VLJs Are The New Cool

March 17, 2009
By Russ Niles, Editor-in-Chief, AVweb

Timing is everything, and VLJs are the right product for a recession, claim, well, VLJ salesmen. Cyrus Sigari of JetAVIVA and Randall Sanada of Jet Alliance claim the exodus from big business jets is filling the seats of the smaller aircraft. "It is still cool to own a VLJ," Sigari told the San Fernando Valley Business Journal. "It is not so cool to own a $20 million, $30 million jet." But busy execs still need to get around, and when current political correctness doesn't allow them exclusive access to an aircraft, charters are filling the void, Sanada said. He started Jet Alliance as a fractional ownership business but has expanded to provide charter service.

Sigari said it's now generally accepted that the high-volume, per-seat air taxi model that was supposed to provide most of the customers for VLJs has all but evaporated but the virtues that made the small jets attractive for that market have a new allure for cost-conscious business travelers. Sanada said it's a lesson that came too late for the CEOs of the Big Three on their now-infamous trip to Washington last year. "Had these guys flown together in a VLJ, it would have cost less than a tenth of what it cost in a larger plane," Sanada said.

jetAVIVA Founders to Speak at Inaugural Meeting of Citaiton Jet Pilots Association

jetAVIVA founders Cyrus Sigari and Ben Marcus will be speaking at the inaugural meeting of the Citation Jet Pilots Association (CJP) on March 14, 2009 in Carlsbad, CA. CJP is the premier organization of Cessna Citation owner-pilots. The three day inaugural meeting will include many seminars and social gatherings of the members.

Cyrus Sigari will be giving presentations entitled "Enlightening Engine Issues" and "Citation Market Status". Ben Marcus will be giving a presentation entitled "Citation Accident Review".

jetAVIVA is frequently called on as experts in light jet operations and the light jet market. Sigari and Marcus are both graduates of Purdue University's distinguished aerospace engineering and technology programs, both hold Airline Transport Pilot Certificates, and are both active flight instructors. They hold type ratings in Citations and other single-pilot jets. Together, the jetAVIVA team has participated in more than $300MM in light jet transactions. Sigari was also a principal engineer at Eclipse Aviation. Marcus formerly served with the National Transportation Safety Board.

For more information on Citation Jet Pilots, visit www.citationjetpilots.com.

Very light jet market thrives at Van Nuys Airport

By Mark Madler
San Fernando Valley Business Journal Staff

Three years ago the very light jet was going to change business aviation.

The four- to six-seat planes cost less to buy and operate than other private jets and were much quieter too. Media coverage contributed to an image of a time 10 years hence when a thousand small planes would zip around the country primarily as air taxis, a shared service that would drop the cost of private air travel.

Honeywell Aerospace forecast deliveries of very light jets at 1,900 by 2015 and revised the figure to exceed 3,300 aircraft by 2017.

The great expectations, however, never materialized.

Eclipse Aviation, the most well known of the VLJ manufacturers, filed for bankruptcy last year after making fewer than 300 of their Eclipse 500 jets. DayJet, one of the larger air taxi firms, ceased operations in September and has its fleet of aircraft on the market.

Despite these setbacks, the very light jet market thrives at Van Nuys Airport and other Southern California airfields serving general aviation. Divorced from the air taxi concept, the benefits of these jets focuses on the lower purchase and operating costs that give access to private aviation to those who otherwise couldn't afford it.

In that respect the expectations have been met, said Cyrus Sigari, co-owner of JetAVIVA, a very light jet brokerage and services firm in Van Nuys.

"It is still cool to own a VLJ," Sigari said. "It is not so cool to own a $20 million, $30 million jet."

JetAVIVA works exclusively with the small jets, giving assistance in the purchase, delivery and flying of the aircraft. It has put clients into the Eclipse 500 and the Cessna Citation Mustang. In March, the company takes delivery of what executives claimed is the first Embraer Phenom 100 very light jet in the U.S. to sell on behalf of a client.

Embraer is the latest player in the VLJ field - a field expected to grow in the next couple of years as other manufacturers - including Honda and Cirrus - receive certification for twin-engine and single-engine very light jets.

Not even Eclipse is totally out of the picture.

The assets of the company are expected to be bought by a new venture, EclipseJet, which includes as an investor Alfred Mann, owner of medical device and biotech firms in the Santa Clarita Valley.

By making these small, less-costly jets, the manufacturers create brand loyalty at an earlier stage. When the owners are ready to move up, these same companies will have larger planes waiting for them.

Cyrus Sigari, President of jetAVIVA, named Very Light Jet Editor of Plane & Pilot Magazine

VAN NUYS, CA - March 1, 2009 - Cyrus Sigari, co-founder of jetAVIVA, has been selected to head up coverage of light jets for Pilot Journal and Plane&Pilot magazine. Cyrus will be responsible for reporting on progress and news with emerging light jet aircraft as well as providing analysis of this dynamic market.

Mr. Sigari's company, jetAVIVA, has been at the heart of the emerging VLJ market since 2006 when the company was founded. jetAVIVA operates all production VLJ's and is expecting to take delivery of Phenom 100 aircraft early in 2009. Cyrus holds type ratings in both the Eclipse 500 and the Citation Mustang and has over 150 hours of flight time in the Mustang just in the last 6 months. In addition to Cyrus's current involvement with VLJ's he has a background in Aeronautics, with a degree Aeronautical Engineering degree from Purdue, Airline Transport Pilot rating, and a Certified Flight Instructor.