Wheels Up makes another C-suite hire

By Doug Gollan, October 19, 2021

The private aviation membership provider is adding a chief technology and development officer

Srikanth Satya has joined Wheels Up as chief technology and development officer. 

Satya joins Wheels Up at a pivotal time. The company is attempting to build a marketplace that will unlock the supply of private aircraft to democratize private flying.

With record demand, a number of key competitors have stopped taking new members and are restructuring their programs.

Perhaps benefitting from a clean-sheet approach to its offering in 2019, Wheels Up so far is continuing to take new customers.

Satya comes to Wheels Up after two decades of experience leading technology innovation at Amazon, Microsoft, and Dell EMC.  He brings over 20 years of technology leadership experience. Accomplishments include co-formulating strategies and launching company- and industry-first products in big data analytics, object storage, real-time streaming, messaging systems, and container platforms.

Amazon, Dell background

The new hire is recognized for building large-scale distributed cloud services and products for Global Fortune 100 companies. Satya’s vision to set new business directions resulted in the release of foundational products for Amazon Web Services (AWS). At Dell EMC, he led its move from a storage provider to a modern data platform supplier.

“I am pleased to welcome Srikanth to Wheels Up.  We are on the verge of an exciting new era of IT advancements that will enhance the customer experience through new products and services that will strengthen our business operations,” said Vinayak Hegde, president of Wheels Up.

He adds, “Srikanth is recognized as a technology visionary with a passion for developing and launching innovative technologies and products.  His desire to foster innovation and entrepreneurial mindset coupled with his ability to build strong business partnerships will be instrumental in driving our mission to create enduring stakeholder value.”

“We are incredibly fortunate to have Srikanth joining us,” said Kenny Dichter, chairman and CEO of Wheels Up. “We are having tremendous success building our executive team with world-class talent.  Srikanth’s leadership and technical depth will allow us to fulfill our vision of building the industry’s leading marketplace.”

“Wheels Up has an enormous opportunity to deliver cutting-edge experiences and service to its members and customers,” said Satya in a written statement.

Hegde, who joined earlier this year, was recently promoted to president of the top three private aviation sellers.

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