Alex Wilcox is the founder of JSX, the upstart carrier flying semi-private planes at affordable-ish prices. And the pitch is pretty compelling. JSX operates out of private terminals, meaning travelers can show up just 20 minutes before departure. You don’t even have to take your shoes off.
JSX flies up to 120 public charter flights daily across the U.S. and Cabo San Lucas. (They’ve also added a few pop-up flights from Burbank to the desert valley this April for music fans hoping to avoid traffic on their way to see Lady Gaga headline Coachella.) But flying JSX can sometimes feel like you’re getting away with something. That’s certainly the argument made by rivals like American Airlines and Southwest, who’ve claimed the carrier’s business model is built on a loophole; because JSX flies jets with less than 30 seats, the company operates under a federal carve-out called Part 135, which lets them hire less experienced (even older) pilots. Also, private terminals aren’t subject to TSA screenings.
For the record, JSX hasn’t reported a single serious safety incident since launching in 2016, Wilcox points out, adding that JSX’s safety protocols go beyond TSA requirements. Also, that so-called “loophole” is 45 years old. But the issue is far from settled. The FAA is currently reviewing the rules surrounding public charter flights, which could threaten JSX’s business model.
Here, Wilcox talks about JSX’s mounting legal bills, bringing back the excitement of air travel, and the unlikely role Bravo’s Lisa Vanderpump played in JSX’s growth.
MICKEY RAPKIN: You started JSX out of frustration with the traditional airline experience. What was the initial pitch to investors?
ALEX WILCOX: We already had a private jet company. So, we had a taste of how good life can be. One of the mysteries of the business at the time was, Why is someone paying me $10,000 to fly from Orange County, California, to Oakland at 2:30 in the afternoon when at 2:35 they can take Southwest for three hudred bucks? We’d ask our customers. The answer was invariably, “I just don’t want to deal with the airport.” We started reading the rules.
ERIC RYAN: The key for you was making the price point work.
WILCOX: We didn’t invent the space, but we’re the first to scale it. We raised $4 million dollars in about nine days. The economic model looks so much better than the private jet model. Then you amortize it over 30 seats. Our lounge is really the only thing people complain about. Where’s the champagne? Where’s the caviar? The whole point of this is to save time. Don’t spend three hours there. Come twenty minutes before the flight, get on and go.
Thinking Outside The Box
RYAN: Years ago, we were talking about our mutual friend, Tony [Hsieh, CEO of Zappos] who we sadly lost. He was a board member at JSX. (smiling) I remember he came up with some really innovative ideas for you.
WILCOX: There are out-of-the-box thinkers, then there are thinkers that can’t even see the box. They’re miles out of the box. Tony was definitely one of those guys. In the private jet business, there is a lot of empty legs. And it costs a lot to fly those airplanes. And he said, “Look, if we land our last flight of the day in, you know, El Paso and the airplane needs to get to Phoenix for the next flight tomorrow, just get a semi and drive the truck from El Paso to Phoenix and let the pilots sleep in the back. Because it’s a lot cheaper to truck something than it is to fly the airplane, right?” And he’s right. (smiling) But, you know, getting the wings off is a nontrivial task.
RAPKIN: You managed a rock band in college. Was that your first entrepreneurial endeavor? Where did this begin?
WILCOX: Even before college, I worked for a couple of entrepreneurs. I was lucky enough to intern at Southwest Airlines here in Dallas in 1992, back in the nineteen hundreds. I spent a summer there. I got a good taste for brisket and fried okra. And I got to learn from the best. Herb Kelleher [the founder of Southwest] was amazing,
RAPKIN: I read his memoir. The only thing I remember is this. He said, Why are airlines printing their names on their garbage bags? That’s a waste of money.
WILCOX: His basic view was, The company takes care of its crew members, the crew members take care of the customer, the customer takes care of the shareholder. That’s the way it’s supposed to work, right? If you are running a service business, your primary concern should be the people providing that service, right? And most airlines do not operate that way right now.
Flying Semi-Private
RAPKIN: Getting back to JSX, some of your rivals—American Airlines, Southwest Airlines—say your company is built on a loophole. And because of that loophole, you can hire pilots with less than 1,500 hours of experience. These competitors are pushing the FAA to make changes. You’re not alone in this fight. You’ve got JSX investors—JetBlue, United—to weigh in on your behalf. You once said, “When someone points a gun at you, you tend to hire bodyguards.” Do you feel that someone’s got a gun to your head?
WILCOX: These rules—which they call a loophole—are 45 years old. There’s one set of rules for commercial airplanes that have between one and nine passenger seats. There’s another set for between 10 and 30 seats, and another for 30 and up. When I challenge these people, like, “OK, what is the loophole?” They’re like, “Well, you have one entity that sells the tickets and another entity that flies the airplane.” Well, you can go to American Airlines dot com and buy a ticket, and that’s operated by Envoy, right? [NOTE: Envoy is a subsidiary of American Airlines.] The other thing they talk about is the pilot “loophole.” They say, “Oh, we need to have a single level of safety.” I don’t know if I can swear on this program but that’s B.S. If they truly believe in a single level of safety, why do they have their AA code on Gol airplanes [in Brazil], when Gol’s hiring requirement for first officers is 250 hours?
RYAN: That’s such a good point.
WILCOX: If they truly believe in their heart of hearts that it is unsafe to have pilots that have fewer than 1,500 hours, why are they selling tickets at AA.com on an airline that flies with 250-hour first officers, right? It’s pure hypocrisy. And they’re not used to getting called out on it.
RYAN: It can be absolutely draining and exhausting to play the role of a challenger brand taking on legacy players. I found, particularly with Method—when we were taking on what we call Big Soap and the major conglomerates—I would use that to rally us. I always enjoyed having something I was trying to compete against.
WILCOX: It’s been a long, painful fight. We just did our budget review for last year. And we’re $1.8 million dollars over budget in legal fees—just defending ourselves in D.C. Literally, just for the right to survive. There aren’t many entities that have the capital and the endurance that’s required to counter that kind of attack. I’ve got a huge amount of respect for [carriers like] Avelo and Breeze—
RAPKIN: Which operate on models similar to JSX.
WILCOX: —but look where they fly. They stay way out of the way of the majors. They’re doing New Haven to Jacksonville. They’re not going to New York. They’re not gonna go into Denver. Even if [our competitors] succeed legislatively—or with TSA or with the FAA—we’re still gonna win. Because we have something people want. We create value for people. We have an NPS of 80 in an industry that gets scores in the 20s. Our NPS is higher than Apple Computers. [Editor’s note: NPS refers to a Net Promoter Score, which measures how likely a customer is to recommend a company.]
RAPKIN: Speaking of the FAA, there is a rumor that you are on the list to take over the agency in the new administration. What would you do if you got the job? Besides save JSX.
WILCOX: Unfortunately, I can’t really comment on that. We have to let this play out a little bit. I think I can say it’s an honor to be considered. Nothing’s been officially offered.
[Editor’s note: After this interview was conducted, the Trump administration nominated Republic Airways CEO Bryan Bedford to lead the FAA, which might bode well for JSX. In 2022, Bedford sought an exemption to an FAA rule requiring commercial airline pilots to have 1,500 hours of flight time.]
Vanderpump Rules
RAPKIN: A friend of mine saw Jeremy Renner on a couple of JSX flights. Do you have a favorite celebrity story from your David-vs-Goliath airline?
WILCOX: A couple of years ago, two days before Christmas, I was in Burbank. And a woman was having trouble getting on an airplane. She was a little bit late, you know, she had a dog with her. She was clearly upset that she was not going to be allowed on the flight. I went over and just said, “Hey, let’s get her on.” I was walking her out to the airplane and introduced myself. She said, “I’m Lisa Vanderpump.” I said, “Nice to meet you, I’m Alex Wilcox.” I had no idea who this was, right?
RAPKIN: You’re not a Bravo fan, Alex?
WILCOX: I should be. We took a selfie. My wife calls me and she’s like, “You met Lisa Vaderpump!” We’ve become friends, you know. This was early on in our existence. She said, “Alex, I’m so worried. Because I love this thing so much. But your planes are empty too often.” She goes, “I’ll post something. What do you want me to say?” She put a couple of posts out to millions of followers, and I think we actually saw a visible uptick. We support her dog charity now. The number of people that love our service and then reach out to me proactively is crazy. It helps with soliciting investors. We need notoriety. It certainly helps because a lot of [these people] are politically connected. It helps in our regulatory battles.
What’s Next
RYAN: As an entrepreneur, what gets you out of bed in the morning?
WILCOX: Honestly, on the hard days, it’s just sheer force of will. You’ve got to do it for your people, you’ve got to do it for your company. We’re just barely scratching the surface of what this company is capable of. We’ve got 47 airplanes. We’ll be rolling out another 20 in two to three years. We’re looking at a turboprop aircraft, which will be able to address many, many more markets.
RAPKIN: But when can we get from New York to Los Angeles on JSX? That’s got to be the number one question you get asked.
WILCOX: We might need to wait for a hydrogen airplane. The costs are linear at a certain point, right? When you’re amortizing the cost of a jet over 30 seats, you know, at 2,000 miles it does add up. And the trans-con product is pretty good. I think JetBlue Mint is great, I think United PS is great. I’m not sure we could differentiate too much. But if you’re in a secondary market—if you’re in Santa Barbara and you need to go to Westchester County, or if you’re in North Carolina and you need to get to San Diego—there are definitely markets where it could potentially work.
RAPKIN: What’s the exit strategy? You mentioned that investors like to get their money back. Is the plan to sell to United? Sell to JetBlue?
WILCOX: I think investors also like dividends. This is obviously a question for the board, not just me. I think a more natural path would be to go to public markets. We are solidly profitable. We got double digit EBITDA. And we’ve got 20% CAGR plus [NOTE: Compound Annual Growth Rate.] So, you know, there’s a story there, and where we’re getting pretty close to the size where that becomes an option.
The conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity. If you enjoyed this story about everyone suddenly flying semi-private, click here for more episodes of Cereal Entrepreneur.
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