How Andrew Collins has put Sentient Jet on a one-way path to domination

Looking to book a private jet for business or pleasure? There’s an app for that, at least soon enough.

As commercial jet travel has become increasingly complex and decreasingly convenient, private jet travel has soared as an industry.

Braintree-based Sentient Jet lays claim to creating in 1999 the business concept of using a prepaid card that can be applied to private jet services. Starting at $124,975 for 25 hours of travel, the service enables travelers to reserve jets that operate out of some 5,000 small airports such as Hanscom Field in Bedford with 10 hours’ notice.

Name: Andrew Collins

Title: President and CEO, Sentient Jet

Age: 47

Education: Bachelor’s degree in English, Union College, 1991; Master’s of Business Administration, MIT Sloan School of Management, 2003

Residence: Needham

Sentient CEO Andrew Collins, 47, said the business plan resembles that of Uber or Airbnb, an “asset-light” model where the company focuses its spending on operations rather than capital assets. Previously, the private aviation market offered limited options for travelers to take advantage of aircraft downtime, he said, adding that those choices included either fractional ownership of aircraft or the charter market.

“Sentient Jet took excess capacity and figured out how to certify and operate flights ... that allow someone to travel in comfort and manipulate time,” says Collins. “This is a classic case of disruption.”

He estimates approximately 60 percent of the company’s 5,000 or so card owners travel for business purposes, whether its top executives at local sports teams or corporate executives who need to make presentations in multiple cities in a given day.

Collins joined the company in 2004 as director of product management and technology, rising through the ranks to become president and CEO in 2012. He has presided over changes that have seen the company grow from 50 employees and $40 million in sales when he began to 110 employees and $234 million in sales in 2015.

He defines Sentient’s market as a “sweet spot” for travelers looking to get to where they need to go “25-to-50 hours a year and not have to think about it.”

The Longmeadow, Massachusetts, native did not come to the job based on a love of aviation. A graduate of Union College with an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management, Collins says his interest has long rested with technology; he discovered the company after a former mentor suggested he network with Sentient’s top executive at the time.

Originally the head of Sentient’s sales operations, Collins became president when Directional Aviation acquired the firm in 2012.

A lot of growth has come from partnerships and affiliations. For example, Sentient is the official private aviation partner for the Kentucky Derby and the race’s home, Churchill Downs, offering customers entertainment opportunities and giving him the chance to stand in the Winner’s Circle this year when Nyquist won the first leg of the Triple Crown.

Collins says Sentient is readying the rollout of apps for iPhone and Android that will enable customers to book their flight as easily as they can book an Uber or Airbnb accommodations.

A married father of two, Collins said the year ahead will include a move to a new, larger headquarters and a rebranding effort. Still, he said much of the company’s expansion will come as it innovates and incorporates more technology into its operation.

“I’ve never lost the passion around technology and the way it can enable business,” he said.