The ONEflight Jet Card Lawsuit and What Every Private Aviation Consumer Should Know

A customer of ONEflight International has filed a lawsuit naming Robert Herjavec - the technology entrepreneur known from the television program Shark Tank - as a defendant, according to reporting by AeroTime. The plaintiff alleges that promises made in connection with a jet card purchase were not kept. The litigation is ongoing, and no verdict has been reached.

The lawsuit itself is not the story. What matters is what it reveals about an industry that handles enormous sums of consumer money with relatively little regulatory oversight.

What Is a Jet Card and Why Do the Dollar Amounts Matter

A jet card is a prepaid block of access to private aviation services. You deposit money with a company, and in return, you receive the right to book flights on private aircraft up to the value of that deposit. Some programs are structured around flight hours, others around dollar amounts. Some guarantee specific aircraft categories; others guarantee specific tail numbers.

Entry-level jet cards typically start around $25,000. Premium programs from major operators can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars for larger blocks or guaranteed heavy jet access. Once that money is transferred, it sits with the jet card company - not with a bank, not with an airline, not with any entity where standard consumer financial protections automatically apply.

That is the core vulnerability. The entire relationship is governed by a contract the operator drafted.

Why This Industry Has Fewer Guardrails Than You Might Expect

The FAA regulates the safety of flight operations. Charter operators flying under Federal Aviation Regulation Part 135 are subject to real and meaningful oversight of their aircraft, crews, maintenance, and operational procedures. That certification is not trivially obtained.

But the FAA does not regulate jet card contracts. It sets no rules about how customer funds must be held, what disclosures are required about fleet availability, or what happens to deposits if a company enters financial distress. The Department of Transportation has some jurisdiction over aviation consumer issues, but the regulatory patchwork covering jet card products is significantly thinner than what governs banking or securities.

When you deposit $100,000 with a bank, that money is federally insured. When you wire $100,000 to a jet card company, your protection is exactly as strong - or as weak - as the contract you signed.

The Industry Has a Track Record Worth Knowing

The private aviation access market has seen real failures. Companies including XOJet and JetSmarter went through restructurings that left customers with varying outcomes depending on their contractual position at the time. LunaJets struggled. PrivateFly went through significant changes.

The pandemic drove a surge in private aviation demand as travelers sought to avoid commercial terminals. That growth period brought in new operators and new marketing approaches that often emphasized lifestyle imagery over contract specifics. Celebrity association became a notable feature of some campaigns - which is where the ONEflight situation intersects with a broader regulatory question.

In the securities industry, the SEC has taken action against celebrities who promoted financial products without disclosing compensation. The rules governing celebrity association with aviation service products are considerably less developed. The plaintiff in the ONEflight case argues, per AeroTime’s reporting, that the involvement of a high-profile figure contributed to their decision to purchase.

Whether the court accepts that theory remains to be seen.

Five Questions to Ask Before Buying a Jet Card

These are the same questions a careful buyer should have asked before any significant private aviation commitment.

1. Who actually operates the flights? Some jet card programs own and operate their own fleet under their own Part 135 certificate. Others are brokers who source aircraft from third-party operators on a trip-by-trip basis. Both models can work, but they carry different risk profiles. On a brokered trip, the aircraft, crew, and maintenance responsibility belong to the third-party operator - not the jet card company.

2. How are your deposited funds held? Are they in a segregated trust account, or are they commingled with the company’s operating funds? A company using customer deposits to fund ongoing operations is structuring itself in a way that depends on continued new-customer revenue to cover existing obligations.

3. What do the cancellation and refund provisions actually say? What happens if you want to exit? What happens if the company is acquired? What happens if your guaranteed aircraft category is unavailable? These answers are in the contract. Read them before signing.

4. Can you verify the company’s operating certificate? The FAA’s public registry allows you to look up air carrier certificates. If a company claims to operate its own fleet under Part 135, you can confirm that certification independently.

5. Has the company been audited by an independent oversight program? NATA (the National Air Transportation Association) and ARGUS International provide safety and operational audits for charter operators. An ARGUS-certified operator has submitted to independent review. That is not a government guarantee, but it is meaningful accountability.

Why This Applies Beyond the Jet Card Customer

For pilots who fly their own aircraft or rent through a flying club, the private aviation access market may seem like someone else’s concern. It is not.

Many GA pilots use charter for trips outside their aircraft’s capabilities. Family members who don’t hold certificates use charter regularly. And the on-demand air taxi market - a direct extension of the Part 135 framework - is expanding rapidly. The question of how consumer-facing aviation products are structured and regulated will affect a growing share of the aviation community.

There are excellent operators in this space with decades of track records and genuine accountability. The existence of litigation against one company does not characterize the industry. But the private aviation cabin looks different in the ad than it does in the contract.

Key Takeaways

• Robert Herjavec has been named a defendant in a lawsuit filed by a customer of ONEflight International, alleging that promises related to a jet card purchase were not kept; the case is ongoing with no verdict reached.
• Jet card deposits - which can range from $25,000 to hundreds of thousands of dollars - have no equivalent of bank deposit insurance; consumer protection depends entirely on contract terms.
• The FAA oversees flight operations safety under Part 135 but does not regulate how jet card companies hold customer funds or structure their contracts.
• Before committing funds to any jet card program, verify who holds the operating certificate, how funds are segregated, and what the exit provisions say.
• Industry oversight programs from ARGUS International and NATA provide independent audit certifications that offer a baseline of operational accountability beyond legal minimums.