Comlux: CEO Richard Gaona on how ‘everything starts by selling a plane’  

As the movers and shakers from the executive jet world gather in Las Vegas, US, for 2025 NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE), AeroTime spoke with one of the industry’s true juggernauts, Comlux CEO and Chairman Richard Gaona. 

For over 20 years, Switzerland-based Comlux has been guiding VIP customers through the complexities of the business aviation sector, drawing on its vast experience across multiple facets of the industry. 

Business aviation is currently on the up, with record numbers of people utilizing private aircraft, and jet deliveries being projected to rise by 8-11% in 2025, compared to last year. 

For Comlux and Gaona, the demand to fly privately is growing thanks to a customer base that is increasingly looking to avoid crowded airports and busy flights on commercial aircraft.  

“In some parts of the world, like America, a private jet is like a car. I don’t see any aspects changing this,” Gaona said. 

ComluxGaona joined Comlux in 2007, around four years after the company was founded. Before that, he led the VIP aircraft division at Airbus, now known as Airbus Corporate Jet.  

“I had to sell 40 planes in 10 years [at Airbus]. And then in eight years, I sold 120 of them,” Gaona said.  

Explaining his move to Comlux, Gaona reveals that he was approached by the shareholders to lead a mission to build up an integrated company.  

“This covered the operations, the completion, and, of course, the trading, buying and selling of planes, which is a job that I knew the most,” he said.   

Future proofing Comlux

Gaona emphasizes diversification as a cornerstone of Comlux’s success, pointing to the company’s unique ability to offer a comprehensive suite of private aviation services under one roof — from bespoke cabin installations to full-scale aircraft management. 

At Comlux, though, diversification goes beyond simply offering a broad range of solutions. It reflects a strategic approach to business resilience that means if one part of the world is ‘shaky’, there’s always another where the company can continue to thrive. 

“I have always tried to have several different businesses, several locations, several markets and an international team,” Gaona explained. “We have 35 different nationalities. There is always a war somewhere in the world. If it comes to the country or the region where you are doing business, you perish by not having business. Comlux works almost everywhere – in the Middle East, Europe, Asia and America.”  

Comlux also has its own completion center and MRO (maintenance, repair, and overhaul) facilities in Indianapolis, United States, where it can customize and refit aircraft cabins.   

Buying and selling planes

Gaona describes the transaction division within Comlux as both “strategic” and “very important”. Over the past 17 years, the company has amassed sales of more than 100 aircraft.  

“It’s strategic, because every time I sell a new plane, I will offer the client to use Comlux Completion for cabin outfitting, and then later I will try to convince them to give me the plane for operations. We had clients who did that, and for them it was extremely good, because at the end they say, ‘with one company I can cover everything’,” he explained. 

While Comlux is synonymous with selling large aircraft by Airbus and Boeing, including the ACJ TwoTwenty, the company has had huge success selling and operating more traditional private jets, including Bombardiers and executive aircraft by Embraer.  

“We are perceived as, let’s say, a company working only with the big aircraft, but it’s not true. We sell Praetors, Gulfstreams and many others. We are not married to anyone or dating anyone,” Gaona joked. “We just have one exception, which is the TwoTwenty program that we developed together with Airbus.”  

Comlux is contracted to fit the cabins of the first 17 ACJ TwoTwentys and has bought six of the aircraft itself. Gaona points to its partnership with Airbus as an example of just how effective the company’s sale process can be. 

“We resold the six aircraft, and three are already flying and in management by Comlux. And all these aircraft were done in our cabin completion facility,” he explained. 

‘Everything starts by selling a plane’

Comlux“In fact, from experience, everything starts when you sell a plane. If you are involved in the sales process, you have a good chance, for example, to have an aircraft on management. If you are involved with an ACJ or BBJ during the sales process of the green aircraft, then you have a good chance to at least tender for the cabin. If you are not part of the sales process and you learn from AeroTime that Mr. Hicks bought a BBJ new or ACJ new, it’s too late.” said Gaona.  

The selling or buying of an aircraft requires technical, commercial, contractual and legal skills, while some customers may also request assistance with aircraft financing.   

Comlux prides itself on having built an experienced team of professionals to provide these services.  

“We always tell the customer, ‘We have the full menu, or you can take only the main course. If you don’t want to take a certain starter, you can go and decide to do it by yourself’. We are not forcing any client to take the plane, the cabin and the operations,” said Gaona. 

Asking the right questions  

Gaona explained that, when he first meets a potential buyer, his first rule is to ensure that he asks the right questions to understand and establish what the customer needs. 

“The first question to ask is, what is the type of missions you are doing regularly? Then, how many passengers are you going to fly? How many hours do you believe you will be flying per year? And finally, the ballpark figure price – I don’t know, $50, $80, $120 million,” he said. 

Gaona joked that, while he would prefer to sell an A380, it’s necessary to drive the client towards the aircraft that it is right for them.  

“Many times, I have sold a $20 million aircraft to a client because that is what they need,” said Gaona. “Something I always say is that there is no aircraft better than the other in the same category, they’re all about the same. You must sell the aircraft based on the client’s ability to operate and to pay.”  

He added: “An aircraft costs money. It’s not just a toy that you have parked somewhere, because that costs money, even if you don’t fly. So, you must assess properly if this is a plane you need and the plane you can afford.” 

Maintaining your asset 

ComluxMaintaining the value of the asset is also something that Gaona raises, should the client want to sell the aircraft in the future and maximize the return on their investment. 

“If you want to do that, then you need to make sure that your aircraft is properly maintained, stored and eventually upgraded from time to time,” he explained. 

Gaona noted that internet capability on private jets has become an increasingly important part of the sales process, with a distinct rise in the number of customers requesting it onboard.  

“Now people are used to flying with their WhatsApp and iPad and so on. The planes which were made 10 years ago have internet that is extremely slow. You need to upgrade if you are the owner of one of these planes and you want to do charter,” he explained.  

Among Comlux’s aircraft transaction team, around half are engineers who “like sales”, and if a potential client has particularly complex technical questions, then the company’s chief pilot is on hand to answer. 

Gaona saves his fiercest criticism for aircraft brokers and the lack of regulations protecting the aircraft sales process.  

“There are too many people working in this industry who believe there will be a billionaire in two years, and some of them don’t even know how an aircraft flies,” said Gaona.  

He added: “I come from a school where we sell the merit and the advantage of the plane. We say, ‘this plane can do this range, has this cabin altitude, it can do this kind of cargo volume and chartered, you can expect this income’ and so on and so on.”  

‘He sold more than 12 or 13,000 planes in 20 years’ 

Gaona singles out former Airbus Chief Operating Officer-Customers, John Leahy, for instilling him with the necessary skills and experience to sell planes.  

“John Leahy was the number one salesperson in the world – probably still even today. In his time, I think he sold more than 12 or 13,000 planes in 20 years. He was extremely competent and built up an extremely competent organization. Working with him, I had the chance to learn about marketing, engineering and flying,” added Gaona.  

Currently, the smallest aircraft for sale at Comlux is a Pilatus PC-12 and the largest is the Airbus ACJ330, although two years ago the company sold a Boeing 777 VIP. 

Gaona says that the increase in large business aircraft reflects the current trend for “bigger and bigger” cabins.  

According to Gaona, potential customers are “really flirting” with the price of both ACJs and BBJs, as opposed to traditional private jet manufacturers.  

“This is because their client is asking for a wider cabin, for better comfort. That’s the issue. Some of the planes have an even wider wingspan and length than an airliner. So, the trend over the last five years – big cabin, bigger aircraft, and that’s interesting,” he says.  

While ACJs and BBJs are traditionally bigger than other executive aircraft, the advent of the TwoTwenty means that customers can get that much larger cabin for more or less the same price as a purpose-built business jet. 

“Everyone is trying to get a wider cabin, more space for everyone, more comfort – and, of course, internet,” said Gaona.    

He added: “Some people say, ‘I prefer the time when we did not have all this internet, and at least when we were flying, we could rest’. Well, my friend, it’s too late.” 

‘I never start something myself if I don’t think I’m going to do well’ 

Comlux Reflecting on Comlux in general, Gaona says that he feels “very proud” of what the company has achieved and firmly believes its success is down to the entire team, which has been meticulously built.  

“My role has been to define strategies, some objectives, bring in the right people to the right place, mainly in management, and make sure these people will hire the right people to work with them. I am among the ones who believe that the success of Comlux is the success of everyone at the company,” said Gaona. 

He added: “Could we have done more? Probably, but I never start something myself if I don’t think I’m going to do well.” 

Gaona is particularly proud of the opportunities Comlux gives to young people, with selected ones embarking on a two-year long training program, leading to more responsibility and then better pay.  

“This strategy of offering several aspects of the business to one client, there are not too many companies who have done it, and I think I’m proud that we did it. Many times, people told me, ‘You are going to fail, you should stop, you should not do that’. And every time it happens, I think, I’m moving in the right direction, let’s continue,” said Gaona.  

And for any potential client that has yet to work with Comlux, Gaona’s message is simply to “use people who will help you to choose the right plane”. 

“Buying an aircraft is a big investment, even when buying a $10 million plane,” he says. “It’s big money. Make sure you pick the right people and you’re not listening to the first one who contacts you and then compare. The buyers are very smart, they’re quick to understand who is who.” 

To learn more about Comlux visit the company website,The post Comlux: CEO Richard Gaona on how ‘everything starts by selling a plane’   appeared first on AeroTime.

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