New Century, Kansas-headquartered turbine aircraft sales and acquisitions specialist JetAviva has announced robust sales numbers in 2020. The firm completed over 100 transactions, 45 of which took place in the fourth quarter.

The company has attributed this continued success to an increase in first time buyers entering the world of business aviation as a result of COVID-19 and a focus on fuel efficient light to mid-sized business jets and turboprops.

“We entered the second half of 2020 with a remarkable volume of acquisition clients who were looking to move quickly,” says founder and chairman Cyrus Sigari. “Facing the prospect of a changing tax regime in 2021, our clients desired to lock in the 2020 economic incentives to purchase business aircraft including 100 per cent bonus depreciation.”

An internal study conducted by JetAviva has shown continued strong performance in the owner-flown segments. Most notably, it strengthened its position as an expert in the Citation M2 and CJ3 markets, and it continues to lead in Phenom 100 and 300 sales. Although already well-known in the industry for success in owner flown segments, JetAviva also assisted new buyers in the midsize categories and larger.

“2021 looks to present a wholly different market dynamic from what we experienced last year,” Sigari goes on to say. “Inventory levels have continued a steady decline since June of last year, and prices in many of the markets we track have started to stabilise. Our clients looking to upgrade should be optimistic about bringing their quality inventory to market.”

Based on the results of an internal study conducted by JetAviva's market research team that evaluated JETNET data and JetAviva's internal transaction data from January to December 2020: JetAviva was the market leader with 15 per cent of the combined sales in the Citation markets; and it was the market leader with 23 per cent of the combined sales in the Embraer markets.

Based on market share of represented transactions, JetAviva was also the market leader in 2020 for the Phenom 100 and 300, the Citation CJ1, CJ2 and CJ3 series, as well as the Citation XLS series, Mustang and M2.

The company is also expanding its sales team with the addition of Thomas Dafoe, sales director and specialist in the utility turboprop markets.

“We are pleased to welcome Tom to the team and excited to leverage his expertise as we branch out into a new market segment,” comments COO Emily Deaton. “Tom is able to provide an incredibly high level of service and educate and inform clients based on his real-world experience over the past 20 or more years in the industry.”

Dafoe joins JetAviva after a 22 year tenure at Textron. After earning his A&P certificate and pilots licence, Dafoe joined the then-Cessna Aircraft Co. as a CSR before ultimately leading Cessna's Sacramento service centre as general manager. He then transitioned to its sales organisation, where he directed sales for the western-half of the US and Canada in the sought-after Cessna Grand Caravan product line.

The support team at JetAviva also continues to grow with the addition of Brittany Kelso, senior manager of transactions and Laura Meyer, sales operations specialist. Kelso was instrumental in closing out the busiest fourth quarter in company history. Meyer joins the team from Embraer Executive Jets. She will track markets and support company sales efforts in the critical Citation Mustang, M2, CJ3 and CJ3+ markets.

Deaton concludes: “Brittany and Laura are an integral part to ensuring the sustained growth of our firm while maintaining the world-class client support and customer experience for which JetAviva is known.”