Steve Varsano’s Private Jet Empire

There’s a street-level corporate aircraft showroom in the trisection of Belgravia, Knightsbridge, and Mayfair in London. This concept showroom, which opened in 2011, was the first of its kind, and is owned by Steve Varsano.

Photo: Franco Agustin Ercolino | Shutterstock

The full-size mockup of an Airbus ACJ319 interior in the showroom of The Jet Business can be seen by anyone in the streets. It “is exceptionally furnished with bespoke leather seats and windows showing a moving cloudscape replicating the sensation of flight”

Related

6 Reasons Private Jets Fly Higher Than Commercial Aircraft

Private jets fly much higher than commercial jets for several reasons.

An aircraft’s database can be accessed in the showroom, which houses a 26-foot (8-meter) video wall where potential clients can compare the features, life history, seating arrangement, etc., of different aircraft. Let’s take a look at Steve Varsano’s private jet empire – The Business Jet – in some detail.

Humble Origins to hundreds of millions

Steve Varsano came from humble origins. As someone who grew up without a father, he held seventeen jobs before starting The Jet Business. Some of the jobs he did in order to support himself included dishwasher, waiter, busboy, and being a chef at a restaurant.

Steve graduated from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, which is known in the aviation community as “the Harvard of the sky.” He later decided to become a private broker of aircraft. In 2012, Steve set up The Business Jet’s aircraft showroom using his own funds. In 2015, The Standard reported that the aircraft sold by The Jet Business in 2014 was worth half a billion dollars:

“Last year, The Jet Business was involved in the marketing of 24 planes and helicopters — some brand new, most second-hand — with a transactional value of more than $500 million (£326 million).”

Here are a few details of The Jet Business:

* As reported in the article above published in the English-language newspaper, The Standard

The inside of The Jet Business

As mentioned above, the office of The Jet Business is one of the more eye-catching scenes in London. The office is a showroom for private jets. After a new client arrives at the office (i.e. a mock-up of an Airbus A319), the team of The Jet Business does a quick background check. This includes figuring out who the potential client is, and whether they are owners of a private jet. The members of the team also ‘make sure that they’re not on any bad government lists’.

Photo: Dabarti CGI | Shutterstock

Here are a few notable things about The Jet Business:

• In the first four years of its operation, it was visited by 117 billionaires.
• The total value of sales of the aircraft brokered by Steve Varsano exceeds $4billion, as per the New York Times.
• Steve has sold more than 500 aircraft, the most expensive of which was priced at $100 million.

But getting there wasn’t easy

Although one might, from the outside, get the impression that people who own (or are involved in the sale of) private jets are ones who regularly go to ritzy parties, Steve believes that this is not the case. It is worth noting that Steve was kidnapped after selling an aircraft for the first time.

Photo: Four Seasons

One video, which showed Steve waking up at 6am and working until 9 pm, as he held multiple meetings involving the sale of aircraft, was seen by 16 million people.

He also shone light on the private jet industry, saying that private jets might not be as luxurious as people think. He was quoted by the British newspaper Daily Mail:

“Most people are in a small little jet that you can’t stand up in and most of those little airplanes don’t even have bathrooms… if they do [have a bathroom], [it’s] not one that you really want to use unless you’re really in an emergency.”

The Impact of Covid-19

Covid-19 was one of the worst things to have hit the aviation industry in recent times. CNN reported that more than 60 airlines went bankrupt due to travel restrictions imposed upon various carriers around the world. Many airlines have recovered healthily, and are close to achieving the pre-pandemic numbers.

Talking about the impact of the Covid-19, Steve commented:

“ I think there were so many new people who came into the aviation space during the pandemic. These people could afford to do it or had a need to do it, but could never financially get their head around it. COVID forced them into the market, whether it was because airlines weren’t available or because of health and safety reasons.”

Photo: Aero

Steve was optimistic that the aviation industry (and The Jet Business), which is already above the 2019 levels (but not quite the pre-Covid-19 levels), might be bustling with more activity:

“If only a third of them stay, the market from 2019 will have more people in the industry when it settles in and I think that’s why you’re still seeing more activity. Business in 2024 has started pretty good, considering January is usually slow, with a couple of good transactions completed.”

Prospects of The Jet Business getting into the eVTOL market

It was revealed earlier this year that Archer Aviation was on course to test more than 400 eVTOL aircraft in 2024.

Photo: Ascendance 

Although there are skeptics who doubt that the world is indeed ready for eVTOL aircraft, Steve believes that eVTOLs will take center stage in aviation soon:

“The first eVTOL aircraft could get certified late this year and more over the next two or three years and then they’re going to come and come. Everyone will become believers after 10 minutes when the first passengers take a flight. This is going to happen, whether it’s in six, 12, 18 or 24 months. It is here and those naysayers will be proven wrong.”

How big the future of The Jet Business is and whether eVTOLS will be a part of that future is something only time can tell.