Solairus Aviation, a provider of private aviation management services, announced record flights, fleet expansion and employee growth in 2023.
Solairus’ growth came primarily from long range, large cabin and super mid-size aircraft owners who accounted for 87% of new additions and who make-up 88% of the 325 aircraft fleet.
Solairus manages a diverse composition of aircraft from all the leading manufacturers, with the long range, large cabin and super mid-size aircraft representing a majority of the fleet.
Solairus added 18 ultra-long-range aircraft in 2023 and ended the year with 134, representing 16% growth and close to 70% of the company’s net new additions.
The large cabin fleet now stands at 103 aircraft, while super-mids account for 45 aircraft.
The company’s three largest manufacturers are Gulfstream (127 aircraft), Bombardier (111) and Dassault (41), while Embraer boasted the largest fleet growth in 2023 at 20%. More than half the fleet operates part 91 only, and about 25% of the total are available for third party charter.
“I am humbled and energized by the faith and trust owners place in us to safely manage and support their flight departments,” said Dan Drohan, CEO of Solairus. “We have a remarkable, growing team of dedicated aviation professionals, and we strive every day to deliver the best, personalized ownership experience to each client we are fortunate enough to serve. One of our founding goals was to become big enough to matter, while remaining small enough to care. Certainly, this type of growth makes us big enough to matter. We work tirelessly, every day, to remain small enough to care.”
Solairus’ clients flew close to 35,000 flights and 74,000 flight hours in 2023, operating to 1,334 airports in 126 countries and all 50 states.
The company’s ten most visited airfields were Teterboro, San Jose, Bedford, White Plains, Van Nuys, West Palm Beach, Chicago, Miami, Dallas and Oakland, while the five most commonly visited foreign countries were Mexico, UK, Italy, France and Canada.
To support its clients, in 2023 the company added 320 aviation professionals increasing its full and part-time staff to 2,099 with the former making up more than half of the total.
Solairus added 230 full-time pilots, 56 maintenance supervisors and 29 flight attendants. The company now employs 1,866 full and part-time crew members. The company continues to look for exceptional candidates and anticipates hiring over 300 new crew members in 2024.
