Santa Aircraft Management Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Charter Trip Manager - Santa Barbara, CA (On-Site)

Department: Retail Sales

Employment Type: Full Time

Location: Santa Barbara

Compensation: $25.00 - $35.00 / hour

Description

We're looking for a Charter Trip Manager (CTM) to join our Santa Barbara headquarters full-time and fully on-site. This is not a remote desk position. You'll sit alongside our team and work hand-in-hand with an experienced, highly successful CTM who already knows the operation, our aircraft sourcing strategy, our Private Jet Advisors, and what exceptional trip execution looks like. You'll have a built-in mentor from day one and the opportunity to learn the charter business from the inside.

You don't necessarily need to come from charter brokerage.

You might be an A&P or maintenance professional who understands aircraft but wants to move beyond the hangar. You might be a pilot looking to build a long-term career on the commercial side of aviation. Maybe you've worked in flight operations, at an FBO, in dispatch, aircraft management, customer service, or another aviation environment and know that your combination of technical knowledge and people skills could take you further.

We're particularly interested in people who are highly detailed, commercially curious, calm under pressure, strong communicators, and comfortable negotiating. Previous sales or client-facing experience is a major advantage. We'll teach the right person the systems, sourcing process, operator relationships, and mechanics of charter.

If you already have Part 135 charter brokerage, aircraft sourcing, Avinode, or direct sales-support experience, even better. That experience may qualify you for a salaried entry point and the opportunity to take on greater responsibility immediately.

You'll become part of the engine behind our Private Jet Advisor team, learning to manage a charter trip from initial request through successful completion. That includes sourcing aircraft, evaluating Part 135 operators, negotiating pricing, protecting margin, coordinating trip details, anticipating problems, and supporting our sales team with speed and precision.

Over time, you'll develop a working knowledge of aircraft capabilities, charter markets, operator quality, positioning economics, pricing, FBOs, client preferences, and irregular operations. When weather changes, an aircraft goes mechanical, or a trip suddenly moves, you'll be part of the team that figures out the solution.

This role rewards someone who wants to learn fast, become exceptionally good at something, and build a career in private aviation. You'll have real responsibility, direct mentorship, exposure to experienced aviation professionals, and a full desk in our Santa Barbara headquarters.

If you know aircraft, love aviation, negotiate well, sweat the details, and want to see how far those skills can take you, we'd like to meet you.

The Role in Plain English

The Charter Trip Manager (CTM) owns the full lifecycle of the Flight Club program — from member acquisition and onboarding through retention, renewal, and upsell. This is a hybrid role spanning revenue leadership, hospitality architecture, and product ownership. You will sit at the intersection of Sales (PJA, CSA), Aircraft Support, and Marketing, and serve as the single point of accountability for all things Flight Club.

Member Experience & Concierge Operations

• Build and own the end-to-end member journey — pre-trip through post-flight follow-up
• Define response SLAs by tier (e.g., <10-minute elite response guarantee)
• Establish named concierge contacts for Core and Elite members
• Develop preference capture, context memory, and proactive trip-shaping protocols
• Engineer luxury touchpoints: catering standards, arrival/departure rituals, surprise & delight

Internal Systems & Cross-Functional Ownership

• Own HubSpot CRM discipline for all Flight Club members — usage, tracking, reporting
• Define service standards by tier and ensure alignment across PJAs, Ops, and Flight Support
• Bridge departments: connect Sales incentives, Ops availability, and Accounting reconciliation
• Build internal reporting cadence: member metrics, revenue dashboards, churn signals

Partnerships & Experience Programming

• Identify, negotiate, and manage strategic luxury brand partnerships
• Design quarterly member events — invite-only, high-relevance, tied to travel
  • Examples: Aspen ski week, Art Basel access, Napa harvest, Monaco GP
• Build a partnership ecosystem: hotels, ground transport, wellness, hospitality brands
• Develop co-marketing and cross-referral structures that generate new member leads

What You Bring Strongly Preferred

• 3+ years in luxury hospitality, private aviation, membership clubs, or ultra-high-net-worth client services
• Demonstrated experience owning a revenue line — with targets, reporting, and accountability
• Track record of designing and scaling client experience programs from concept to operation
• Strong CRM discipline (HubSpot preferred); comfortable owning data and reporting
• Exceptional interpersonal presence — you can hold a room with a CEO, Crew, Tech, Aircraft Owner
• Organized, self-directed, and comfortable with ambiguity in a growth environment
• Experience in private aviation (charter, FBO, aircraft management, or jet card programs)
• Background in luxury brand partnerships or lifestyle programming
• Familiarity with Part 135 charter operations and fleet dynamics
• Prior experience building a program, team, or product from scratch

Why This Role Is Special High-Impact Seat

Your sourcing decisions directly affect margins on $18M+ in annual charter revenue. When you negotiate a trip from 15% margin to 21%, that delta goes straight to the bottom line. When you kill a bad deal, you protect our reputation and resources. This isn't back-office work—it's frontline commercial warfare.

Career Growth Path

This role sits between PJA and the Charter Sales Director in commercial sophistication. Top performers typically move into:

• Senior PJA roles (client-facing sales)
• Charter Sales leadership
• Operations or Safety management
• Vendor partnerships or fleet strategy

We promote from within and invest in people who prove they can operate at the next level.

Flight Club & Brand Strength

You're supporting a growing membership product and a boutique brand that's known for doing things right. Our clients choose us because we don't cut corners. Our operators respect us because we negotiate hard but pay fast and treat people professionally. You'll be proud to say you work here.

Total Compensation & Benefits

• Base Salary: $72,000-$80,000 (based on experience)
• Health Benefits: Medical, dental, vision
• Retirement: 401(k) with 5% company match
• PTO: Unlimited PTO + 10 paid holidays
• Professional Development: Annual budget for aviation conferences, training, and certifications
• Perks: Discounted Flight Club membership for personal travel, quarterly team events, casual dress code

Silver Air is an equal opportunity employer. We're committed to building a diverse, inclusive team where people from all backgrounds can do their best work.

We value different perspectives, different experiences, and people who challenge us to be better. If you're sharp, commercial, and ready to own a critical role in our operation - even if you don't check every single box - we want to hear from you.