Peter J. Ginopolis

Vice President of Sales, Marquis Jet, Michigan and Indiana Territory, Waterford Township. The E-Interview.
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DB: Where are you?

PG: At the Indianapolis International Airport. I’m showing a Gulfstream 450 to a potential client.

DB: For sale or lease?

PG: A lease. One program we have that’s [proved] popular is to sell an aircraft at 25-hour increments. It’s a card program largely favored by executives who don’t want to buy an aircraft or get involved in a fractional arrangement.

DB: What’s the cost range for a 25-hour offering?

PG: For the Gulfstream 450, which is our largest jet, it’s $349,900; while our smallest aircraft, a Citation V Ultra, is priced at $126,900.

DB: What’s your client profile?

PG: Corporate executives mostly, with some athletes and entertainers. We cater a great deal to the auto industry, especially busy suppliers. But as that business has slowed down a bit, we’ve seen more financial people enter the program. We’re seeing more venture capitalists, hedge-fund managers, the types of people who have a net worth between $10 million and $20 million.

DB: What’s driving demand?

PG: The private aviation industry took off after tax breaks were passed a few years ago, while heightened security measures among the commercial airlines has made my job a lot easier. Our clients refer to their planes as “time machines.”

DB: Does demand outpace supply?

PG: Well, our partner is NetJets Inc. in New York, so we have access to almost 800 aircraft. Plus, with that many aircraft, we can buy fuel at discounted rates. That’s proved to be a winning formula for us.