Shark Tank & Private Jets

Many people often ask me about the Sharks on Shark Tank and what type of business jets they use.

Robert Herjavec owns a Bombardier Challenger 604 business jet plus two Magellan Jet charter cards. Herjavec quotes a friend that many years ago said, “Any problem that you have in life that can be solved with money is really not that big. The only thing in life that we have that we cannot get back is time. I always think that the aircraft is the ultimate time machine.”

Continuing the theme that time is the key ingredient in business development Robert Herjavec says he uses his aircraft as business tools. They save him time. He raves about the amount of places he can be and how quickly we can be there being a real competitive advantage. There are a lot of business centers in the USA that are within an hour’s flying time. Traveling quickly to exciting situations is a great way to use a business airplane.

He described a typical trip: He finished filming in Los Angeles at 8pm, appeared on the Katie Couric Show at 8am in New York City the next morning, lunched with customers there, traveled to Chicago for a business dinner the same day and returning to his home base in Toronto for an early morning appointment the following day. “You cannot do that in a commercial environment,” he concluded.

Herjavec questioned why corporate jets are vilified by some politician and media critics. “Business Aviation is such a great industry for the United States. North America is home to world leaders in airplanes; this is a business we should support, not vilify. Like many things, there are always a few people who go to the extreme. Critics seem to focus on excess,” he continued. “Less obvious is a guy like me going to 20 meetings in three days, sleeping on my business airplane as I fly between appointments. Most people I know who have a business aircraft are extremely hard working and use it for very specific things to get a lot of stuff accomplished.
“The most valuable resource you have is time. If you are trying to grow a business and you are in a highly competitive field, the value of your time in front of a customer or your staff is immeasurable. You have to get out there. You’ve got to go, baby.”

Herjavec practices what he preaches. With travel needs that allow no room for the inspection schedules required of all business jets, he uses the services of Magellan Jets to maintain constant access to Business Aviation. As a broker of charter, Magellan Jets has amassed an extensive network of providers of aircraft charter that the company vets and oversees for adherence to safety standards and consistent service. “I like Magellan,” he said,” because I can always obtain an aircraft when needed, and I am assured of a high level of service. I hold two Magellan charter cards, which gives me priority access to aircraft of difference sizes. There is no requirement for me to tie up capital, such as when I owned a fractional share of a business aircraft, and Magellan returns the money I spent on a charter card if my travel demand falls short of the card’s value.
“Business Aviation is a great way to travel, and my friends like to hitch a ride on my jet. I tell them they should get a Magellan Card.”

In fact another Shark, Damon John has a jet card too. He flies commercial once in a while but uses Magellan Jets the most part and also hops rides with friends. He has a jet card with Magellan. He tends to use the jets when traveling with six or more people or needs to do four cities in a day.

Damon does a lot of speaking and with Shark Tank there are a lot of deals and negotiations and he has saved the time that he would have been sitting in airports. And does deals in the air. What would take him a week in a commercial flight takes him two days in a private jet. And now as Shark Tank gets more popular he tends to get stopped more [if he flies commercially] and it chews up a lot of time because the people that stop him are usually pitching businesses.

Mark Cuban is the wealthiest of the Sharks and owns three private jets. A Gulfstream G550, a 1983 Boeing B767-200 and a 1993 Boeing B757 for his basketball team, the Dallas Mavericks. He says flying private isn’t just a critical business tool–it helps his family life as well.

“Since I’ve owned the GV there are too many examples to count of how the airplane has helped me. Flying out after a late-night game to be at a meeting the next morning. Leaving a meeting to get home in time for my daughter’s first daddy-daughter dance. It’s part of my life that I can’t be without.”

“It means I have more hours in my day to spend with friends and family. It means I can get more work done. It means I can travel comfortably with my family. It’s a life- and game-changer.”

Asked what he thinks of business leaders who have stopped flying private because of negative public reaction, he says: “They have to make their own decisions, but I just hope I compete with them. I get to work while they get to stand in line at the airport.”