Page 5 - Summer 2021

COMPANY SNAPSHOTS
CEO LETTER: SAYING GOODBYE TO A LEGEND
We built Elite Air on the backs of small airplanes. Specifically, our workhorse from the company’s earliest days was the Learjet 31. Fast, reliable, efficient—to me, the Lear 31 was just about perfect in its own way. It was the coolest little sports car on the block.
Times have changed. Bombardier Inc. announced earlier this year it would stop production on its entire Learjet line. Af- ter almost 60 years and more than 3,000 jets, it was the end, just like that. I tell you, it made me sadder than I probably should have been.
Gray Gibbs, Elite Air CEO
one 31. Our latest additions fit the trend. We’ve added a beautiful 13-seat G-V and a Citation XLS, a midsize that punches above its weight.
Along with the new aircraft, we have sev- eral bits of news in this letter I’m extremely excited about. You can read about our amazing dispatch team additions and how we retained our Argus Platinum status on the facing page. On page 3, we offer a teaser for the results of our callsign contest. It might not mean much to folks on the ground, but for pilots like me, this is a cool development. Once we clear our new callsign with the Federal Aviation Administra- tion, everyone in the air on our radio frequency
But yes, times have indeed changed
around the industry. At Elite Air, we’ve skewed a bit away from small jets as the market has demanded. Not so long ago, we had three 7-seat Lear 31s on our charter certificate and one 13-seat Global. Now, we have three Globals and
will hear our planes referred to under a new moniker. We can’t wait to reveal the name in the coming months.
If times have changed, we’ll just keep changing along with them. I think you’ll like the changes as much as I do.
GLOBAL 5500 REACHES TO THE STARS
The view from nearly 9 miles up. Follow Elite Air on Instagram for more cool shots: @EliteAirJets.
The Elite Air-managed Global 5500 achieved flight lev- el 470 during a recent flight and captured an image from the position via its onboard flight tracker. FL470 describes the aircraft’s altitude at standard air pressure in hundreds of
feet, meaning the long-range jet had achieved approximately 47,000 feet at the time the picture was taken.
Just how high is 47,000 feet? Most airliners cruise at 35,000 to 36,000 feet and never exceed 42,000 feet.
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