00:00Leona this is I guess great for your business to see a SpaceX IPO and then later Anthropic and open
00:06AI because it just creates so many more
00:08customers for you doesn't it. Definitely we've seen a trend where wealth is created faster than ever and also just
00:15a level of
00:16wealth. So last year we've seen an increase of flight traffic around the world about above 30 percent. How does
00:22the behavior or is the
00:24demand any different when you have a lot of these first time jet buyers flyers what have you coming in
00:28to the market. Do they behave
00:30then you're differently than your classical your classic customer. Most definitely. So last year 2025 47 percent of the new
00:38entrance to private
00:39flying with Vista. They were under the age of 45 and their their way of thinking and thought and how
00:46they're behaving is a lot
00:47different from a decade ago. It's less about possession is we live in a very much experience based economy other
00:54than a
00:54product based economy is more about efficiency mobility and flexibility of where they're going. And we're also seeing a trend
01:02where
01:03because of the entrepreneurs and inventors they're much more they're global citizens and there is a plan of business and
01:10lifestyle traveling. So life is part of the work works part of the life. So we're definitely seeing that trend
01:16as well. What level of
01:17wealth do you have to have to responsibly fly private. I mean what's the cut off. I would say with
01:24with us with Vista because
01:26we're we're flying the long haul. And also originally we're doing the super mid around 200 million and above U
01:33.S.
01:33dollars. Does it change at all as as fuel prices go higher. Does that sort of put a cap on
01:38maybe we'll put not a cap maybe a floor on
01:41prices but a cap on who's actually using this and can afford it. We haven't seen we haven't seen a
01:46job.
01:47The food with the food price rising up with with our customer base. I think that's it. That's the thing
01:54with flying private. That's the reason that
01:55it's also called business business aviation because it's less about a luxury purchase. It's very much about traveling for business.
02:04The efficiency
02:04they actually need to get there in a certain time. What what separates Vista from your your competitors like I
02:10look at your fastest growing city
02:12pairs. And I see a much more global picture than I would expect. It's not just San Francisco you know
02:18to Vegas. It's Jeddah to Riyadh.
02:21It's Abu Dhabi to London. I see Nantucket New York. So so what's different about Vista. Definitely. It took us
02:28over 20 years to build a very
02:30much global business. So our footprint. We've flown to 97 percent of the world. And we are a business. United
02:37States we see is
02:38still the epicenter of of business traveling and business flying. However there's a lot of corridors that are rising up.
02:45For
02:45example the Africa Asia Pacific corridor is less about. It's not just a tourism spike. It's very much you see
02:53the
02:53infrastructure and economy is building up the ties. That's why a lot of times we see this as an early
02:59indicator of where
03:00money is moving. And really the effect comes after. What is the supply chain like. Are there any bottlenecks as
03:06you double down on
03:07long haul aviation and get the proper jets that allow you to do that. Most definitely. So maintenance supply chain.
03:15So that's
03:16why over the years we invest a lot in terms of our we in house some of the maintenance centers
03:21and work very closely with
03:23Bombardier the manufacturer to make sure that we can maintain our aircraft. Is it. I wonder because you probably often
03:30have a chance to
03:31fly private. Is it then crippling to have to fly commercial again after that or what.
03:38I have to say it is is after you. That's why a lot of times people say that flying private
03:44is addictive. Your product is
03:46addictive. Not so much about obviously we offer we pride ourselves in offering the best in flight experiences but really
03:53it's about it's a time machine. It's really a time machine is how you can arrive and function at your
03:58very best. So we on board we
04:01have 5g network connectivity and we wanted to make sure that our customers just because they're taking a flight their
04:08lifestyle is not being
04:08interrupted. If you're taking a flight to Singapore from New York you could use that time to rest but also
04:14you conduct your board
04:15meetings. You could do calls and you can stream if you're a sports team owner you can stream a game.
04:21So really your life does not stop when you're
04:22flying private. Well I mean apparently British Airways is going to start allowing passengers to start making calls via Starlink
04:29which is
04:30horrible. Can you imagine being on a commercial plane and everyone's everyone is on the phone. But isn't there some.
04:34Please get your own
04:35plane if you're going to do that. Yes true. But isn't there some element. I mean I feel like maybe
04:39we've all had the experience of getting on a
04:41plane and being like oh thank God there's no Wi-Fi. I don't have to work. I can just like
04:45turn off and disconnect. Isn't there some joy also to just kind of
04:49enjoying the quiet of a plane ride. You're raw dogging it on a flight to Europe. I didn't say you're
04:53raw dogging it but you're just not
04:55working. I think there's definitely that element. But I think the important thing is that we live in a world
05:01where you would like to
05:02have that choice. If you do want to conduct a business you could obviously rest and go to sleep watch
05:06a movie. But I think we live in such a
05:10digital world. And if you're in cryptocurrency it's very important you're connected at all times. Just tell us quickly about
05:17your
05:17origin story. Because you did you go to Princeton and then you worked on Wall Street. Yes. How do you
05:21come up to end up here.
05:24So when I was on Wall Street I was in asset back financing. And back in 2012 I started a
05:30company with two other colleagues to
05:32finance private airplane because at the time there was a void in the marketplace. You could go to air cap
05:37for example to finance a fleet of
05:39commercial aircraft and to lease it. There's no operating lease products in the marketplace to finance private airplanes.
05:45The only company I think that came close with GE. So the company that I ended up funding was Global
05:53Jack Capital and bought the entire
05:55GE portfolio of the corporate aircraft. And that's how I knew Vista because at the time Vista played plays the
06:01historical order
06:02of a fleet of Bombardier aircraft and needed financing. And that's a unique business model. We own our fleets take
06:09away asset risk and
06:10operational risks from our customers. They only need to worry about how many hours they need to fly and then
06:15they're good to go.
06:17Did you already love F1 racing before you got into this? Because you're a sponsor of Ferrari.
06:21I have to say not really but but now I love it.
06:25That's okay. There's a lot of us that are new to the sports model. It's no problem at all.
06:28That's fine.
06:29F1 is more popular than ever right? The drive to survive from from Netflix. I feel like the drivers before
06:35because they're always wearing a helmet.
06:37So it's difficult for for fans to see them in real life. But really the documentary really helped. Now they're
06:42superstars.
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