Charter & Fractional
Universal Jet Services savors steady growth
Times are tough, but you won’t hear a lot of complaints from Universal Jet Services.

Times are tough, but you won’t hear a lot of complaints from Universal Jet Services. In fact, the company is doing well enough that it made its first appearance ever at  September’s NBAA Convention in Orlando, Fla.

Universal Jet was founded in 1994 as strictly a charter operation,  according to founder and president Michael McCauley. But for McCauley, the journey began much earlier. In 1983, at 16, he was “sweeping floors and cleaning toilets” at Hop-A-Jet in Fort Lauderdale. Hop-A-Jet founder Harvey Hop became McCauley’s mentor and taught him to fly, an experience that he says served him well.