How Thomas Flohr’s Subscription Model Changed Private Aviation

When Thomas Flohr founded VistaJet in 2004, he made a radical bet that most industry veterans thought was destined to fail. While private aviation had been built on a foundation of aircraft ownership, either full or fractional, Thomas Flohr envisioned something entirely different: a world where corporations and individuals could access private jets through subscriptions, paying only for what they used without the burden of owning depreciating assets.

Twenty years later, that contrarian vision has not only succeeded but fundamentally transformed how corporate America thinks about private aviation. What began as one entrepreneur’s response to inefficiency has become a leading model that competitors across the industry are racing to replicate.

“I believe that corporations should invest their equity in building their core businesses,” Flohr told McKinsey & Co. “At the end of the day, an aviation service is a service you can easily outsource. Why would you have your equity stuck in something that is not your core business? So, I believe in subscription models.”

 

The Early Resistance

 

Flohr’s subscription model didn’t achieve immediate universal acceptance. The resistance varied significantly by region, reflecting deeply ingrained cultural attitudes about asset ownership and business prestige. According to Matteo Atti, a senior VistaJet executive who has observed the model’s evolution globally, the path to acceptance required different approaches in different markets.

“It’s a very cultural aspect, and it depends on the maturity of a market,” Atti explains. In the United States, which already had a substantial fractional and full ownership market as well as a mature chartering offering, VistaJet’s task was to demonstrate that subscription could offer both superior flexibility and quality.

“We didn’t say ownership is wrong, we said there is a better way to invest your capital. And at the same time, there is a better way to charter that does not mean going for the cheap option, the one that you cannot predict, but to have a high quality charter.”

In Europe, the challenge was more fundamental. “It was about transitioning private flying from an extravagant option into a tool that made business sense,” Atti notes. The subscription model helped legitimise private aviation as a business solution rather than personal indulgence, making it possible for companies to evaluate private aviation decisions through the same financial lens they applied to other operational expenses.

International markets presented yet another dynamic. In rapidly expanding markets like China, India, and across Africa, private aviation was often viewed as a status symbol; evidence of having “made it” rather than a tool for business growth. VistaJet’s model helped bridge the gap “between the status symbol and the requirements for efficient and successful global business development,” Atti explains.

 

The Corporate Finance Revolution

 

The subscription model’s growing acceptance among corporations reflects a fundamental shift in how CFOs evaluate aviation needs. Traditional aircraft ownership requires board approval for capital expenditure, places a depreciating asset on the balance sheet, and exposes companies to public scrutiny about executive spend, all while tying up capital that could be invested in core business operations.

Charlotte Colhoun, VistaJet’s CFO, explains the corporate logic: “If I’m a CFO of a large global conglomerate and I’m working out how to fly the chairman globally, I want predictability. I want to know how much it’s going to cost me so I can run it into my budget. And the challenge with aircraft ownership is I’m going to have to go to my board to get approval for a large asset expenditure to leave sitting on my balance sheet, with large additional operational and management costs.”

The financial benefits become even more compelling when considering actual usage patterns. While corporations often justify aircraft purchases based on projected utilisation, the reality typically falls far short. As Flohr observed, “Commercial planes are used around 4,000 hours a year. The average utilisation of a business jet is 250 hours per year, talk about waste and corporate waste.”

VistaJet’s subscription model eliminates this waste by matching capacity precisely to demand. Companies pay for exactly what they use, with guaranteed availability and predictable pricing, while avoiding the capital commitment and operational complexities of ownership.

The Simple Financial Question

 

The subscription model’s appeal ultimately boils down to a fundamental question that Flohr posed early in VistaJet’s development. “He was coming from corporations and he saw the amount of money that was deployed as non-core CAPEX instead of OPEX,” Atti explains. “And he said, why wouldn’t a company invest the capital to buy a plane into their own operations instead?”

This insight led to what Atti describes as “a very simple question: if I were to raise a million with a bank, or an investor, what would I do it for? For my jet, or to grow my business?” The logic becomes even more compelling when considering aircraft depreciation.

“A plane always depreciates,” Atti notes. “You’re not building a corporate campus and then you’re gonna resell it three times the value. You’re not acquiring critical commodities that can appreciate, or investing in precious R&D. An aircraft will always depreciate, and fast. So, there’s only a loss there.”

 

The Netflix Comparison

 

The subscription model’s success mirrors other industries that have moved from ownership to access-based models. Atti draws a direct parallel to streaming services: “The subscription brings the big difference versus the charter market.

The charter market relies on people who have made a large, expensive purchase by buying a plane and are trying to reduce their losses by chartering it. The subscription model, instead, gives companies the same long term visibility that gives Netflix the confidence to go in and spend billions in content creation, because they know that the content is already pre-sold to subscribers for a clearly foreseeable future. The same way, VistaJet acquires only the aircraft that its subscribers demand and share them amongst all members.”

This predictable revenue stream has enabled VistaJet to invest in global infrastructure, maintain consistent service standards and offer guaranteed availability, capabilities that ad hoc charter operators simply cannot match. “You have visibility on your client base, so you know how many you have, how much you could spend, and how much you can invest to reach even more people,” Atti explains.

 

Industry Validation and Imitation

 

The clearest evidence of Flohr’s model’s success is how thoroughly it has been embraced by competitors who once dismissed it. What was once considered a risky experiment has become a new standard practice, with companies across private aviation rushing to develop their own subscription offerings.

This transformation has been particularly evident in how corporations now evaluate private aviation. The subscription model has made private aviation a feasible option for companies that previously couldn’t justify the capital expenditure of aircraft ownership or the unpredictability of charter services.

VistaJet’s current membership base reflects this corporate adoption, with over 60% of revenues coming from members who have signed three-year deals. The company has experienced 20% growth in its membership base, demonstrating sustained demand for the subscription approach.

 

The Broader Transformation

 

Flohr’s subscription model has accomplished something more significant than simply creating a successful business, it has redefined private aviation’s value proposition for an entire generation of business leaders. By removing the barriers of ownership while maintaining service quality and availability, the model has democratised access to private aviation for companies that view it as a business tool rather than a luxury.

“The new wave of flyers values flexibility and global service over ownership,” Flohr told luxury travel magazine Fortloc. “Forward-thinking companies aren’t interested in owning a depreciating asset, and younger travelers are not accepting the complexities of managing an aircraft—they just want access to a jet when and where they need it.”

This shift represents more than changing preferences—it reflects a fundamental evolution in how modern businesses think about asset allocation and operational efficiency. As Flohr noted, “We don’t think corporations should invest in their own aircraft because we have proven we can do it for them at a price point that can be less than half the price of owning a jet.”

The subscription model’s triumph validates Flohr’s original insight: that the future of private aviation lay not in ownership, but in access. As competitors continue to adopt variations of this approach, they’re essentially acknowledging that Flohr was right about the industry’s direction two decades before it became conventional wisdom.

Today, as VistaJet operates what the company calls “the first and only global private aviation company” with flights to 96% of the world’s countries, Flohr’s early bet on subscription over ownership looks less like a risky experiment and more like inevitable progress. The industry he helped reshape continues to follow the path he pioneered.