Exclusive insights from Thierry de Poncins, Senior Adviser and Business Aircraft Sales Executive at Infinite Jet International, provide a unique perspective on transformational leadership and emotional resilience, backed by over three decades of experience and a remarkable $3.5 billion in sales.

Thierry, it is a great honor to engage in this conversation with you. Your distinguished career, spanning over three decades in the aviation industry, has established you as an eminent thought leader in business aircraft sales and advisory services. The successful facilitation of over 400 aircraft transactions, including 115 Falcon Jets, alongside your impressive track record of managing approximately $3.5 billion in sales, underscores your unparalleled expertise and influence in this field. Today, we seek to delve into the profound insights and leadership philosophies that have guided your career, offering valuable lessons for emerging leaders and established professionals alike in the aviation sector. Let’s embark on this insightful discussion.

1. Evolving Market Dynamics
Throughout your esteemed career, how have you navigated the shifting tides of the business aviation market? What strategic insights can you share that have allowed you to maintain a position of prominence in such a competitive arena?

Our world is changing and in our industry, each day, brings inovation: new products, new trends, new taxes, new routes, new players etc…

The key is to be always updated so to be able to react positively and better understand the needs of my demanding customers.

For such, the network and the link that we maintain with the competition, the OEMs, the operators, the maintenance centers, the financing houses, the lawyers and other associations & players is very strategic.

Also to listen to the market and its inovation is really a key factor. Your customers expect you to guide them in each direction, with your experience but as well on what is new and unknown.

This trust is based on previous experiences.


2. Fostering Trust and Excellence
In your role as a senior adviser, how do you cultivate a culture of trust and integrity within your teams? Which foundational values do you champion to ensure that your team’s objectives align seamlessly with the strategic vision of Infinite Jet?

In our industry, you kind find serious players (like me!) but as well a lot of so called „experts“ that don’t know what the market is and what the products are.

Integrity and transparency are for me a strategic way of thinking and delivering that must guide me and the team every day.
In front of us are serious buyers, serious players of the industry. We cannot remain approximate or deliver unreal information & fake news. The customer has to trust you and it is very easy for him to reject you if you are not serious. And other will do as well, in our small world.

My 33-year experience in this industry is an added value to delivery real facts and to show credibility vis-à-vis our customers. No space for improvisation!

3. Lessons from Transformative Experiences
Can you recount a transformative challenge you faced that significantly shaped your understanding of client relations and market positioning? What insights can you share that would resonate with current and aspiring leaders in the field?

Like everybody, I faced bad experiences during my professional life. You may take decision that you don’t like but, at the end of the day, you are proud of what you decided and what new direction you took. This lesson is never nul, it is a support to react and to think twice before committing and delivering.

If the company I worked with was not delivering the contractual, that was my responsability to accept what was not correct and react accordingly. And sometime convince my management to do so as well, not the easiest thing to do!

Every challenge is and opportunity to grow. I met challenges, I came back stronger.


4. Resilience in High-Stakes Negotiation
High-pressure negotiations are inherent in your role. How do you cultivate resilience and composure during these high-stakes moments? What methodologies do you apply to ensure decisive and effective leadership?

If you feel that you are correct and right, you find the resilience.

I am a professional pilot: I decide what route to take but I also decide to adjust it if the weather is adverse, if the plane doesn’t deliver as expected, if the airport is finally unserviceable!

In business, you have to asky ou each time if what you do is correct and adjust accordingly. If a customer is not happy, you have no alternative that to suggest something else for his entire satisfaction.

If your employee is not happy with his job or the team work, you speak with him and you decide how to correct that situation that is not good at all for the customer (priority), the team and the employee himself. Decvision could be to separate buy understaning why.

As a pilot & manager, you cannot lose your attention, you cannot lose your abilities: flight & business continues.

You remain calm, you think and you adjust your decisions. If not, you are dead. Don’t pay attention to pressure, relax and also realize that who ever is in front of you, his i salso a human doing his job with his qualities and defaults.


5. Harnessing Client Feedback
In an industry where client relationships are paramount, how do you strategically integrate client feedback into your operational framework? What processes do you employ that transform these insights into actionable strategies for growth?

I love to hear about customers reaction & remarks. This is the only way to adjust yourself.

Surprisingly, I had a boss who thought that my relation with some customers was too good so it could generate advserse solutions for the company! „how to refuse a discount to a customer who becomes a friend“ he was saying.

But my view is different: If a I create a peaceful and a relation that is based on confidence and trust, I will be a good partner to this customer and believe me, he will be back to me for the next business.
If he had impression that what I was doing was against him, he well keep that in mind and will feel bad about me and my company. That is not my role. And in this small world, this unhappy customer will speak to his friends about our commercial tactic!

Today I have a lot of customers that come because there hear positively about me. That is a nice gift that proves that I was doing good, even if my boss was thinking opposite.


6. Leadership and Sustainable Practices
With the growing emphasis on sustainability in aviation, how do you foresee its impact on leadership practices within our industry? What competencies do you believe are essential for leaders to possess in this evolving landscape?

I agree that our world is changing and that sustainability becomes strategic.

The products are improving, the gaz emission is less in business aviation and the customers more and more travel more efficient (empty legs, cabin full of passengers…).

Nobody will convince that business aviation must disappear and is no sense. We can also explain our customers how to use that obstacle.

SAF is now available, planes are improving, flights optimized…

We must be in a position to explain correctly the elements, with transparency, and push our customers to be greener and more responsible. And their turn to explain to their employees and shareholders.
But fortunately, business aviation will remain and is a great tool to improve business and generate jobs.

7. Cultural Nuances in Leadership
Your extensive international experience provides a rich understanding of cultural dynamics. How do you prioritize cultural sensitivity in your leadership style, and what practices do you implement to foster inclusivity across diverse teams?

I had the chance to work for years with Indian and with a large success. They are great people, very smart, smiling and enjoying life. But they are difficult in business: one rupee is one rupee and until your customer is happy, you don’t have a deal. And sometime, even with the contract, it doesn’t go to the good end! Also their timing is different : don’t be stressed, enjoy life, comeback after sometime, work the relationship etc

I have been working a lot with Spanish. Closer to our culture, doing business is also different. Not to mention American, very pragmatic or Italian, style of life ;

But to succeed with different culture, you must spend time with the people, enjoy their style, have interest in them, their culture and be able to adapt yourself.
Don’t force with your own methods, that will never work! Even if pushed by your management…

To work worldwide becomes a passion and helps you grow: a great challenge, great opportunities ! and we remain humans however.


8. Timeless Leadership Principles
What enduring principles have consistently guided your decision-making framework throughout your career? How might these principles be adapted to meet the complexities of today’s aviation environment?

To think twice before acting is a solution. To understand how our principles can meet a new environment is fascinating. It is a daily work but with so many positive returns.
That doesn’t mean you must reject your values and sensitivity: just adapt them and keep going.

Be also flexible to manage changes and new ideas. That will help you to remain young.

We are in a difficult world, we are in a difficult industry: keeping your heading but changing your altitudes will be demanding but with efficient results.


9. Impact of Technological Advancements
As technology rapidly transforms the aviation landscape, how do you anticipate digital innovation influencing leadership effectiveness? What skills will be crucial for leaders to cultivate in this transformative environment?

Our customers are very much aware of the technologies, the habits, the products. That was different decades ago when the information was not such available. Today, the IA, the new Apps, internet aids are everywhere and cannot be avoided.

Most of the time these changes in techno are very positive: better products, excellent ways of communication, more mordern management because of better communication, CRMs availability for better performances etc.

It is our role as managers but also thanks to our direct link to customers to adapt and articulate our way of work. Customers are changing, we must change as well.

Thanks to the technology, we can learn and improve very quickly. That is reflected in our daily work and we become more efficient. To the benefit of our customers.
To decide is faster since we have more informations to share.


10. Cultivating Long-Term Client Partnerships
In your experience with high-value transactions, how do you prioritize and nurture long-term relationships with clients? What strategies have proven most effective in fostering loyalty and trust in a competitive market?

If you are a good professional and recognized for such, your customers will remain and will bring new customers.

Transparency and sincerity are the secret to build a long-term relationship that pays at the end.
And what you have built will be for decades. I am so happy when a customer comes back to me after a long period or has been my customer for decades.

I also try to communicate as much as possible, via the social network but as well using more classical communication modes since our customers, some time not so young, are used to classical ways of communication.

A face-to-face meeting will never be replaced by a mail (reflecting most of the time somethig different) or a chat on Instagram. You would take the risk to distroy a relation.

And remain available, any time, to supply what he needs to your customer! Demanding, challenging but with positive results. Remaining available for a customer is always greatful.


Thierry, thank you for sharing your profound insights and wisdom today. Your extensive experience and unwavering commitment to excellence in business aviation not only inspire those within the industry but also signal to potential collaborators the unique value you bring. Your leadership exemplifies the confluence of ethical practice, professional expertise, and a passion for customer satisfaction. It has been an enlightening experience, and I look forward to the opportunity to further share and explore the invaluable contributions you make to the aviation community. Thank you once again for your time and for the strategic insight you provide.


Thierry de Poncins

Thierry de Poncins is a seasoned advisor specializing in new and pre-owned private and corporate aircraft, with 32 years of esteemed experience in the industry. He has successfully facilitated over $3.5 billion in sales, including 115 Falcon Jets, and has held senior sales roles at leading European aeronautical firms, including 20 years with Falcon and 6 years with Gulfstream.

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