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Interview
with Ricky Sitomer and Todd Rome
Ricky
Sitomer and Todd Rome
CEO and President, Blue Star Jets
After
their high-flying days on Wall Street, the founders of Blue Star Jets
are now making their money by keeping their clients flying high. Blue
Star-you may notice the coy nod to Oliver Stones' Wall Street-is the leading
private jet brokerage in the industry today, and with Sitomer's and Rome's
"any jet, any time, any place" attitude, it's going to be a
while before Blue Star prepares for landing.
How's business these days?
Ricky Sitomer (RS): Off the charts actually. There's a strange
and positive development for us because, with a pinch in the economy,
people are coming to us because we're the least cost provider in the market-because
we're the only big brand in our space, they're coming to us.
Todd Rome (TR): This is a recession-proof business, because our
customers have a net worth ranging from $25 million up to the billions,
and their portfolios may be down a bit and fuel may cost a bit more, the
trip may cost a bit more than last year, but they're still flying private.
And once you fly private, you can't stop-and neither can the wives or
the children.
What made you want to get into the private jet business after your departures
from Wall Street?
TR: We looked inside ourselves and said, "What do we like?"
And we both had a passion for private aviation travel and we wanted to
make this a reality for our generation-more flexibility, faster, cheaper.
We went out, formulated the business plan, and we went out there and we
did it. We think we'll be a billion dollar business in five years.
RS: What we really did was we brought in a new business model.
We did what we knew-we knew how to run a brokerage on Wall Street and
we realized that we wanted to run private jet brokerage that would allow
customers to fly on whatever kind of plane they wanted, whenever they
wanted. And that option wasn't out there when we first started.
Tell us a bit about the provenance of the name of the company.
TR: It's from Wall Street, and we felt that our generation could
relate to the brand.
RS: It gave us instant brand recognition.
Who is your typical client?
TR: One-third sports and entertainment, one-third corporate management,
and one-third leisure travel.
Looking down the road, are you anticipating any decline in demand?
RS: In the past, the trend in the industry was towards fractional
ownership, but now there are other legitimate options, and because we're
the biggest brand, they come to us. The cost of our service is 50% less
than fractional ownership and our customers know they are getting the
best bid on the trip. Plus, response time is everything. We can deliver
a jet to you anywhere in the world within four hours.
TR: We actually expect demand to get stronger. In a month or so
we'll see Europeans traveling a lot, and there should be a lot of demand
from London to LA, New York to Abu Dhabi and other parts of the Middle
East, and lots of long-haul flights in general. Long term, for the business,
demand is going to be strong because why would you buy a piece of a plane
when you can buy the fleet and match the jet to your itinerary?
Do you see a future where private jet travel will become, we hesitate
to say, affordable, but at least more competitive with first class and
business class travel on major airlines?
RS: It won't become more affordable, but that's because of rising
fuel prices.
What are you doing to expand your business?
RS: We've just opened our tenth office in Princeton, NJ, and we
opened London a year ago. Looking ahead, we'll expand where the demand
is, which will mean Dubai, China, Japan, and Europe-we go where the demand
is.
"In
the past, the trend in the industry was towards fractional ownership,
but now there are other legitimate options and because we're the biggest
brand, they come to us. The cost of our service is 50% less than fractional
ownership and our customers know they are getting the best bid on the
trip"
"We've
just opened our tenth office in Princeton, NJ, and we opened London a
year ago. Looking ahead, we'll expand where the demand is, which will
mean Dubai, China, Japan and Europe-we go where the demand is. "
What's the last trip you've both taken?
TR: Most recently we were in LA. We spend a lot of time out there
because we have a lot of clients in the entertainment business, so we're
out there building our relationships and we have a great office in Beverly
Hills. We also do quite a few joint marketing opportunities for luxury
brands. Basically, we go where the money is. During the winter, I might
be in St. Barth's while Ricky is in Aspen, and during the summer, Ricky
might be in Nantucket while I'm in the Hamptons.
What about some of the exotic locations you've provided travel to?
TR: The latest hot spot has been Dubai. We've been flying a lot
of entertainers and celebrities there from LA and the people in Dubai
have no problem writing a check for the entertainer and the plane.
RS: I recently set the Marley family up with a 747, with four-bedrooms
and five flat screen TVs for a trip to Ethiopia.
What kind of services and amenities can you provide your clients with?
TR: We realized early that providing ancillary services for our
clients was very important, so we can arrange anything for them. Massages,
custom catering, hair and makeup if they're going to an event-anything
they want.
RS: I've done sushi from Nobu and I've done White Castle burgers
for a family traveling with their kids. Bottom line, whatever they want,
we'll get it for them, whether it's tickets to shows, hotel reservations,
helicopter or yacht services.
Do you offer deadhead or empty leg trips?
TR: We have "Greenlights" where, if a plane isn't booked
for a flight, a client can take the flight for a significant discount.
For someone who is interested in flying private, what should they consider?
RS: Size of the plane, length of the trip, if they're flying into
a foreign country to make sure they have a slot and what kind of onboard
amenities and services they'd like.
TR: For the best pricing, just call us and we'll make it happen
for you whether you need a helicopter, turboprop or jumbo jet.
So what's the next trip that you guys want to take?
TR: Dubai.
RS: We're still saving up for that one though.
Blue
Star Jets
885 Second Ave
New York
212.446.9037
www.BlueStarJets.com
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