November 12, 2024
Wheels Up continues its acquisition of companies and talent, this time adding Laura Heltebran as chief legal officer.
After plucking a former Amazon and Airbnb executive to lead its Wheels Up marketplace at the end of December, and a GE and eBay alum as human resources boss last week, today Wheels Up tapped Hilton Worldwide. Laura Heltebran joins the diversified private aviation provider as the chief legal officer. She will oversee all legal, corporate governance, privacy, IP, compliance, and risk, reporting to Wheels Up founder and CEO Kenny Dichter.
“We are thrilled Laura is joining Wheels Up, and her expertise working within the hospitality and technology industries for some of the world’s most recognizable brand names like Hilton and Hewlett Packard Enterprise will be a great asset to all of us,” Dichter said.
“I am excited to become part of the Wheels Up team at this incredible time of growth and ongoing innovation,” said Heltebran.
She added, “The company has been a democratizing force in private aviation, and I look forward to bringing my cross-sector experience to Wheels Up as we continue to disrupt the industry.”
Over the past 20 months, Wheels Up has made five acquisitions, launched an aircraft sales unit, consolidated the aircraft management teams at Delta Private Jets and Gama Aviation Signature, and been regularly adding senior-level talent (see Keeping Score at Wheels Up).
Heltebran most recently served as senior vice president and deputy general counsel of Hilton Worldwide. She was responsible for worldwide litigation, compliance, employment, benefits, and technology for its 18 brands in 118 countries.
| January 2021 |
Hires Hilton Worldwide, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Xerox alum Laura Heltebran as Chief Legal Officer |
| January 2021 |
Hires Adobe, eBay, GE exec Francesca Molinari as Chief People Officer |
| January 2021 | Buys Mountain Aviation, 10th largest U.S. charter operator with largest U.S. Citation X fleet |
| December 2020 | Hires Airbnb and Amazon exec Greg Greeley as chairman of its marketplace |
| December 2020 | Hires Grey Goose, Patron marketing boss Lee Applbaum as Chief Marketing Officer |
| November 2020 | Wheels Up CEO Kenny Dichter tells Corporate Jet Investor conference $1 billion in revenues and profitability in sight for 2021 |
| October 2020 | Delta Air Lines’ filing reveals its 24% stake in Wheels Up is valued at $234 million, nearly twice the value of its 9% holdings in Air France KLM Group |
| September 2020 | Combines Delta Private Jets and Gama Aviation Signature management units to launch Wheels Up Aircraft Management |
| August 2020 | Recruits three top execs from QS Partners and Jetcraft to launch Wheels Up Aircraft Sales |
| August 2020 | Appoints former JetSuite president Stephanie Chung as Chief Business Officer targeting diverse growth markets |
| June 2020 | Wheels Up Partners Holdings LLC receives $74 million in CARES Act support after private aviation flights drop by 75% |
| March 2020 | Buys Gama Aviation Signature, the largest U.S. charter operator |
| February 2020 | Appoints former Delta Air Lines SVP Gail Grimmett as Chief Experience Officer |
| December 2019 | Buys Delta Private Jets, 4th largest U.S. charter operator with Delta Air Lines taking a 24% stake in Wheels Up |
| September 2019 | Buys tech platform Avianis to expand its charter marketplace |
| August 2019 | Raises $128 million in Series D from Franklin Templeton, T. Rowe Price, and Fidelity Management |
| June 2019 | Buys Travel Management Company (TMC Jets), the 9th largest U.S. charter operator |
| February 2019 | Launches Connect membership to target entry-level flyers |
Before her time at Hilton, Heltebran served as senior vice president and deputy general counsel of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, senior vice president and senior corporate counsel of Xerox, Inc, and other major corporations including Time Warner and The Coca-Cola Company.
Heltebran becomes the fourth female executive-level corporate appointment for Wheels Up in the past year, entering an industry where women are largely underrepresented in the C-suite.
The new legal boss tells Private Jet Card Comparisons, “You can’t help but notice that Kenny is so leaned into bringing strong women and gender diversity.”
Heltebran holds a Juris Doctorate degree from George Mason University School of Law and an undergraduate degree from George Mason University.
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