jetAVIVA appoints Bobby Jensen to MD | Corporate Jet Investor | CJI news
jetAVIVA has named Bobby Jensen managing director, a hire specifically structured to deepen the firm's market coverage across the Citation M2 and Citation CJ3 product lines in the pre-owned segment. Jensen arrives with more than 25 years of aviation industry experience, including nearly a decade of customer-facing and new aircraft sales roles at Textron Aviation, where he developed particular traction in the Citation M2 market. His credentials extend beyond the boardroom: Jensen holds an Airline Transport Pilot certificate and a Citation 525 type rating, placing him among the relatively small group of aircraft sales professionals who possess direct, certificated operational experience in the platforms they represent. He is based in Wichita, Kansas, the geographic center of Cessna and Beechcraft production, and holds a degree from Kansas State University.
The organizational structure jetAVIVA is implementing with this hire is notable. Senior managing director Jason Deifik retains responsibility for the Citation CJ3+ and CJ3 Gen2, while Jensen is positioned specifically to focus on early-model Citation CJ3 aircraft. This division reflects a deliberate market segmentation strategy, acknowledging that early-generation CJ3 aircraft occupy a distinct buyer profile and valuation tier from their later-production counterparts. The CJ3, certified for single-pilot operations and known for its 6-passenger cabin and 417-knot cruise speed, has accumulated a substantial pre-owned inventory over its production history, and differentiating between model generations at the managing director level signals that jetAVIVA is treating these as fundamentally different market conversations rather than a single homogeneous fleet category.
For working pilots and operators evaluating pre-owned light jets, the significance of Jensen's OEM background is substantial. Professionals who have spent years inside Textron's sales organization possess granular knowledge of aircraft configuration variations, avionics packages, maintenance program enrollment histories, and factory support nuances that are difficult to replicate through brokerage experience alone. Buyers of pre-owned Citation M2 and CJ3 aircraft frequently encounter questions about Cessna Care programs, Pro-Parts enrollment, and avionics update compliance — areas where OEM institutional knowledge translates directly into transaction quality. Jensen's ATP certificate and type rating in the 525 series further differentiate him from advisors who approach these aircraft purely as financial assets rather than flyable systems.
The hire reflects a broader competitive dynamic in the pre-owned business aviation market, where specialization has increasingly become the differentiating factor among established brokers. The Citation M2 and CJ3 occupy the light jet category that serves as the primary entry point for Part 91 operators transitioning from turboprops and for smaller Part 135 certificate holders seeking single-pilot jet operations. Demand in this segment has remained relatively resilient, supported by the aircraft's operating economics and training accessibility through SimuFlite and FlightSafety International. jetAVIVA's deliberate investment in platform-specific managing directors, rather than generalist transaction brokers, positions the firm to serve the growing population of owner-pilots and small flight departments who increasingly expect their acquisition advisors to hold demonstrable expertise in the specific airframe under consideration.
