How Vista’s XO uses AI to fully digitize the private jet booking experience

Over the last two decades, executive jet operator Vista has managed to build a distinct competitive position in a growing executive aviation scene. 

AeroTime has followed this journey closely through previous features. In 2023, for example, we explored Vista’s unique branding strategy with the company’s Marketing Director Matteo Atti, and then, a few months later, Vista’s US President, Leona Qi, discussed the company’s ambitious expansion into the world’s largest private jet market.  

As we’ve previously examined, Vista’s focus on providing an extremely consistent experience has imposed some constraints on the type of aircraft, its product offering and operational model (for example, its rather homogeneous fleet is fitted with exactly the same cabin). Yet the executive jet operator has been able to diversify its business and reach other market segments through a twin brand strategy. 

The VistaJet leg of the business offers fixed-rate three-year subscriptions which guarantee its members aircraft availability and, as an important element of the company’s value proposition, absolute service consistency, down to the last piece of decor onboard its aircraft. 

At the same time, the XO Marketplace, a service which aggregates private jet offerings from third party operators, offers dynamic pricing and instant booking capabilities to users that are not ready to commit to a multi-year membership program. 

During the 2025 Dubai Airshow we were presented with yet another opportunity to delve into this other crucial pillar of Vista’s business model, hearing directly from the person that heads it globally, Youssef Mouallem. 

Mouallem, who welcomed us onboard one of Vista’s newest aircraft, a Bombardier Global 7500 barely out of the factory, began the conversation by outlining how beyond the business model differences, the operational approach varies significantly between the two platforms.  

“The VistaJet service gives you guaranteed availability and a consistent pricing and cabin experience together with global coverage,” he said. “It’s like having your own private jet without the hassle of owning one and having to manage the crew and pilots, maintenance and all that kind of stuff.”  

“If you fly private 50 or more hours per year, it is the ideal product,” he added. “However, we have many other customers that still want to fly private but don’t do so with that much frequency. They want the flexibility without the commitment. So, this is where XO comes into play.”  

While XO customers gain access to VistJet’s own fleet whenever aircraft are available, the bulk of its offering is the global access it provides to another 2,000 tails operated by third party operators.  

Mouallem outlined how Vista manages quality control across this diverse network through a tiered approval system. 

“All aircraft have been previously vetted by Vista. They go through an approval process to come on board. They go through safety, insurance, and crew training checks,” he explained. “And within this system we have three tiers: the first one is the Vista fleet, our own aircraft, then there is the ‘Vista-approved’ fleet, which includes those operators that have gone over and above what is required to be approved. And, finally, we have what we call ‘Alliance’ fleet, which is everybody else compliant with our standards.” 

Mouallem also explained the key operational difference between VistaJet and the XO Marketplace: while Vista is almost fanatical about product consistency aboard its own aircraft, XO Marketplace allows for variation. Partner companies are rigorously checked for safety and regulatory compliance but are not required to match the signature cabin interior and onboard service that have become key elements of VistaJet’s value proposition. 

While Vista’s own fleet is predominantly super-mid-sized Bombardier Global aircraft, XO Marketplace covers pretty much all jet categories across the board, including more entry level options such as light and very light jets. These are two categories that are popular in markets like the US, where distances flown by private jets tend to be shorter because they are used extensively for domestic travel. 

“The beauty of XO is that it opens up our offering to all cabin types. It’s an open marketplace,” stated Mouallem, who also highlighted that while the platform offers many types of aircraft, there’s a preference for relatively new ones. 

Unlocking full digitalization, easier said than done 

Mouallem also takes great pride in the XO Marketplace mobile app. To be clear, private jet apps are not a novelty since they have been around for years. But according to the Vista executive, what sets XO’s app apart from the others is that it has succeeded in completing automation from quote to confirmation.  

“In a lot of these marketplaces, you put in your request via the app, but then, in the background, that request still needs to go to somebody that liaises with operators to get you the jet the old-fashioned way,” Mouallem explained. “A lot of marketplaces really face a challenging barrier to deliver a genuine, full-on digital solution.” 

“In the traditional process, there’s a lot of back and forth. You call up a broker and say, ‘I need this flight.’ The broker calls two or three operators and says, ‘I need this flight’. They then come back to him: ‘Here’s what I can do. This is the cost I can get you’. Then he may like it or maybe not, he may reply: ‘Get me some more options’. Then the broker goes back to the market, and so on,” explained Mouallem. 

“In our platform we are replacing that with our proprietary tech. The first one is the full-on digital schedule integration with all those operators. We read their schedules and use Machine Learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) to get total visibility of the available supply [with information such as] ‘this sector is available for a flight’ or ‘this sector is a maintenance booking’ or ‘this one is an empty leg’ [an aircraft flying empty to reposition for a new service – ed. note] and so on.” 

“We know when each aircraft is available and at which location and what would be the ideal trips for it because we know if they’ve got an ongoing trip, where they need to be next, etc.,” he explained. “This hasn’t been an easy task.”  

“The other differentiating piece of tech we have is our own proprietary pricing algorithm,” he added. “We price on behalf of the operators, in conjunction with them. We build the pricing strategy together with them.”  

To automate quote generation and the subsequent booking process, Mouallem explained, Vista scrapes thousands of data points related to its partners’ pricing structure and then runs them through its own machine learning algorithms, benchmarking them versus historical prices. The system then comes up with prices that are around 97-98% aligned with the operators’ pricing. This accuracy in price finding makes it possible to complete the process without human intervention. 

“We have made these prices instantly bookable. That price is guaranteed,” he said. “And not only that, but you are also getting exactly the same aircraft that you have seen in the photos when browsing the app. This is because, thanks to the schedule integration, we know which tail number is supposed to be picking you up, and that’s the ideal one for your trip.”  

Mouallem acknowledged that technology alone does not guarantee service delivery. In this regard, XO can also rely on Vista’s global support team to make sure everything goes smoothly. 

“The power of the Vista offering is that once we’ve got this open marketplace, it’s backed by our team across the globe,” he explained. “We have our operations team, our vendor approval team, and our client services team. Once the trip is booked, it is our client services team that services the trip, working together with the operator.”  

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When access trumps ownership 

While Vista first established itself in Europe and other regions before expanding to the US, XO Marketplace took the opposite approach, expanding from an initial US-centric customer base. 

“The US is obviously our largest market in terms of presence and share, being the biggest market and also being the most prevalent in terms of easy access to aircraft, but we’ve been expanding globally,” Mullaem said. “Europe has been a big focus for us and we’re seeing [an] increase in the Middle East and Asia, as well. We’ve [also] been building our supply in these markets.”  

Mullaem went on to explain that in Q4 2025 alone the company had signed up seven different operators in Asia and in the Middle East.  

He said: “We’ve now got three of these already on board, and we’ve got a pipeline of operators coming through the door as we speak.” 

Asked about broader market trends, Mouallem outlined what he sees as a move away from ownership and into services that guarantee availability and certain standards of service. 

“We’re seeing customers moving away from, let’s say, the exclusivity of ownership and focusing much more on access and flexibility,” he said. “And we’re seeing that across both our products.” 

He continued: “In the VistaJet program, people are letting go of their privately owned jets, and they’re coming onboard with us because of the ease provided by our model. You still have the exclusivity of almost having your own private jet, because it is always the same aircraft that’s going to show up, the same interior, same color, crew, etc. But you don’t have the hassle of managing it. And, then you also have access through the XO platform, which opens up another 2,000 aircraft for you to explore.”  

Here, the executive reiterated that complimentary nature of VistaJet and XO. The difference, he said, is “more about the kind of demand”.  

“If you’re a customer that needs guaranteed availability and high frequency, VistaJet is the right product for you. If you need access to smaller aircraft, then we could offer you that through XO. That will get you sorted, will get you booked. And if it happens that your trip is best served by a Vista aircraft, and that aircraft is available, you’ll be offered that option.” 

The marketplace’s pricing structure also reflects Vista’s attempt to capture different market segments.  

“We historically used to have two membership levels, XO membership, whereby you put $100,000 on deposit, which is on your account and fully refundable [at] anytime. So, whenever you want to book, you don’t have to wait to wire the money to our account. It eases the process of transacting,” Mullaem explained. “In return, you get 2% loyalty credit on your flying and preferential access to the fleet. Then you used to have the next level up, XO Reserve, which is for more frequent travelers. It’s a $250,000 deposit. And similarly, you get access to the fleet, a discount on available empty legs and you a 4% loyalty credit.” 

But Vista has also recently launched an XO tier designed specifically for the corporate market. 

Mullaem explained: “We just launched [it] in the US, and we’ll be rolling it out across the rest of the globe. Because what we’ve seen is that some of our customers don’t need 50 hours of flying, but they’ve got two or three execs which are often flying at the same time and, for them, XO is again, a perfect platform, because with one $500,000 deposit it gives you access to multiple bookers and multiple travelers at the same time.”  

According to the executive, this investment in technology is already delivering results. 

“We’re seeing a shift into that digital space,” he said. “There’s still a big chunk that is, let’s say, in the traditional model. But people are getting more used to this.”  

According to Mullaem, more people are adopting online bookings, “and bigger trips are being booked this way”.  

“We’re seeing a big surge in instant booking and a much higher conversion level, about three times larger than the standard booking curve,” he continued. “And we’re also seeing an evolution in terms of trip spend level. Historically, it was probably in the $40-50,000 ballpark. That was the level most people used to be comfortable booking on an app. But we’re starting to see more and more six-figure bookings coming through.”  

“People want value through that digital interaction,” he added. “Not just a nice interface.”a

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