Schubach Prepares for Expansion with Two New Hires

CARLSBAD – The charter flight industry may be about to soar to new heights, and Carlsbad-based Schubach Aviation has made two new top-level hires in anticipation.
Trish Gentile joined the company as vice president of business development in March after working for some of the industry’s largest operators, including XOJet, NetJets and Jet Edge, which was acquired by VistaJet in 2022.

“In the charter market for companies like us, there’s going to be a ton of growth in the next 24 months,” she said.

In another new hire, Geoff Savage joined Schubach Aviation as vice president of charter sales. In a career of more than 30 years, Savage has worked for NetJets, Virgin Group and VistaJet before joining Schubach Aviation, which is based out of McClellan–Palomar Airport in Carlsbad.

Schubach Aviation has more than 16 aircraft, with 10 available for charter. The fleet ranges from the five-passenger Citation M2, which can fly 1,300 miles, to the 14-passenger Gulfstream G450, which can fly 4,350 miles.

Gentile described Schubach Aviation as operating like a very large company with a boutique approach because of its size, as the company’s larger competitors have fleets of more than 100 aircraft.

Preparing for Growth

Gentile said the company will be increasing its fleet in the months ahead, although it currently is selling some planes.

Besides growing locally, she said the company also plans to have aircraft stationed in Orange County and Los Angeles for the first time in the months ahead.

The anticipated growth isn’t because of a sudden increase in wealthy local residents who can afford charter services. Rather, Gentile said the origins of the shift date back to 2020 when commercial flights shut down during the pandemic.

People who could afford the expense turned to charter services instead, and they found they liked the experience, she said.

“In 2020, it brought out a lot of people who were exposed to that sort of lifestyle and flying private,” Gentile said. “A lot of those people ended up getting accustomed to private travel and were telling their friends and trying out different providers.”

While that was good for the industry, it also created a high demand that could not be handled.

In response, large charter services created programs where a client put up a few million dollars and signed a commitment for three or five years of flights.

In the past few years, however, charter services have been able to expand their fleets to meet demands, which Gentile said has created a buyer’s market in the industry, giving customers more options to seek other providers that don’t require money up front or years-long commitments.

“It’s definitely shifting,” she said. “It’s only going to grow from there.”

Safety First

Gentile said Schubach Aviation stands out in the industry for a number of reasons, including its leadership by one of the few female owners and CEOs in aviation. Kimberly Herrell and a co-investor bought the company in 2022 from founder Henry Schubach, who had appointed her president in 2018.

In operation since its founding in 1992, Schubach also stands out for its longevity, Gentile said.

“It’s one of the most telling things about a private jet company, because so many of the companies are out of business,” she said.

Another selling point for the company is its safety ratings, which Gentile said are the highest possible.

“When somebody is reaching out to us, the number-one question that they should be asking is, ‘What are the safety ratings?’” she said. “How do you find the best pilots and how do you maintain these planes so well?’”

As for who is flying charter jets these days, Gentile said it’s hard to say.

In 2020, Herrell said the average age of a Schubach client had dropped from 62 to 56 in the previous five years, which she attributed to people getting wealthy at a younger age.

“Right now, the demographic is kind of all over the place,” Gentile said.

Some customers are entrepreneurs in their 30s who are out of town and fly in to see their families every night, but others are seasoned flyers in their 50s, 60s and 70s who have used the service for years, she said.

Schubach Aviation
FOUNDED: 1992
CEO: Kimberly Herrell
FOUNDER: Henry Schubach
HEADQUARTERS: Carlsbad
BUSINESS: Charter flight service
EMPLOYEES: 51 including 33 pilots
WEBSITE: https://schubachaviation.com
CONTACT: (760) 929-0307
NOTABLE: Schubach is one of just a few aviation companies with a female CEO and co-owner. In 2017, the company helped evacuate people from hurricane-damaged Puerto Rico.