rulemaking committee, in the room with fatigue researchers, labor, and charter operators, producing a detailed report on how longer-range operations could be flown safely. That report was, in her words, shelved. So watching a single operator now file for an exemption that covers ground the committee already studied is frustrating. There is very likely a thoughtful fatigue-management approach behind this petition, and we have no doubt these flights can be conducted safely. Our issue is the proprietary nature of it.

Safety should not be proprietary. The airlines treat safety as shared, not as a competitive edge, and our segment should too. If NetJets has cracked how to crew a 17-hour leg safely, the rest of the industry deserves to see it. There is also a real competitive wrinkle. If only a handful of operators flying 7500s can perform those ultra-long routes under Part 135, they capture that demand by default. That is capitalism pointed at the one place it does not belong. The smarter path is for the FAA to dust off the research that is already done and write rules everyone can fly under. The Private Aviation Safety Alliance has already filed comments, and the window closes July 2. If you have a view, get it on the docket.

Read More: AVweb

────────────────────────────

The Scoop: The Pentagon has added Cirrus Design Corp. to its Section 1260H list of Chinese military companies operating in the United States, according to AVweb. The designation stems from Cirrus's ownership by Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), which the Pentagon says is directly owned and controlled by China's State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. The ownership traces to a 2011 merger between Cirrus and China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Co. The designation does not itself impose sanctions, but fiscal 2024 defense legislation bars the Pentagon from entering into or renewing contracts involving listed entities beginning June 30, 2026. AVweb notes that public records show only limited federal aviation work involving Cirrus and no large current Pentagon business line, including an FAA training contract with a ceiling of about $429,662 that sits outside the Defense Department. Rep. Pat Harrigan, R-N.C., who has pushed the issue, described Cirrus on X as wholly owned since 2011 by China's primary aerospace and defense conglomerate. Cirrus reported $1.35 billion in revenue for 2025.

Our Take: Our first reaction on the show was that this is news that is not really news. Cirrus has been Chinese-owned since 2011. The designation is new, the ownership is not. What is worth sitting with is everything around it. Cirrus employs a lot of US citizens, builds aircraft in Duluth, Minnesota, and delivers them in Knoxville, Tennessee. So the real story here, for us, is less about one company and more about how hard it is for general aviation manufacturers to stay both afloat and American-owned. Cessna sits under Textron, Mooney has been through bankruptcy more than once, and the capital for GA is thin and impatient.

So here is our pitch to the private equity crowd that listens to this show. Another AVIC-owned name, Continental, is reportedly heading back to US ownership, which shows it can be done. American capital could stand to be a little more patient with American aviation. Cirrus has built a genuinely great company with fantastic leadership and a delivery experience owners love. If a patient buyer wanted to bring it home, the runway is there, and you would be something close to an American hero. Come on into the aviation waters. We are a bit persnickety and it costs a lot of money, but it is worth it.

Read More: AVweb

────────────────────────────

The Scoop: Patrick Britton-Harr, the founder and CEO of private jet membership firm AeroVanti, was found guilty by a federal jury in Maryland on six counts of wire fraud, according to Forbes and the U.S. Department of Justice. Prosecutors said Britton-Harr solicited so-called "Top Gun" members to pay $150,000 each toward the purchase of aircraft in exchange for discounted flight hours, telling them their money would be protected. According to the DOJ, members collectively paid roughly $15 million intended to buy five aircraft, never received the planes or the promised hours, and that Britton-Harr instead used funds for personal expenses, including a yacht, jewelry, and a $10,000-per-month rental home near Tampa. Prosecutors said he then obtained a $1.5 million loan to buy one of the aircraft he had already claimed to have purchased with member funds, withholding material information from the lender. Britton-Harr faces a maximum of 20 years per count, and a separate federal trial involving alleged Medicare fraud is scheduled for later this year. Sentencing has been reported for later this summer.

Our Take: The number that stuck with us on the show is the $150,000 entry point. In private jet world, that is not a lot of money, and that is exactly what makes a scheme like this work. Get a hundred people to write a $150,000 check and the sniff test quietly drops, because the individual amount feels almost reasonable. It is the same dynamic that powered larger frauds before it. Charisma plus a believable price point can move a stunning amount of money on very little proof.

The encouraging side is that the government has been landing these cases. We have watched several bad actors get held accountable lately, and with a second trial reportedly on the calendar, this chapter is not closed. For an industry that runs on trust and relationships, every conviction like this is a small cleanup of the airspace. The lesson for buyers has not changed since the dawn of charter. If a deal sounds too good to be true, do the diligence before the wire goes out, not after.

Read More: Forbes

────────────────────────────

The Scoop: Flexjet has acquired London-based aircraft brokerage and advisory firm The Jet Business, and founder Steve Varsano will become president of Flexjet, according to Corporate Jet Investor, which first reported the deal. Varsano founded The Jet Business in 2011 and built it around a street-level showroom on London's Park Lane featuring a full-size Airbus corporate jet cabin. In his new role he will focus on product innovation and international growth, including sourcing and disposing of aircraft for Flexjet. The company's existing FXSolutions brokerage will share back-office functions with The Jet Business while the two continue to trade as separate brands. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Varsano, who turns 70 in July, has built a large social media following, reported at about 2.5 million on TikTok and 392,000 on Instagram, with his most-watched video surpassing 35 million views. Flexjet is chaired by Kenn Ricci, whose Directional Aviation acquired the fractional company in 2013.

Our Take: This is a classic acqui-hire, and we mean that as a compliment. In aircraft sales, the business is largely the relationships, and Flexjet just bought the person it wanted. Worth noting, Flexjet already had a brokerage in FXSolutions, so this is not a new vertical so much as a marquee hire wrapped in a deal. What stood out to us is that Varsano is not just coming in to buy and sell tails. President is a strategy seat, and he will help shape where the company goes.

On the numbers, the publicly visible deal count puts Varsano in solid-broker territory rather than mega-scale, and that is fine, because what he brings is reach. The man is a legitimate marketer, sits on the board at Embry-Riddle, runs in the Living Legends circles right alongside Kenn, and frankly does not look 70. At this stage of a career, folding a respected brand into the definitive luxury platform in the segment is a very logical next chapter. Congratulations to Steve, and congratulations to Kenn on inheriting two and a half million TikTok followers along with the showroom.

Read More: Corporate Jet Investor

Today’s Newsletter is also brought to you by REAL JET

RealJet is built on a simple idea: real people and real relationships still matter in private aviation. In a market full of automation, RealJet puts a subject matter expert at every turn, with world-class communication and a safety operation that has put boots on the ground at dozens of operators.

When you fly with RealJet, you are not a transaction. You are part of a community that has been serving private flyers for more than twenty-five years.

Learn More At realjet.com

Mini Cows Fly First Class

We both reached for the same one this week, with a nudge from a listener, so it had to make the cut. Jake Paul reportedly flew miniature cows on a private jet, and honestly, play a little Sweet Home Alabama and we are in. We will let our imaginations handle the cabin aroma question. Say what you want about the stunt, the man knows how to make private aviation go viral, and our industry could use more people doing exactly that.

Outlier Jets Lands the PE Guy

Kudos to Outlier Jets for teaming up with Johnny Hildebrandt, the impersonator who has built a following nailing the private equity archetype. The collaboration was well done and genuinely funny, and using the airplane as the set was a nice touch. More of this, please. Smart, on-brand humor is some of the best marketing in the business.

Missed the podcast? Catch up on the full episode at the links below! We would LOVE if you would give us a 5 star review, and share with your friends!

Listen: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Website 

Jessie’s Links:
Private Aviation Safety Alliance
FlyVizor
LinkedIn

Preston’s Links:
Prestige Aircraft Finance
Private Jet Insider (Newsletter)
LinkedIn
X (Formerly Known as Twitter)
FastJets

Disclaimer: The VIP Seat Weekly is for informational and entertainment purposes only. Coverage of publicly traded companies reflects the personal opinions of the hosts and does not constitute investment, financial, tax, or legal advice, nor a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. The hosts are not registered investment advisors and may hold positions in companies discussed. All investments carry risk. Readers should conduct their own research and consult a qualified financial professional before making any investment decision.