How To Build a Private Jet Company | Millionaire Mind | ENDEVR Documentary

[Music] hello and welcome to high flyers today we meet a private jet mogul who saw the financial crisis as an opportunity not an obstacle when rivals were cutting back spending he went ahead with orders and bought even bigger jets let's meet Thomas floor the fastest growing private jet company in the world Vista jet hassles are the biggest fleet outside the Americas with over 40 Bombardier aircraft Thomas flow is constantly looking for ways to improve the luxury experience he's behind the biggest jets catering from his favorite restaurants and designing tech-savvy aircraft [Music] time now for this high flier to join us on the singapore flyer to tell us about his flight plan to success thomas for welcome to high fly it's good to have you with us I know you flew what 12 hours to get here twelve hours from Milan to Singapore thank you we appreciate that now as a teenager you are rejected by Lufthansa to be that trainee pilot what a Redemption this must be for you how do you feel they told me at the end of the interview process that I should go to university study you know business and management and then eventually apply again as a manager so I didn't in a petal of Tanza I started business and I'm very happy that eventually I became an entrepreneur not everybody believed you could make it in fact when you first bought your jet Bombardier shook the head and said this is not gonna happen who is this guy well if the first plane I bought it really was for my own needs and the other business that is an asset finance company and you know a business jet is a very efficient business tool when at some point in time I was able to afford to buy a business Chandon and you know I painted it silver and then put a red stripe on it and made it look nice on an Italian designer too to designed interior and and it became the corporate aircraft and when I didn't need it I shot her it out that's really how it started and the plane became very popular and three months into it I thought well you know I should buy a second one because the first one was always busy with other clients and that's really how this the jet started well why do you think the strategy has worked why is there such a need for luxurious business jet it's not just a business jet but a luxurious well I would do I would add the word consistency to it ten years ago oh this was not a popular product of business charity in Africa or in Asia to that extend and so there was no global brand and and I think very early on I kind of like was shaking my head what you know there's there's the the luxury brands for the handbags and fashion items and what-have-you hotels that I extend and and when it came to a business shed there was no global brand and that did not make any sense to me and you know large corporations sent their executives all around the planet and they were demanding one solution anywhere in the world and I think that was really driving my my ambition to build that it is a total global brand give us a sense of what goes on in the jet of yours okay well I mean it any any visited aircraft is silver metallic with a red stripe identical interior so whether you step on a challenger on a global Express and in Singapore in Japan United States or in in Africa and Russia and Western you they're all absolutely identical so that really allows us to fly a client one way anywhere in the world steps of that aircraft doesn't pay for the empty leg that that is the that is the the economic benefit behind it and then when he needs to leave again a sister aircraft will pick him up and fly them to the next destination because the previous aircraft probably is already somewhere else as far as the product is concerned inside the cab and I think that we go a long way to make this a very comfortable and good experience and that goes from the type of catering we do to who is one of your caterers well Nobu Matsuhisa is a good personal friend of mine and the idea came about when I was in Los Angeles at Matsuhisa his first restaurant and we're having dinner about three years ago and you know I said why don't I serve your wonderful food on one of my airplanes and it's a probably good idea and we went through a lot of testing there's obviously you know health and safety and food had to be had to be you know very well worked out and and today we're proud to say that we're the only nation company in the Nauvoo on the air can't afford no boy the aircraft you talking about how the jet is painted silver what's the thinking behind that because Bombardier initially thought it was a bad idea well silver metallic any metallic plane the aircraft manufacturer you know probably you know he's pushing back on but but the the aircraft when it's produced obviously you see the aluminium and aluminium has a silver shiny collar and I thought the airplane should look like exactly when it's produced that which is that silver metallic look and the only way to do that is to paint it silver metallic and and I the manufacturer quite often try to convince me it should be grey which is a simpler paint job than silver metallic but you know the aircraft stands out on the tarmac on the runway the red stripe was just simply put on because silver alone would be too boring but you know today all our jets look like that and it became a global brands Vista jet is Baba DA's largest customer at what stage at what point did they change their mind about vissa jet and you was there a turning point oh you probably have to ask but the turning point for me I shouldn't say turning point because everything was I think we're where the relationship was really cemented for me was October 31st 2008 45 days after Lehman Brothers we transferred 91 million dollars of installment payments and took airplane deliveries at right at the 1/4 end of our day and took two airplane deliveries and paid two more installment payments for other aircraft and whilst the rest of the world was cancelling aircraft orders defaulting on payments and so on and so forth and I think I think it was at that point in time you know that the partnership really meant that you stick with each other in the good times and a lots of good times and and it was it was a moment we all remember very well in our relationship with the boy why sure then it would work despite the collapse of Lehman Brothers well I I must say that you know our number of hours and our revenue didn't decline in 2009 we grew 16% the top line now given we had to adjust a pricing in terms of the the hourly rate we had to adjust to a certain degree but if anything in these in these difficult moments you know large corporations and executives need to fly more and if we have a the best product will always survive coming up I think I was probably too afraid of it everybody said it is competitive and when we actually studied the market there was no top end product available [Music] ten years on quite a while moment for you right now 41 jets 11,000 flights 27,000 passengers a hundred and thirty seven countries including the latest the u.s. is the u.s. a game-changer for you yes it is I mean we had a lot of international clients American clients flying with us around the world and in 2011-2012 some of those large corporations came to me and says why do you not enter the US market which is the biggest market it is by far the biggest market just a couple of Statistics you have ten thousand four hundred business jets in the US and the whole of the rest of the world has about seven thousand so that shows you where the power and the the depth of the market is definitely the US but it's not an easy market and we had to have the right partners which we managed to do in 2013 but it took you so long I had to build the rest of the world so it was it was a big job too you know expanding to Asia expanding to Africa expanded to the Middle East the US is a very competitive market and probably I also have the wrong adheres about it and learned a lot in 2011-2012 about the US more what was the wrong idea so I think I think I was probably too afraid of it everybody said it is competitive and when we actually studied the market there was no top end product available in the u.s. brand-new Jets you know long-range Jets and the kind of service we offer at mr. jazz yes you know is is the is the ultimate luxury in in business aviation and that is not available in the UN we had the first plane commercially registered first of March there lots of people talking about competition and they say that you're probably competing head-on with NetJets but they are two different models well I would I would make it more general there's the fractional business model so if you want to fly 200 hours per year you need to buy a quarter of an airplane in order to have the right to fly 200 hours we just simply sell the 200 hours and our contract is a three page contract that contract says that we have an obligation to fly you which is called guaranteed availability and you have an obligation to pay us simple quarterly payments without any complicated management agreement surcharge agreement fractional purchase agreements and nd in the asset risk stays with us and I think especially during that recent 2008 2010 downturn people learnt their lesson on that on the on the asset side so owning an airplane the true cost you only know you hourly rate by the time you sell the asset because depreciation plays in significantly into the hourly cost and only once you know what the depreciation was do you know your Harley cost with us it's very simple it's a simply one hourly rate it's always fixed no matter where you fly on the planet sixteen thousand dollars per hour 5950 so so I think that's the comfort a lot of large corporations are taking because they say I know exactly what's gonna cost me per year over a three-year period and there is no strings attached some view this as a risky business how leveraged are you it's very risky I mean you have to manage your risk by knowing what you're doing and and the more often you do it and obviously you know our pilots are trained they do it every day flying to these hundred and thirty-seven countries per year you know you're building relationships with the local authorities and and it becomes your daily routine and and you know and that is we believe you have more experience than any other company in the world to fly to remote locations and and I think that that's one of our strong points are talking about remote locations give us a sense of where your customers want to go well I mean there's a very strong link obviously but in Asia and Africa the Chinese African trade is is very strong and we were flying to Mozambique were flying to locations deep in Siberia you know it said rephrase this we're we're only flying to locations which are safe obviously you know we were checking the conditions the political environment and so and so forth and if their alerts will not fly into those into those areas at a given point in time and I mean I remember about a year and a half ago in the Mali conflict so we could not fly Nigeria to Moscow we had to fly around Mali because you know the airspace was closed I mean those are some of the political you know global you know conflicts you're having and you have to avoid us and operator you trying to get into China it is a difficult market it is difficult to register a plane yeah you're confident your business will take off well today we fly pretty much every day in and out of China in terms of the international traffic what you're referring to is the B registration which gives you the traffic rights to fly within China that's what we just achieved in the United States with the collaboration with Chad Emigh ation so the business concept really is that we take our airplane we put it on the aoc aircraft operating certificate of a local operator and that worked extremely well in the collaboration with Jet Aviation there at General Dynamics company the finest degree of aviation and and we have a similar concept underway in in China and and we're confident that it by 2000 and and of 2014 takes a slightly longer than we thought it would be but we serve our clients already today by giving them the international access in and out of charge you talk about the DNA of Vista jet it is the DNA of Thomas floor and what is that exactly you think what are some of the attributes well I think I'm a very ambitious person if something if something doesn't make sense then I will challenge it and and I truly believe in simple solutions because my client's are looking for simple solutions and I think for 30 years when I went into this business everybody told me give you one example it says Thomas where's the home base of the airplane and I say why would an airplane need a home base and well that's where the pilots live and where the hangar is and I say yeah but you know why would you fly back up an aircraft empty to your home base with no customer on it just because that's the home base and it's those elements where I hopefully have helped this industry to industrialize itself coming up why do you get airport catering from catering companies rather than taking the food from your favorite restaurant [Music] Thomas for fair to say you're an adrenaline junkie isn't that true you drive new race cars gt3 well I wouldn't say the trembling chunky but yeah I started racing because it was always my treat ok and my dream was as a young boy to do the East African safari rally and so when you've done that I've done definitely twice I came in fifth I was very happy with that and a great copilot he would guide me the way throughout the African bushes but what it is it's a Porsche 911 1976 so they were using historic cars and and it's four and a half thousand kilometres over nine days and open days certains through Kenya Tanzania and basically on the on the east coast of Africa it's beautiful what is it about car racing that you love so much it has it also got to do with the competition you are competitive by Nature that's right well I think what what I love about car racing is it it allows me to switch off now the focus when you're in the car and when you're racing is just on that track and trying to optimize what you're doing and and yes to that extent on the perfectionist and I always try to to do it the best way possible and if you do a race and come out of the car of the two hours I feel my brain is completely cleared of any any thoughts and I'm fresh again and and I feel motivated and it's it's it's something I like to do and physically it's it's quite divided demanding and you got to stay fit like I like to be fitting and healthy so that's one love the other love is a love for ox you own a gallery and it is expanding well I own an art company together with my good friend and even more Buddha and we're focusing on street art we're focusing on my street art well that's where it all started I you know maybe it's a childhood thing that I saw people spring its and and and then they you know then police came and and and try to you know some of the graffiti has made it to your planes as well yes you saw that Richard Hamilton we have the shadow man and it you know the art business is is really something where you know the the world has expanded and and it became really one I mean even in a downturn you know art business was not affected and and I think the the expression of the artist at the time the artist done was always controversial and always against the norm and and I think that's one of the attractions and it's maybe something which is in my character to that do you've got a question what is what is the norm you've described yourself as a single father you brought up your daughter how close are you I'm very close to my daughter yes described a relationship with no we're very close I think we know each other extremely well and you know when she she went to University nYU and right during the university times the right after she helped me design of what is going on in the cabin at Vista jet from the design of the uniform to the smell to the cashmere blankets to the bed where you should your trust in her at a very early stage as a teenager you send her to cells bug to to take a look at a business you acquired to help you make a decision well I thought was brave I think I kind of like had a gut instinct of what that decision should be but since she knows me very well and she has a very good gut in saying I said why did you go and look at it for two days and she came back with an even more decisive opinion about the situation and I had and it just reaffirmed me and if you're close with someone in you know and trust that person I trust her 100% and I trust their judgment and so it was it was a it was a the right decision to Center you owned the company hundred percent at any stage in time do you see yourself perhaps selling off part of the company is there any sense in doing so you know owning a company hundred percent gives you the opportunity with your management team to take fast and decisive decisions which in a growth phase is something very important and very good so you don't have any distractions about other shareholder interests and so on and so forth but at some point in time it's probably unnatural to own a company of this size 100 percent and so eventually we might look at opportunities but right now it's not in the cards ten years down the road what are your plans for the company this is how it looks like ten years on ten years later how would Vista jet look like I think in ten years from now we're gonna have a very very significant American business I think connecting the dots around the world will be on the map I see us to continue to be the preeminent long-haul business jet company we're gonna keep the level of service and consistency of where it is but continuously reinvent ourselves you know like the Nobu idea and like you know in in catering you've got to go different ways I always say why do you get airport catering from catering companies rather than taking the food from your favorite restaurant exactly that's what you're so I just I'm just getting the catering for Vista jet as some of my favorite restaurants around the world or our clients favorite restaurants and it's some of those simple things how you got to reinvent yourself so as far as the long-term plan is concerned I I see really the the growth of the business jet market is is is has no limitations you're living the dream I don't think it's a trick it's reality we're here today and I think you got to stay very humble with your feet on the ground and I see us coming back down here so it's it's it's not a trick it is it's a hard job everyday it is it is a great honor to serve that many clients around the world but you know unless you stay with your feet on the ground and stay humble you're not going anywhere in this planet Tomas flora thank you so much for being on high plugged in such a person [Music] [Music] you

Channel: ENDEVR

Views: 4,145

Rating: 4.9175258 out of 5

Keywords: Free documentary, documentaries, full documentary, hd documentary, documentary - topic, documentary (tv genre), Business Documentary, Thomas Flohr, Thomas Flohr business, vistajet, private jets, Thomas Flohr story, Thomas Flohr history, private jet business, private jet, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship

Id: KY4T-yUrDps

Length: 23min 22sec (1402 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 14 2020