flyExclusive, the Kinston-based private jet charter company, reported a $101.5 million net loss for 2024. But the declining amount of losses in recent quarters shows that the company is executing and should be reporting positive cash flow and net profitability later this year, CEO Jim Segrave says.
“We made a massive transition,” Segrave says, noting that the company is now showing “unbelievable performance.” He cites income before interest payments and taxes that has declined from a loss of $19 million in the first quarter last year to negative $16 million in the second quarter, negative $10 million in the third and negative $6 million in the final period.
The company’s net losses are much higher because the company has more than $250 million in long-term debt and other non-current liabilities. Interest payments have totaled about $21 million for each of the past two years.
Segrave also pointed to the fourth quarter revenue of $91 million, a 20% increase from a year earlier, even as the company reduced its fleet by 17% from 102 jets on Jan. 1 to 85 at the end of the year. flyExclusive is changing its fleet mix to improve efficiency and better meet the demand of charter jet customers.
“The demand is there,” Segrave says, noting that he expects the company to add about 20 more aircraft over the next year. flyExclusive has a competitive advantage in offering newer, more appealing planes compared with its rivals, he says.
The company had total revenue of $327 million in 2024, versus $315 million a year earlier. The results were more than 50% less than projected in the company’s filings, leading to its December 2023 initial public offering. Those forecasts also suggested significant profitability this year.
Shares closed around $7 on the first day of trading, then briefly topped $24 before declining. flyExclusive closed Thursday at $3.23, a 7.5% gain. It’s the first non-bank public company to be based in Kinston, a city of about 20,000 in eastern North Carolina.
Segrave launched the company in 2015 with two jets after selling his Segrave Aviation to Delta Air Lines. He has built one of the five largest companies in the charter jet industry, offering service on a mix of owned and leased aircraft, including light, midsize, super-midsize and large aircraft. It also maintains, repairs and overhauls planes for third parties and its own fleet.
flyExclusive went public in affiliation with New York-based EG Acquisition, a “special purpose acquisition company,” or SPAC company that raised $225 million when it went public in 2021. It was among hundreds of similar “blank check” businesses started between 2020 and 2022, whose backers trusted veteran investors such as EG leader Gregg Hymowitz to buy promising businesses.
The “going public” costs totaled about $55 million, Segrave says. Supply chain issues for aircraft parts also caused flyExclusive jets to experience more downtime than expected, he adds.
Now, Segrave says the company will be able to issue shares to raise capital starting June 1, marking a year’s status in “good standing” under SEC rules. The company’s pending inclusion in the Russell 2000 index may also prompt index funds and other investors to buy the company’s shares, he says.
Tariffs on Canadian products is one issue that the CEO is tracking. The company’s best-performing jets are Challenger 300/350 models made by Montreal-based Bombardier.
“Over the last 18 months, we’ve been through a lot of pain. But we are just now getting to enjoy the benefits of public ownership, including access to capital.”