PRIVATE JET CHARTER: 30 YEARS IN BUSINESS AVIATION ARE THROWN INTO THE TRASH?
The brokerage company Private Jet Charter (United Kingdom) concluded a charter agreement with a private client and accepted payment from him. Two days before the flight, the broker confessed to the client that the money for the charter had not been transferred to the operator. And asked his client to pay again directly to the operator, otherwise the flight would not operate.
Private Jet Charter promised to return the client's money in a week. However, after several months of apologies and promises, the amount paid by the client has still not been returned. Over time, the broker completely stopped responding to requests from the client. This forced the client to create a case in the Global Aviation Register of Defaulter companies BLACKLIST.AERO.
After the CASE HAS BEEN CREATED notification was sent to Private Jet Charter and they realized that things were getting dicey, they immediately contacted the client and agreed on a gradual refund over eight (!!!) months. However, the client did the company a favor and agreed to this option.
For three months, Private Jet Charter returned the funds to the client according to the previously agreed schedule. However, when the next payment was due, the CFO of Private Jet Charter reported that “the company is unable to make the payment at the appointed time” and promised to contact in a week. Since then, there have been no messages from Private Jet Charter.
Private Jet Charter Limited was founded in January 1995 and until 2010 was known as International Air Charter PLC. What could have made a company with almost 30 years of history firstly to commit outright fraud (and how else can you perceive the acceptance of payment for a charter for which the company did not pay and did not return the money) and then give the money back under pressure from public exposure? But in a result, did not give it back completely. All this looks like a story of the gradual collapse of the company.
The owner of the company Hugh Courtenay is trying his best to avoid communicating with the editors of BLACKLIST.AERO. We could say that he “went into hiding”. However, perhaps some light on the attitude of company’s management to this situation can be shed by a comment given by the now former Sales Director of the company Egon Hebovija. To my reproach that this story crosses out the entire 30-year history of the company, he replied verbatim:
«30 years of PJC was good works of being of service to royalty and the worlds elite. Unlike the nouveau riches that you are protecting».
In addition to the obvious love for “old money” and outright contempt for the, so to speak, “newly rich”, we can read another meaning in the words of Egon Hebovija: “there are those who cannot be deceived, and there are those who are not shameful to deceive”. Am I understanding you correctly, Egon?
I have to ask publicly, because later Egon Hebovija could not say anything sensible and relevant except a bunch of insults towards BLACKLIST.AERO. Oh yeah! He also said that since he no longer works for Private Jet Charter (although, contrary to his words, he is still listed as Sales Director of this company on his LinkedIn page, on the NBAA website and a bunch of other sites), any mention of his name in my article will entail legal consequences. Moreover, he is officially listed as a current director on the official UK companies page https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/03013372/officers
Well, Egon. I mentioned you... Go ahead... The main thing is to make sure that your interests are represented by a “Royal” lawyer, and not some “nouveau riche”...
Anyway, since Egon Hebovija said that he no longer works for Private Jet Charter and asked “do not distract him, because he needs to make money”, then apparently, we will see a similar “differentiated” approach to clients from his side in new companies. BLACKLIST.AERO does not recommend using this broker if you are not of noble blood or a member of the royal family.
But I have many more questions for Hugh Courtenay. The thing is that I have my own, purely academic interest in all defaulters. I study their psychology, their motivation. I am interested in getting into their heads, understanding what makes them tick.
Since I could not ask these questions directly, I will allow myself to ask publicly: you, Hugh, are already 70 years old. I cannot imagine what must have happened in the life of such a person for him to dare to do something like this. To destroy a reputation that was built not even for years, but for decades! I am really interested!
I understand the psychology of many of our “heroes” perfectly well. For instance, “Cambridge graduate” Rinad El-Rabaa, for whom life is a game, and people in it are just chips on the table. I understand the psychology of Abdullah Al Sayed, who dreams of becoming a giant octopus, spreading its tentacles everywhere possible.
But I DON'T UNDERSTAND you, Hugh! Explain to me please! How could this happen?!
Trying to understand what is happening with Private Jet Charter, I interviewed many participants in the aviation market. Many agree that the company is clearly in serious trouble, since it had to close its office in Dubai. Everyone understands that Dubai is one of the most dynamic private markets for business aviation, and is the last to leave.
Others point out that the main market for Private Jet Charter in recent years has been Russia. The stake on Russian fat cats (by the way, you will definitely not find high-blooded clients there, only “nouveau riches” and individuals on the paxfiles lists) and the subsequent sanctions against Russia played a cruel joke with Hugh Courtenay.
Nevertheless, the debt situation described in this article leaves no doubt that Private Jet Charter’s business is clearly bad. And it takes courage to get out of such situations with dignity. In the meantime, the behavior of not only Hugh Courtenay, but also the entire Private Jet Charter team involved in this situation, resembles the behavior of a driver who flies into a pole and covers his face with hands. Instead of grabbing the wheel and steering out at the last moment.
Artem Degtiarov, Chief editor at BLACKLIST.AERO
Can one company become a 39-Cases Defaulter? As the situation with the Nigerian operator ARIK AIR shows - it can if lawlessness is carried out and patronized at the state level.
This was not a voting with any outcome we knew we wanted. Both options have their advantages and challenges for us. But it was important for us to understand the real sentiments among active participants of the aviation market. Because for us these are the people who are called policy makers.
Dear BLACKLIST.AERO followers! It is extremely important for us to hear your opinion on one of the most important issues of our site. As you well know, we never delete articles from our site. For all three years, no one has managed to intimidate or bribe us. I told them every time - even if you bang your head against the brick wall, hire lawyers, bandits, killers, anyone, throw mud at us (and at me personally) in the form of various, the most idiotic fakes - it will not help! It also never came to discussing specific amounts for removing an article, because such proposals were nipped in the bud.
Stories about how scammers, having earned money by deceiving counterparties, invest part of the loot in raising their status are not uncommon. The calculation is quite simple: firstly, they need to whitewash their reputation. Secondly, the new status allows them to penetrate the circle of fatter wallets, which means they can rob at a new, higher level. So such investments are usually justified and there is nothing surprising here.
