February 20, 2024
To celebrate Women’s History Month, Afrotech is spotlighting Stephanie Chung, Wheels Up’s chief growth officer. The feature highlights “six black women leading the aviation industry.”
Chung joined Wheels Up in August 2020. Previously she was president of JetSuite, the first black woman to help a major private jet operator.
“I think I’m more grateful for having parents that told me that I could do anything, be anything just work hard, put my mind to it and commit,” Chung told AfroTech.
She added, “So, if you’re going to get in, get all in. You’re never going to accomplish anything without absolutely being all in and committed to it.”
[Private Jet Card Comparisons celebrates International Women’s Day]
Chung shared a defining moment in her life when she was 16 years old.
“I remember that one of the highest-ranking female generals came to the base, and she came to get a sandwich. So, I got to make a sandwich for her, and I just remember looking at her in awe, and she had all the medals,” Chung told Afrotech. “It was just so cool to watch her with such poise and grace, but to also watch all the soldiers standing at attention in a big and powerful way.”
Chung began her aviation career as a baggage handler at Boston’s Logan Airport, working for USAirways. After joining Bombardier’s Flexjet, she rose to vice president, sales.
Other black female executives recognized by Afrotech includes Keyra Lynn Johnson, chief diversity officer at Delta Air Lines; Angel Hughes, founder, Sisters of the Skies; Rexy Rolle, general counsel of Western Air; Sierra Grimes, senior manager at the National Business Aviation Association, and Stephanie Hill, an executive vice president at Lockheed Martin.
