Corporate Eagle Now 100% Employee-owned

Fractional share and aircraft management company Corporate Eagle has established an employee-owned stock ownership plan (ESOP) and is now 100% employee-owned. Based at Oakland County International Airport in Pontiac, Michigan, Corporate Eagle was founded in 1982 and claims being the first company to operate under FAA Part 91K fractional share regulations.

Corporate Eagle’s more than 100 fractional and management customers have access to VIP facilities, housed in a campus with 57,000 sq ft of hangar space, 9,000 sq ft of office and VIP facilities, and 8,000 sq ft of space for support. The company has its own jet fuel storage of 40,000 gallons.

With a fleet of 17 Hawker 900XPs and Dassault Falcon 2000s, Corporate Eagle employs more than 100 people. The company’s leaders have been researching, planning, and executing the ESOP for the past three years. Each employee receives shares of stock within the ESOP every year.

Company founder Rick Nini does not plan to participate in the ESOP but will transition to retirement during the next four years. “After decades of success in the business aviation industry and forging meaningful relationships and business partners across Southeast Michigan, I am personally incredibly proud with this ownership transition to our long-term leadership team members and a very sophisticated group of employees for which the guardianship of our company will be especially important,” he said.

As seen in AIN magazine and written by Matt Thurber