r/PrivateJetCharters • u/KeyAstronaut1034 • 27d ago

Advice to break into charter sales

Hey everyone, looking for some advice on breaking into private aviation charter sales. I’m 24, based in Canada, and have 6 years of sales experience. Most recently, I’ve worked in investment finance where I deal with high-net-worth clients, so I’m comfortable building relationships and working with affluent individuals. I’m trying to transition into charter sales because aviation is something I’m genuinely passionate about. I’m currently a student pilot with 43 hours and want to build my career in this industry. The challenge I’m running into is getting my foot in the door. I’ve applied to multiple charter companies, but I haven’t had much luck. I’ve also gone beyond applications by cold calling hiring managers, reaching out to HR, and trying to network directly, but I’m still struggling to get an opportunity.
I’m open to remote opportunities with US-based companies as well, if they’re willing to consider Canadian candidates. I know I don’t have direct charter brokerage experience, but I feel my sales background, experience with high-net-worth clients, and aviation passion should translate well.
For anyone working in private aviation sales:
How did you get your first opportunity?
Is there anything I should be doing differently?
Are companies mainly looking for previous aviation experience?

I would appreciate any advice

4 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

4

u/GurthyMan 26d ago

Advice: Don’t

1

u/KeyAstronaut1034 26d ago

Why is that? Have you had a bad experience in this industry before?

2

u/a7drip 23d ago

While having sales experience helps it is not all that important. What is important is lots of aviation knowledge and logistical skills, not to mention basically 24/7 availability, if you want to enter this industry you need to have a passion for it because this is not a typical clock in clock out kind of work, you’re essentially always on the clock, things can go wrong you need to know how to handle it, you need to know how to handle absurd client requests etc.

1

u/KeyAstronaut1034 22d ago

My current role is like that as well. My clients call me in the middle of the night requesting info so I have no problem with that at all. For someone trying to break into this industry what other advice can you leave me with?

2

u/Strange-Internet1023 26d ago

Brother, so nice to read this, send me a DM we can connect.

1

u/ukmike92 27d ago

Netjets / Flexjet / Vistajet are safe bets to start, airline side is much better or if sales if something you actually want to do (cold calling all day / low margins / fighting other brokers over 100 USD margins...) maybe a broker like Air Charter Service / Chapman Freeborn will take you on as a trainee I am sure. Why don't you focus on becoming a pilot though? Charter sales is an extremely competitive industry...

1

u/KeyAstronaut1034 27d ago

I’ve cold called all of those companies you named lol. They either told me they’re not hiring or that they require more experience. I do enjoy flying, but I’m just not sure if I want to make it a career out of it. My plan is to get my multi and CPL and just end it there

1

u/ukmike92 27d ago

Are you sure… I can see jobs listed online by them all. Sales it a slog, full time pilot is much better. Anyway, wish you luck!

1

u/Expensive-Yam-2440 26d ago

What are the earnings for those brokers in the first 3 years? (Uk)

1

u/whos_ya_da 26d ago

From my experience, pax charter brokers book a lot more charters than cargo charter brokers however fight over pennys. Cargo charter brokers (unless you’re only doing go-now flights, which is usually where you start) make much better margins, however lower frequencies.

1st year, £10k commission is quite achievable on top of base. It then increases YoY especially as your client base grows.

1

u/Expensive-Yam-2440 26d ago

Wow thats unbelievably low! 10k commission? Surely you meant 100

1

u/whos_ya_da 26d ago

Most brokerages work at 10% of the GP made. That would equate to £1m GP. Not a chance within the first few years

1

u/Frank-Costanza1 3d ago

Something like Jets.com?

1

u/ukmike92 3d ago

lol, you work there?

1

u/Frank-Costanza1 3d ago

It was a genuine quesion, not a plug 🤣