4 min read December 2023 — Given the growing private aviation market, Fort Lauderdale International Airport requires more hangar space. The opportunity for National Jets is to “provide the modern infrastructure that the clientele needs and to provide them with the highest level of customer service,” said CEO Mark Binko. In an interview with Invest:, Binko also discussed changes in the industry and shifts in demand.
What is the history of National Jets?
We’re a pretty interesting story. We’ve been at Fort Lauderdale International Airport since 1961, so we’re the longest tenant at the airport. We have been very good at not getting stuck in one discipline, which I believe is why the company has survived over so many years. We’ve been an airline, an air ambulance company and a fixed-base operator (FBO), which is what most people recognize us as. What we try to do is recognize the industry’s needs moving forward and to cater to those emerging needs within our skill set. We don’t try to go outside of our skill set; we don’t do anything that we’re not confident we can accomplish.
What is the biggest change in your industry in recent years?
We need to recognize the changes that are coming in the industry and one of the changes that has happened over the past decade has been the growth of hangar space and the growth of general aviation in South Florida. We are one of the oldest leaseholds at Fort Lauderdale International. The second 30-year lease just completed, and we’ve just entered into our third lease. which is 39 years. Our founders were not focused on providing hangar rental space to others as much as they were focused on the needs of our own company fleet. The focus of our next phase, in our new lease with the airport, we’ve committed to building new state-of-the-art hurricane-proof hangars for our tenants. I’m excited because it’ll be the first time in the history of the company that we will have a substantial amount of hangar space. Developing such a needed space considering the current times is exciting.
How is your business changing now?
South Florida air is salty and hot and people with $50 million assets don’t want those assets sitting outside. We recognize that we need to add some very nice hangars and develop a state-of-the-art air terminal. We all know that in South Florida the terminal has to be sexy, it can’t be a rudimentary, big commercial building. We want it to be a fun place that is attractive for clients. It should look more like a private aviation country club than an air terminal. We think that South Florida is the perfect spot for that and that it has the clientele. People want something special and exclusive, and that’s what we’re looking to do for them with our new complex. We’re in the middle of planning now with our architects and engineers and submitting plans with the city. Our goal is to break ground in April on the new complex and we hope to have it done by the middle of 2024. The first phase would be three hangars providing about 80,000 square feet of hangar space.
Have you noticed any shifts in demand from your clients?
We saw a huge shift into private aviation during COVID for obvious reasons. What we’re starting to see now is travelers who were on the fence between first class and private aviation are starting to fall back into the first-class side of it now that COVID has subsided, and the risk of flying commercial is less than it was from a health standpoint. We’re still seeing passengers who are frustrated with the inconsistency of commercial airlines. They are looking to find a way to stay in private aviation. While we’re seeing a little bit of a slowdown on the FBO side, which is the gas station for private aircraft, fewer individual aircraft have been flying in 2023 than we had in 2021 and ‘22.
What is the biggest opportunity for your company now?
What we’re finding is that the people who were on the fence about possibly buying an aircraft and owning an aircraft for themselves are looking for new homes for their aircraft. COVID was a time when you saw operators and managers of aircraft that were marginal managers and had the benefit of COVID keeping their planes flying because we were very busy in private aviation. Now that that’s starting to slow down, and the tide is starting to go out, you see who’s swimming naked. There are a lot of aircraft owners who were first-time aircraft owners and they are now starting to get their maintenance bills and finding out that you cannot actually own an aircraft for free. They are looking for good reputable managers to make sure that the very expensive asset that they have is being managed correctly. That’s where we stand out among other operators and aircraft managers. We are boutique, and very hands-on. It is not our primary business so it’s not something that we have to force to make ends meet for the company. In terms of our aircraft management division, we pick our clients. We’d rather them not pick us. We want to have owners who have similar core values and who need their aircraft and don’t necessarily just want their aircraft. We do an excellent job for those customers, providing that hands-on boutique transparent custom service.
We are out of hangar space in South Florida. There’s not enough space available at Fort Lauderdale International. As quickly as the hangar space goes up, it is taken, and it’s taken for a long time. We want to provide the infrastructure that the clientele needs and provide them with some very nice hangars that are current and modern.
What is your outlook for National Jets for the next two to three years?
For National Jets, we needed to continue to do what we’re doing to make sure that people know that we’re here. We also need to build the infrastructure that’s going to be required for these large companies and their flight departments to have good, solid hangars and very good facilities.
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