Blair LaCorte didn't enter the private jet industry on a whim, and he certainly hasn't reclined in first class since taking the helm of Brisbane, CA-based XOJET. Instead, he and his team are continually rethinking the business model of the relatively young company as well as new ways to exceed customers' expectations, sometimes in ways they didn't even know they needed. That spirit of innovation has resulted in 40% growth year over year in an industry that has struggled over the last several years.
Blair LaCorte
CEO, XOJET
Hometown Beverly, MA
Residence Belvedere, CA
Eductation BS University of Maine, Summa Cum Laude, MBA Dartmouth Tuck School of Business Liebowitz Award
Mentor My father
Travel destination St. Barths
Sport Coaching soccer
Favorite Restaurant
Capannina in San Francisco
Song "Born to Run",
Bruce Springsteen
LaCorte's introduction to the aviation business came early: His family operated a small, regional airline outside Boston. Rather than follow in the family footsteps after he graduated summa cum laude from the University of Maine, LaCorte focused on business management, earning his MBA from Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business. He went on to hold executive strategy and management positions with both start-up and established companies. After becoming an operating partner with renowned private equity firm Texas Pacific Group (TPG), his aviation background paid off: When TPG became a chief investor in XOJET, LaCorte was offered the role of CEO. And so, in 2010, his return to the aviation industry officially came full circle.
But he returned to an industry that has operated under basically the same two business models for decades. The first is fractional jet ownership—essentially, timeshare for jets. The second, of course, is charter, which comes with its own set of worries, including aircraft that's suddenly unavailable and inconsistent service levels.
Under LaCorte's leadership, XOJET has come up with an entirely new way of operating. Unlike other private aviation providers, XOJET owns its own jets, a modern, upgraded fleet of Cessna Citation Xs, Bombardier Challenger 300s, and, when they come online in late 2011, the Hawker 800XPR jets.
By owning its own aircraft, XOJET enjoys a degree of operational control and flexibility previously unknown in the private aviation industry. XOJET can control when, where and how its planes fly, allowing the company to not just optimize but actually double the efficiency of its assets (in this case, its jets) compared with standard fractional or charter models. XOJET passes the resulting lower costs on to customers in the form of prices that, depending on the time and route, are 30 to 60% lower than fractional jet ownership or jet-card programs.
Thanks to rigorous pilot training and stringent safety practices, XOJET has become the only business aviation provider to rank either #1 or #2 in all 12 Argus Platinum safety ratings, and has received numerous FAA recognitions for training, process control, scheduling, and safety.
But the innovations didn't stop at the business model. In a bold branding move, LaCorte and his team painted every XOJET plane white, replacing the stripes customary in the industry so that fliers would easily recognize an XOJET aircraft. And after seeing how important it was for fliers to stay connected, XOJET installed Wi-Fi on every single one of its planes. Standard Wi-Fi doesn't just benefit customers: pilots carry iPads, allowing them to stay in constant contact with XOJET's Sacramento Operations Center.
Finally, XOJET eliminated the mysteries of charter pricing by introducing fixed prices, published on its website, for more than 22,000 airport fares. For example, the cost for the popular Los Angeles-to-New York route starts at $19,000 (a bargain in the world of private aviation). In fact, to take advantage of the popularity of the transcontinental flights for which Citation Xs and Challenger 300s are particularly suited, XOJET introduced its Coast2Coast program, which offers tremendous savings for clients who fly cross-country more than three times a year.
LaCorte admits that the recession could have been a major problem for the company. LaCorte says, "We decided to use the downturn to invest and innovate, and we developed all kinds of new products, such as the Coast2Coast."
Despite XOJET's momentum and success, LaCorte refuses to set himself apart. He freely bestows praise not only on aviation mavericks Richard Santulli and Richard Branson, but also on the entire XOJET team.
Steve Jobs, another icon (albeit in a much different industry), also made a strong impression on LaCorte when their paths crossed some years ago for his ability to anticipate what customers needed, even before they knew it themselves. "He had the unique ability to transfer to others what some might see as 'unreasonable' thinking," LaCorte says. "In my own way, I try to do the same with XOJET."