In the ultra-competitive sector of private aviation, the tricolor company VallJet, founded by Jean Valli, has become the leader in less than fifteen years.
Business aviation is no longer reserved for Cac 40 giants and billionaires. It was with this intuition that Jean Valli, then a paper wholesaler, created his company in 2008. Fourteen years later, VallJet has become the first independent French company in the sector. Its fleet reached the symbolic bar of 30 aircraft this month for a turnover of 63 million euros in 2021, up 45%.
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The SME based at Le Bourget, Europe’s leading business aviation airport, even makes money in this highly regulated and ultra-competitive market. It faces giants like the American Netjets or the Luxembourg Jetfly. Because planes are expensive, their maintenance too. Many are the small actors who leave feathers there. The VallJet story begins in the early 2000s. Jean Valli then supplies most press groups and printing companies in Europe with paper. To optimize his travels, he bought his first plane in 2002, a Beechcraft King Air 90. To go faster, he replaced it in 2006 with a small jet, the Cessna Citation II. List price: 3 million euros.
But the entrepreneur quickly becomes disillusioned. He notes the chronic unavailability of his device managed by a small Alsatian company. “Either the jet was in maintenance, or it was in flight with someone else, or we couldn’t find a pilot,” he recalls. It’s annoying to buy a toy that you can’t use.”
Its fleet is divided into four families, including that of the Embraer 145, very popular with professional football clubs
In 2007, he met two other bosses, including Waldemar Kita, the president of FC Nantes, who had the same plane as him and, as a result, the same problems. Hence their idea of creating their own company together, VallJet, in which they each hold a third of the capital. More available and motivated, Jean Valli took over the operational management. He obtains, a feat, the air carrier’s certificate, buys other planes and starts looking for pilots. “In 2007, there were none on the market. We ended up hiring two former Air Liberté employees. Unfortunately, the 2008 financial crisis broke their momentum. Customers are becoming rare. Turnover is plunging. And the losses are colossal.
The interior of a Cessna Citation.
© DR
So make way for austerity measures: VallJet is refocusing on a fleet of five Cessna Citations, the smallest of business jets, abandoning its chic offices and separating from most of the employees. A shock remedy that pays off. The loss of 2008 is erased in less than five years. 2015 marks the start of a new phase with the acquisition of a larger aircraft, a Hawker 800. Enough to attract new customers: this aircraft flies longer (5,000 kilometres) and offers real comfort. Then everything accelerates. “We went so far as to acquire nearly one plane per month,” says Jean Valli. The pandemic has reinforced this strategy. “Private aviation is experiencing unprecedented euphoria,” he continues. There is even a shortage of devices on the market. Companies realized that it was an unparalleled mobility tool. »
Today, its fleet is divided into four families, including that of the Embraer 145, 50-seat “feito no Brasil” aircraft highly prized by professional football clubs. The company can now meet most market demands. 70% of them are sent to it by intermediaries and brokers. On their Avinode platform, the Valljet teams process more than 1,500 requests a day during peak periods of the year, sometimes to transport American celebrities. Decisive advantage: lower prices than those of the competition. By taking out a club card, companies have a quota of hours at reduced prices. The company also offers discounts for empty leg flights on its website. Everything would be fine without soaring fuel prices: 500 to 600 euros more on a bill of 10,000 euros. The only cloud in a trajectory that escapes the turbulence for the moment.