NetJets, the Columbus-based fractional jet ownership company, announced Monday, November 2, that it will significantly expand its global headquarters complex in Columbus, adding more than 365,000 square feet in a project the company says will accommodate future growth and meet customer demand, according to Aviation International News, which reported the company’s announcement.
The expansion will add two new buildings to the headquarters campus, providing additional office space and a dedicated training center for NetJets flight crews. The project also includes a parking garage and expanded dining and event facilities, among other improvements across the complex.
In tandem with the construction, NetJets plans to hire about 800 more people by the time the expansion is complete, bringing its workforce in central Ohio to about 3,200 employees. The company is targeting early 2029 to open the two new buildings, with the work to be completed in phases in the coming years.
Columbus developer Daimler and Cleveland architectural firm Vocon are working with NetJets on the expansion. The project remains subject to legal and regulatory approvals, and NetJets praised state and local authorities for their cooperation on the project, according to Aviation International News.
The announcement continues a multiyear run of investment in the company’s Columbus home. In June, NetJets completed renovations of the 85,000-square-foot facility housing the NetJets Flight Center, a project that added collaboration areas and upgraded the technology in the center where the company’s operations are coordinated.
NetJets sells fractional ownership shares in private jets, allowing customers to buy a portion of an aircraft rather than the whole plane, and it has grown into one of the largest private aviation operators in the world. Its headquarters operation in Columbus supports that fleet around the clock, which is why the campus keeps adding both office capacity and crew training space.
The company’s Columbus roots run deep. It was founded in 1964 as Executive Jet Airways — later Executive Jet Aviation — and became the first private business jet charter and aircraft management company in the world. Under Richard Santulli, who bought the company in 1984, it launched the first fractional aircraft ownership program in 1986, the model that still defines the business today. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway acquired the company in 1998 for $725 million, the NetJets name was adopted in 2002, and in 2009 the corporate headquarters moved back to Columbus, its original home, where the company’s flight operations center now coordinates its fleet worldwide.
The dedicated training center is a notable piece of the plan. Flight crews cycle through recurrent training on a regular cycle, and building that capacity into the headquarters complex — rather than relying entirely on outside facilities — signals the company expects its pilot ranks to keep growing alongside the fleet.
The expansion also lands in a central Ohio economy that has been stacking up corporate commitments. Just yesterday, NewsForce247 reported that Dunkin’ plans at least nine new stores across the Columbus area through 2027, another sign of national brands putting capital into the region.
Eight hundred additional jobs would make the headquarters one of the larger single-site corporate employers in the Columbus area, and the phased construction timeline means hiring is expected to build over several years rather than arriving all at once when the buildings open in early 2029.
For Columbus, the announcement is the kind of headquarters commitment city and state leaders compete for: an existing global company choosing to grow where it already is, rather than shopping the expansion to another state. NetJets’ public thanks to state and local authorities suggests incentive and permitting conversations are already well along, though no incentive package was detailed in the announcement reported by Aviation International News.
What happens next: the project moves through its legal and regulatory approvals, with construction in phases over the coming years and the two new buildings targeted to open in early 2029. NewsForce247 will follow the permitting process and any public incentive filings as they become available.
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