Selling Luxury As Told By The CEO Of JetSmarter

If you follow members of the Kardashian/Jenner clan on Snapchat or perhaps lead your own life of luxury, most likely, you’ve already heard of JetSmarter. This jet chartering app has revolutionized the private flying space and has grown exponentially since its inception. Intrigued by both the idea of this company as well as its mass success, we reached out to JetSmarter’s CEO Sergey Petrossov. Below is what the innovative and talented entrepreneur had to say on how he turned his idea into a thriving business.

How were you able to determine that JetSmarter satisfied a large enough need that it was able to become a successful business?

In 2009 I began flying private after selling my first IT company and quickly came to realize that the private jet industry was very archaic; its brick and mortar process of picking up the phone, waiting hours, and speaking to numerous different people in order to charter a jet was outdated and inconvenient. In 2012, I spoke to the carriers I had established relationships with and discussed how large of an impact an app to charter a private plane would have on the industry. In August 2012, I made it a reality and created the beta version of JetSmarter, sharing it with an exclusive group of industry experts and frequent private jet users. In March 2013, JetSmarter launched globally. Since then, our growth has been exponential. We knew that this business would become successful, because we were the first to build a platform for private jet booking via a mobile app, so we began the innovation within this space. Doing so made the process of booking a jet simple, transparent and also affordable for our clients.

How did you initially bring visibility to JetSmarter to your targeted customers?

Shortly following the launch of the app, our main focus was put towards media relations efforts in top markets throughout the U.S. As our exposure in the media increased, we focused our messaging on the growth of the app, and how flying private is something that can be easily accessible and affordable through JetSmarter. After growing over the span of three years, we then started working with celebrities organically as many of them were already fans of the app.

What elements of JetSmarter allows it to compete with more traditional flying options?

We offer a unique business model unlike any other private jet venture. JetSmarter is the only private travel service company to operate by way of an innovative app technology. Especially with today’s travel issues, such as the long TSA lines, JetSmarter has become an unbeatable alternative for those using traditional flying options. Rather than arriving two hours early for a flight at a commercial airport, with JetSmarter, you simply arrive 20 minutes before your flight takes off – so there are virtually no hassles at all. Members also have access to our JetDeals, which are exclusive one-way private flights offered in the app, along with our free JetShuttle flights, which are scheduled, shared private jet flights.

What new innovations or growth can we expect to see in the near future?

We’ve seen a significant growth since the launch in March 2013, growing 15-20% each month. To date, JetSmarter has had 800,000+ downloads, so we expect that growth to continue exponentially.