Aircraft management and charter provider JetDirect Aviation Holdings continued its feverish expansion-by-acquisition effort last week, adding northern California's Sunset Aviation to its stable of holdings and boosting its combined fleet to more than 130 aircraft under management. And, a top official of the company told BA last week that rapidly increasing customer demand will probably drive additional acquisitions to grow JetDirect's fleet of aircraft available for charter.

Under the latest deal, Sunset - which has a fleet of 25 aircraft based at airports in Novato (DVO), Santa Rosa (STS), Concord (CCR), Sacramento (SAC), Napa (APC) and Herber City (36U) - will be added to JetDirect's burgeoning portfolio of aircraft management and charter providers. JetDirect, which is headquartered in Berwyn, Pa., said key members of Sunset's management will continue with the company, including Dan Drohan, who has been president and CEO of Sunset.

Since jumping into the management and charter business early last year by buying Chester County Aviation Holdings, Inc. of Coatesville, Pa., and Summit Jet Corp. of Farmingdale, N.Y., JetDirect officials have not slowed down. The company merged with JetCorp. LLC, a St. Louis, Mo.-based airframe, engine and component services provider, at the end of February 2006. In September of that year, JetDirect added Spirit Aviation, Inc. of Van Nuys, Calif., followed a week later by Regal Aviation, based at Love Field in Dallas.

This February JetDirect added Presidential Aviation, which has bases in Ft. Lauderdale, New York and Los Angeles, and followed that up by merging with Sentient Jet, a major jet card provider, in April (BA, April 16/175).

The Sunset acquisition "will help support the rapid growth of JetDirect's retail charter business as well as the Sentient Jet Membership Program, which has tripled in size over the past two years and continues to grow at a tremendous pace," JetDirect said in a statement last week.

Steve Hankin, who formerly led Sentient Jet, now serves as president and chief operating officer of JetDirect. He said membership in the Sentient Jet jet card program has been growing at 50 to 60 percent per year, with more than 2,500 members now enrolled. While growth of the business over the past three years has been remarkable, Hankin said he and other officials do not see any signs of a slowdown. The company's leaders "continue to believe that we can continue to grow at a very aggressive pace," he told BA Thursday evening in a telephone interview from New York.

Asked how large JetDirect's fleet of managed aircraft might grow, Hankin replied that there is "no reason we can't grow to 150 or 200 aircraft." Officials don't have a set fleet size target in mind, but he said they are continuing to look for potential acquisitions in selected geographic areas.

Hankin believes the company's strong growth is "based on a very strong service commitment" to its members/customers. "We built an enormous reputation for service and safety," he added. If JetDirect can continue to sustain top-notch service levels, he believes there is "certainly room for a large national player," adding that "I don't see any constraints" to continued growth. JetDirect currently has about 1,000 employees.

JetDirect's press releases and Web site lists Philadelphia-based private equity firm CD Ventures and Argosy Capital among the company's investors. Gregory S. Campbell is a co-founder of JetDirect and serves as chairman and chief executive officer of the company. He also is the senior managing partner of CD Ventures. Other investors in JetDirect include ABS Capital Partners of Baltimore, Md., Brantly Partners of Cleveland and HSBC and AIG of New York. All those investors "are excited about the prospects for the company," Hankin said, adding that the company currently has far more investors and access to capital than it currently needs. Asked if JetDirect is profitable, Hankin responded that it "sure is."