Miami-headquartered CRAFT has been awarded the ARGUS Platinum safety certification.

“We are proud to have earned the highly respected ARGUS Platinum rating through our steadfast commitment to safety,” says founder Israel Slodowitz. “This important milestone, which follows our recent receipt of IS-BAO Stage I certification, is a reflection of our continued dedication to the absolute safety and wellbeing of our guests. In displaying our ARGUS Platinum rating, we give our clients and partners the assurance they need to fly with complete peace of mind.”

Platinum ARGUS safety certification is awarded exclusively to private airCRAFT providers that can demonstrate compliance with the highest standards of safety and professionalism.

The company, located at Fontainebleau Aviation FBO facility at Miami-Opa Locka Executive airport, received its IS-BAO Stage 1 certification in July 2022.

“CRAFT has experienced tremendous growth and has had a really strong 2022,” says chief administrative officer Natan Benchimol. “As a fast growing company, we were largely focused on delivering results and perfecting our service, as opposed to marketing. But as we take flight into 2023, we wanted to take a moment to look back on the year that was, and reflect on what has been an incredibly exciting period of growth and development for us.”

The company started 2022 with the goal of increasing the number of airCRAFT on its charter certificate. In January it had three Challenger 300s, and by the end of the year it had added one more Challenger 300, three large cabin Gulfstream GIVs and three ultra-long range Gulfstream G550s. These gave transatlantic potential and opened up choice locations across Europe, South and Central America, the Middle East and the rest of the world. More additions are in the pipeline.

“By the end of the year, we had grown our fleet with seven outstanding airCRAFT, an achievement we’re incredibly proud of given the significant undertaking this involves. An airCRAFT can only be approved following a thorough FAA inspection, careful submission of all relevant paperwork, and rigorous internal checks.”

Alongside this, the company developed its already extensive protocols with an FAA-approved training programme for its pilots and, following scrutiny and rigorous demonstrations of its capabilities, gained approval from the FAA to provide flights across the Atlantic.

“The CRAFT family also grew substantially in 2022,” Benchimol continues. The team had more than doubled to over 115 employees by the end of the year. Jenn Tyndal was appointed director of client experience, Stephan Tafel director of flight planning, Rebecca Block director of business intelligence, Ed Frank joins as CFO and chief strategy officer, and there has been significant investment in the dedicated concierge team to streamline the booking process.

To accommodate the growth, CRAFT moved from its original LA-based offices to a premier FBO facility in Miami, Florida at the Miami-Opa Locka Executive airport.