91.1 F
San Fernando
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Large-Cabin Jet Charter Firm Slows Airspeed

After years of having his company Jet Edge International on a growth curve, Chief Executive Bill Papariella is starting to pump the brakes. He’s slowing things down a bit to focus on the optimization of the company, make changes to the management team and refine the platform in anticipation of another round of growth for the aircraft management and charter firm at Van Nuys Airport. “By all means, we are not turning down business but we are being selective,” Papariella said. He’s doing it all from a new headquarters building at the north end of the San Fernando Valley airfield, where the company moved to in February. Jet Edge occupies the hangar and office space previously used by TWC Aviation, which relocated to Van Nuys in 2008 from Hollywood Burbank Airport. TWC was acquired in 2015 by Landmark Aviation, which itself was acquired by BBA Aviation plc the following year. TWC moved from Van Nuys last year. After Papariella and a group of business partners bought Jet Edge back in 2011, their initial focus was on managing a fleet of jets made by the Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. Papariella said that business is doing well with the company, which now has 52 aircraft under management. When the owners are not using their planes, Jet Edge offers them to charter passengers. “We are looked at as a leader in the Gulfstream product and by nature we attract a lot of those people who are looking to buy those products,” he said. While admitting that Gulfstream, a subsidiary of aerospace and defense firm General Dynamics Corp., in West Falls Church, Va., is one of the superior private jets available, Papariella said the company has ventured into supplementing the fleet with aircraft from competitors Embraer S.A. and Bombardier Aerospace. The company remains focused on large-cabin aircraft, however, and that is how it differentiates itself from the competition, said Jonah Adler, chief revenue officer. The new space Jet Edge occupies has a number of benefits over where it used to be at 16101 Saticoy St. on the east side of the general aviation airport. The biggest benefit is that the firm has space to grow on five acres, Papariella said. Additionally, it is nice not to have to share space as it did in its previous location with Western Jet Aviation and to have dedicated Class A hangar space for corporate clients. “It gave us one more arrow in our quiver to go out and attract the right customers,” Papariella said. Speed to Space Executive networking group ACG 101 held its annual aerospace panel on May 16 at Jet Edge International for a crowd of more than 60 people. Participating in the panel were Mike Alfred, president of Crissair Inc. in Valencia; Shabir Rahim, director of corporate finance for AeroVironment Inc., which develops and makes its unmanned aircraft in Simi Valley; Catherine Illingworth of Whittinghill Aerospace in Camarillo; and Papariella of Jet Edge. Maier Rosenberg, a partner with accounting firm CohnReznick LLP, was the moderator. Whittinghill Aerospace is developing low-cost space vehicles that can take small satellites into low-earth orbit. Its business model is based on agility, speed and having a rocket ready to go up when a customer wants it, Illingworth said, adding there was an average wait of 18 months to take payloads into space. “Speed is what the industry wants, and smaller companies will be able to respond to that,” she said. Illingworth also discussed her educational background of having a graduate degree in medieval theology from Yale University and how it fits in with her day job as chief marketing officer at Whittinghill. Missile Demonstration Orbital ATK Inc. participated this month in the Special Operations Forces Exhibition and Conference at King Abdullah I airbase in Jordan. The Dulles, Va. aerospace and defense contractor operates a facility in Northridge for producing aircraft protection products in addition to advanced anti-radiation guided missiles. At the SOFEX conference, started in 1999 by the late King Hussein, Orbital ATK showed the ShotFinder Acoustic Hostile Fire Detection System and the AAR-47 Missile and Laser Warning System, both made in Northridge. The conference took place May 8-10. The ShotFinder system identifies and locates small arms fire, anti-aircraft artillery and rocket-propelled grenade threats while the AAR-47 system is designed to protect helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft from surface-to-air threats. Staff Reporter Mark R. Madler can be reached at (818) 316-3126 or [email protected].

Mark Madler
Mark Madler
Mark R. Madler covers aviation & aerospace, manufacturing, technology, automotive & transportation, media & entertainment and the Antelope Valley. He joined the company in February 2006. Madler previously worked as a reporter for the Burbank Leader. Before that, he was a reporter for the City News Bureau of Chicago and several daily newspapers in the suburban Chicago area. He has a bachelor’s of science degree in journalism from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Featured Articles

Related Articles