C O M M E R C I A L P A R T N E R S H I P S
as well as the team’s head coach, Andy Reid,” says Andy
Tretiak, chief marketing officer at Airshare, who is also
responsible for partnerships at the company.
“Prior to the 2018 season, we were introduced to
Patrick’s agent and we expressed our interest in having
him represent our company. We believed this would be
an outstanding partnership for both parties, as Patrick was
entering his first year as starting quarterback and expressed
a desire to be as efficient with his time as possible, along
with wanting his family to be able to see every home game.”
Airshare believed that Mahomes’ engaging personality
and leadership role with the NFL team aligned perfectly with
its ethos. In addition, the aim was for the association with the
American football player to help generate more publicity for
the company after a recent rebranding exercise changed its
original name of Executive Airshare to just Airshare.
“We knew the services we provide would be a huge
benefit to both Patrick and his family,” says Tretiak. “The
more he flew with us, the more he realized how much
time we were saving him. It became very easy for him to
communicate the benefits of Airshare to our customer
prospects, as he had become an active customer himself.
“It’s a point of pride for Airshare to partner with such an
incredible individual as Patrick, who is just as impressive
“When deciding on
a partnership, we
consider whether we
have the same brand
values and consumer
facing goals”
When commercial meets business
Partnerships between commercial and
business aviation companies can prove
fruitful. In March, Sky Prime – the largest
private aviation operator in the Middle
East – partnered with Etihad Aviation
Group’s Engineering and Aviation
Training divisions to provide facilities for
training services.
24 | BU S INE S S A I R P O R T INT E RNAT I ONA L J U L Y 2 0 1 9
“Sky Prime has
previously worked
with Etihad Aviation
Training for ad-hoc
small training services
when required,” says
Paola La Cava, director
at Etihad Aviation Training (EAT). “As a
result of their experience and training
outcomes, EAT and Sky Prime entered
into negotiations with the view to Etihad
Aviation Training becoming their sole
training provider, working towards
the philosophy of all training under a
single roof.”
EAT mainly has experience of handling
larger commercial carriers but is also
beginning to work with smaller carriers
like Sky Prime, training cabin crew
and pilots.
“Aviation training is becoming a
challenging industry due to the growth
and creation of many
small organizations” says
La Cava. “That, combined
with the growing demand
for pilots, means all
organizations have to be
one step ahead.
“Partnerships like ours
with Sky Prime are fundamental to our
future sustainability and building strong
relationships will help us to attract more
valuable customers as word spreads in
this niche market. The results so far have
been extremely positive and we hope the
relationship continues to thrive in 2019
and beyond.”
off the field as he is on it.
Additionally, it’s become a
great story for us to tell in
terms of how Airshare plays
a role in helping him balance
all of the demands of being the
reigning NFL most valued player.
“Our association with him has
been instrumental in the increased
visibility our brand has received over the
last year.”
Lounge of luxury
Owner of the largest network of FBOs in the
world, Signature Flight Support is another
business aviation company that understands
the value of commercial partnerships. The
company announced October last year
Above: Patrick Margetson-Rushmore,
chief executive, Luxaviation UK
Signature Flight
Support’s lounge
at London Luton
Airport