To mark the twentieth anniversary of Paramount Enterprise Jets in 2025, LUXUO sat down with founder and CEO Richard Zaher to mirror on 20 years of transformative management in personal aviation. A former pilot and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical College alumnus, Zaher launched the corporate in 2005 from his New York Metropolis condo with a mission to convey transparency, accountability and excellence to the personal jet constitution brokerage sector — an business phase lengthy outlined by opacity and inconsistency. Right here’s what he shared.
Congratulations on 20 years! Wanting again, what have been the important thing milestones that formed your organization into the chief it’s as we speak?
In 2008, we made a pivotal choice to construct our proprietary CRM system — a transfer that proved invaluable when the pandemic struck. Whereas rivals scrambled, we operated seamlessly, sustaining full enterprise continuity.
In 2013, we have been ranked No. 409 on the Inc. 5000 record with 1,093 % three-year development. We had been so centered on execution that we didn’t notice the dimensions of our success till that recognition.
The true check got here in March 2020. Each flight was canceled – thousands and thousands in income vanished in a single day. But, inside a month, we doubled our bookings. Our energy emerged in flexibility and resourcefulness: we delivered medical doctors, COVID check kits, and medical gear to distant islands; we repatriated households and rescued groups utilizing plane in operational areas whereas conventional routes have been grounded. These crises didn’t simply maintain us – they made us stronger, smarter, and extra resilient.
Personal aviation has advanced dramatically over the previous 20 years. How has your organization stayed forward of the curve in innovation, security, and buyer expertise?
Paramount Enterprise Jets has developed the business’s most subtle constitution reserving platform, enabling our international crew to ship precision, 24/7 VIP service with unmatched effectivity. To start the constitution reserving course of shoppers are invited to our personal jet constitution service web page to submit their itinerary and obtain on the spot constitution flight price estimates.
On security, we exceed FAA minimums by a large margin. Each plane comes from our pre-approved international fleet – the highest 10 % of most secure constitution operators. Earlier than every flight, the crew, plane, and operator bear real-time third-party audits by ARGUS and/or Wyvern. If a report returns something lower than inexperienced, we mandate rapid alternative with an asset assembly or exceeding ARGUS Gold requirements.
This fusion of elite human expertise — advisors with a long time of expertise — and cutting-edge expertise creates the proper steadiness. Our constant 5-star shopper scores throughout platforms verify we’re not simply assembly expectations — we’re redefining them. For full transparency on pricing and worth, shoppers typically seek advice from our personal jet rental price information, which breaks down each issue of renting a non-public jet in addition to influencing constitution charges.
Are you able to inform us a few time when your crew went above and past to ship underneath sudden circumstances?
Our crew turns stress into efficiency. Listed below are three latest examples:
Final-Minute Lifeline: A shopper landed on a industrial flight and wanted to succeed in a distant location instantly. Advisor Andrew R. booked a jet whereas the shopper was nonetheless in transit, organized an Uber to the FBO, and had a pilot ready on the door. A automobile was pre-positioned on the vacation spot. The shopper departed inside minutes of arrival – no delays, no stress.
Airport Slot Disaster: A mission-critical flight confronted a blocked slot at the popular airport. Advisor Joella pivoted immediately to an equally handy FBO at no further price, personally checking in earlier than departure, upon arrival, and post-flight. The shopper referred to as it “flawless execution underneath fireplace.”
Dream Relocation with Canine: A household relocating to Costa Rica with three large breed canines confronted logistical nightmares. Andrew R. orchestrated each detail- door-to-door transport, customs paperwork, a light-weight jet with champagne, and leases ready on each ends. The shopper wrote: “You made the value price each penny. You handled us like royalty on a modest funds.”
These aren’t exceptions – they’re the Paramount commonplace.
Your clientele spans entrepreneurs, celebrities, and international executives. How does your crew put together for the vastly completely different wants and journey patterns of such numerous flyers?
We rent solely essentially the most skilled and moral aviation advisors – some with over 15 years at Paramount. Weekly coaching retains them on the forefront of business data. Each flight generates detailed shopper suggestions on plane, crew, and repair, which we combine into our real-time database to refine future suggestions.
Our crew has a long time of VVIP experience – serving A-list actors, recording artists, skilled athletes, Fortune 500 CEOs, heads of state, and legacy households. Whether or not it’s a tech founder needing back-to-back transcontinental conferences, a performer requiring complete privateness, or a multinational government demanding biometric customs and circadian lighting, we anticipate, adapt, and ship — flawlessly, each time.
Sustainability is a rising dialog in personal aviation. What concrete steps has your organization taken in the direction of extra eco-responsible flying?
In 2019, we launched the business’s first on the spot carbon offset calculator – lowering a multi-day course of to only two minutes. We then made it open-source, freely obtainable for any operator or dealer to put in on their web site. This single act has empowered the whole business — together with rivals — to make sustainability accessible and rapid.
Shoppers now see offset choices embedded in each quote, with clear pricing and direct donations to verified carbon-reduction tasks. It’s not advertising and marketing – it’s measurable influence. Study extra at paramountbusinessjets.com.
Past journey, how do you combine life-style providers — like concierge assist, in-flight eating, or unique occasion entry — into the shopper expertise?
We ship true door-to-door luxurious. Government floor transportation is tailor-made to passenger depend and luxury preferences — sedans, SUVs, or VIP vans — with reside monitoring till the shopper reaches their ultimate vacation spot.
En route, shoppers can order from any native restaurant; we gather and board their meal precisely to their desire. By way of strategic partnerships with ultra-luxury yacht constitution operators and VIP resorts worldwide, we safe unique lodging, precedence entry, and preferential charges – reworking a flight into the gateway of a seamless, elevated journey.
What’s essentially the most shocking or misunderstood facet of operating a non-public jet firm that outsiders not often grasp?
The glamour is a fantasy. We spend 99 % of our time in entrance of screens and on telephones – coordinating, auditing, negotiating, and problem-solving in actual time. We not often fly privately ourselves. The actual work occurs within the operations middle, not the cabin.
What recommendation would you give to a youthful model of your self – or a startup within the luxurious aviation area – based mostly on what you’ve discovered from 20 years on the helm?
Grasp in there. Constructing a trusted model on this business is an ultra-marathon, not a dash. Keep moral when it’s inconvenient. Spend money on programs early. Encompass your self with individuals smarter than you. And by no means confuse income with popularity – one compromises the opposite.
What rising applied sciences or tendencies are you most enthusiastic about within the subsequent 5 – 10 years of personal aviation?
Vertical takeoff and touchdown (eVTOL) plane will revolutionise city mobility – quiet, electrical, zero-emission hops between metropolis facilities in minutes. Mixed with AI-driven predictive routing, biometric safety, and sustainable aviation gasoline (SAF) at scale, we’re coming into an period the place personal aviation turns into sooner, greener, and extra built-in into every day life.
As you look to the long run, what legacy do you hope your organization will go away within the personal aviation area?
{That a} latest faculty graduate with a imaginative and prescient proved you can remodel an business’s popularity – constructing a worthwhile, fast-growing firm that by no means compromised on ethics, security, or shopper worth. I need Paramount to be remembered because the benchmark: the place transparency, innovation, and integrity grew to become the usual, not the exception.
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