Entrepreneurs make you fly: The Business of Private Aviation

Abstract

Relying on entrepreneurship theory, we are investigating the private aviation industry to discover how it proposes value to its consumers. To do so, we rely on secondary sources (news, interviews and others) as well as on primary ones coming from interviews with individuals working in the industry. In the first quarters of 2025, we interviewed over twenty individuals involved in different parts of this industry – airports, private flight brokers, private jet companies, original equipment manufacturers, maintenance companies, avionics developers, software developers, fixed based operators, and more - and its value proposition chain. We find that the private aviation industry is a mix of a few larger organizations with a multitude of smaller companies guided by entrepreneurs. The industry relies on these organizations’ specialization through division of labor and coordination to create a spider-web of interconnected companies and present their value propositions. Companies in the industry must deal with constant changes in the market, in technology and in the regulatory environment to keep their businesses afloat. We see the private aviation industry as an insightful proxy to understand entrepreneurship in general and how the market works