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Sentient Jet Wins Robb Report “Best of Best” Award for Seventh Consecutive Year

Dépèche transmise le 4 juin 2009 par Business Wire

Sentient Jet Wins Robb Report “Best of Best” Award for Seventh Consecutive Year

WEYMOUTH, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sentient Jet Membership, the pioneer and leading provider of private jet membership in the United States, announced today that it has won recognition as one of Robb Report’s ’Best of the Best‘ in flight services for the seventh consecutive year. In this year’s “Best of Best”, editors of Robb Report and a carefully selected expert panel of independent industry professionals acknowledged Sentient’s Membership Program as among the nation’s top private aviation flight services programs.

"Winning Robb Report’s ’Best of Best‘ for the seventh year in a row is an honor that clearly acknowledges the unique position of Sentient Jet Membership’s private jet solutions which provide non-capital, cost-effective options with our renowned commitment to safety and service,” said Steven Hankin, Sentient’s CEO. “As Sentient celebrates the company’s 10-year anniversary this year, we continue to thrive and grow as we provide our clients with flexible, innovative product offerings like our new Membership Plus Program and our unique Network Pricing feature.”

With Network Pricing. Sentient works to reduce the cost of every client’s trip by taking advantage of the efficiency of its certified operator network, which is the largest in the industry. When savings are realized, these are shared with its Members. At the same time, Membership Plus is proving to be a superior product to fractional jet ownership and fractional jet cards. Membership Plus requires no interchange or monthly management fees while offering the combination of jet-specific booking and discounted category bookings.

Since introducing a jet-specific booking benefit to the Membership Plus Program in March, Sentient has added over 150 new Plus Members. This rapid acceptance of the new product demonstrates that Membership Plus is a great fit for the needs of private fliers in today’s market. Compared to fractional programs that are capital-intensive and have significant depreciating asset risk, Membership Plus provides a more relevant and comprehensive solution with superior economics.

“Now that residual value risk is no longer just a concern but a very sobering reality, we are seeing private travelers move away from the fractional programs to the more flexible approach that Sentient offers,” added Hankin. ”The tremendous success of Membership Plus is yet another indicator of this ongoing shift in the market. It is clear that Membership Plus is a great program and a perfect complement to our refundable Membership offering which also continues to thrive.”

The Sentient Jet Membership Plus program provides guaranteed access and competitive fixed rates on three of the most popular private jets on the market: the Hawker 400XP, Citation Excel and Citation X. Plus Members may choose to book from these three jet models, or across four size categories, for each trip.

About Sentient Jet Membership

Since pioneering the membership approach to private jet travel in 1999, the Sentient Jet Membership Program has established itself as a private aviation leader by offering service, quality, flexibility and value to its clients. Sentient Jet Membership is the most flexible and economically sound approach to private aviation. Members enjoy access to premium executive-class aircraft with a guaranteed response time of as little as ten hours anywhere in the continental United States. The program features guaranteed availability as well as both one-way and round-trip pricing at fixed hourly rates. Sentient Jet Membership arranges flights on behalf of clients through access to a strong network of certified operators and aircraft. Flights are conducted by FAR certified air carriers that exercise full operational control at all times. Operators approved to provide service for Sentient must meet all FAA safety standards and additional safety standards established by Sentient.

Sentient Jet Membership is a program of Sentient Flight Group, LLC, which is wholly-owned by Macquarie Global Opportunities Partners, L.P. (“MGOP”). MGOP, which acquired Sentient in 2008, is an investment fund managed by the Macquarie Group. Macquarie is a global provider of banking, financial, advisory, investment and funds management services. Macquarie is an owner and manager of significant assets around the world and its investment expertise includes deep experience in the aviation industry.