Our North American anniversary

According to aviation news site Simple Flying, there were nearly 4.6 million private jet flights in the US in 2022, seven per cent higher than the previous year, with that trajectory predicted to continue into 2024 and beyond. With 12 offices across North America, ACS is ideally placed to assist many of these passengers with their journeys, and has been doing so for 20 years. But how did it all begin? 

The founding fathers 

ACS itself was founded in the UK in 1990 by Chris and Tina Leach. Fourteen years later, they were ready to branch out across the pond and opened the company’s first US office in a small shopfront premises in Long Beach, New York. The man they chose for the job was Ruan Courtney – who had joined ACS in 1997 and is now ACS Chief Operating Officer. 

Building a business from scratch in America having just arrived from London must have been a daunting task. Ruan recalls starting on day one with no customers and no database – just himself, a landline, a PC and a fax machine. “I started with an A-to-Z directory of businesses and in the evenings I would type in all the fax numbers starting at A, and for my phone calls I would start at Z. Slowly but surely, we started to build our database of contacts.” 

In the first full year of trading, Ruan’s team delivered 58 private charter flights for their customers, and within five years had grown to 20 employees. “In the early days, the winner of our monthly sales target competition got to sit at the only desk that had a window.” 

That particular office has since relocated to a new regional HQ in New York, starting in the premises with just one room and growing to an office of 27,000 square feet in that building today, with more than 80 employees, mirroring ACS’s growth across the region. And, from that initial 58 flights, the region is now delivering more than 7,500 private charter flights annually.  

The strategy of ‘local’ offices is – and has always been – important for ACS, both in North America and around the world. Not only does it mean that charter consultants are in the same time zone as clients, but it means ACS can build stronger relationships with aircraft operators in local markets to offer customers the best experience with the right types of aircraft. 

Plans for growth 

As well as being the largest economy in the world, the sheer size of North America means the appetite for private jet travel has always been keen. “Chris has always had an ambitious plan for growth,” explains Ruan. “In the early days, before we moved to America, I remember Chris presenting his grand plan for global expansion, showing ACS office locations around the world that seemed hard to imagine – Hong Kong, Sydney, New York, Johannesburg, Dubai, etc. But we achieved that within seven years. So, when I was starting out in America, I took that same ambition with me. I put a big map on the wall of the office and put pins in the locations where business was coming from and where we wanted new offices, so that everyone coming through the door could see clearly what our ambition was.” 

So, how did Ruan bring that ambition to life? It started with the characteristic ACS personal touch. “We travelled a lot to meet potential customers. From Houston to Canada for the oil and gas markets, and Seattle for aerospace. We learned the hard way to align sales visits around the seasons. I made the mistake of going to Houston in August, when it’s into the high 30s and you don’t want to be rushing around to meetings! Similarly, I was ill-equipped for visiting customers in Edmonton in February when it was minus 30.” 

Once client bases were established around the region, the team came up with a framework for opening new offices. “The North American expansion was at the forefront of us learning how to grow internationally,” explains Ruan. “We’d had organic openings, but we didn’t have a process. Once we identified what made for a successful opening, we took that process and have replicated it around the world ever since.”  

Maintaining momentum  

During his time in North America, Ruan oversaw the opening of ACS offices in LA, Toronto and Houston, before returning to the UK for his current role. “I’ll always have a soft spot for
America. Both my kids were born there and it was a great part of my life. I’m very proud of the part I played in that story,” he reflects. “Other people have since taken it and grown it even more. It’s incredible.”  

One such individual is current President of the region, Richard Thompson, who has been in the US for 13 years, but with ACS for 20. “I moved from the Northeast of England to London for a market research job and joined a bilingual recruitment agency because I speak Spanish. That led to an interview with ACS and I’ve never looked back. I was flying on an Antonov An-26 – a legendary cargo aircraft – within five days and travelled all around Europe,” remembers Richard. “This industry is so different to anything else. It’s dynamic, you’re constantly learning, you’re constantly challenged, and there are always opportunities.” 

Fast forward to 2011, and a Sales Director opportunity in North America came up. Richard’s wife was the Finance Director at ACS, so the couple made the move together. “There were just a handful of offices then, but now we have 12 across the region, so it’s been quite a journey.” 

Richard was made President in 2014, a role which involves working closely with office CEOs and branch directors across the region to help them build their businesses, just like Ruan and Chris did for him when he first moved there. “There’s still a lot for us to achieve, which is really exciting,” says Richard. 

Doing things differently 

Many of ACS’s competitors in the region are aircraft operators rather than brokers, and this differentiation is one of the main challenges that Richard identifies. “Our biggest challenge, and opportunity, is showing customers that we are different. We are true consultants who try to match the customer needs with the right aircraft solution. We’re able to offer multiple aircraft types, whereas an airline operator will always put forward their asset first – not always the right option for the customer.” 

However, the team is managing to overcome this challenge, particularly in the corporate and leisure sectors, where ACS’s bespoke approach to private travel is hugely valuable, helping to secure repeat business.  

When considering the future, Richard is clear that there are still plenty of opportunities in the region. “It’s exciting to imagine what we might achieve in the next 20 years when I reflect on the amount of growth we’ve achieved in the first two decades. We’re set up to continue growing at a rapid rate. “America is known as ‘the land of opportunity’, which has certainly proven to be true for ACS. From one man in one office to more than 170 employees across 12 offices, we’ve grown to meet the needs of private jet clients across the region – and have no plans to slow down.”  

North America’s most popular private jet destinations 

Teterboro Airport, New Jersey – ideally located for access to the Big Apple. 

Van Nuys Airport, California – nestled in the heart of the San Fernando Valley, this airport
is on LA’s doorstep. 

Palm Beach, Florida – for the sunshine and sea.

Where to find us in North America

• New York HQ 
• New York Manhattan 
• Los Angeles 
• Chicago 
• San Francisco 
• Atlanta 
• Houston 
• Miami 
• Washington D.C. 
• Boston 
• Toronto, Canada 
• Mexico City, Mexico

To contact one of our North American offices, or to find one of our other offices around the world, visit aircharterservice.com 

Picture credit: Getty Images