November 15, 2024
Matt Lesmeister moves from CFO to COO, Mike Guina become Chief Commercial Officer, and Brad Garner joins FlyExclusive as CFO.
FlyExclusive announced several executive leadership changes late today.
Matt Lesmeister (pictured right), who joined as EVP and Chief of Staff in May before being appointed Chief Financial Officer the following month, is moving to the Chief Operating Officer role.
Mike Guina (pictured left), a longtime sidekick of Founder, Chairman, and CEO Jim Segrave, who returned to the COO spot in May, will now be the Chief Commercial Officer.
Brad Garner replaces Lesmeister as CFO.
“The addition of Brad to our team adds significant bench depth to a leadership team that we believe is the best in the industry. The actions reflect our commitment to a leadership team with world-class professionals and positions the company for the next phase of growth,” said Segrave.
He added, “I’m thrilled to welcome Brad to the organization, and I’m confident his expertise in fundraising, innovative capital structuring, and accounting will further optimize our finance organization.”
Segrave continued, “His addition, in close coordination with Matt Lesmeister, should extend and leverage the significant improvement in our processes made by Matt and team over the course of this past year. Brad’s addition also allows Matt and Mike to accelerate strategic operational and new business initiatives designed to drive multiyear value and success for flyExclusive’s customers, employees, and shareholders.”
Garner joins from Hale Partnership Capital Management, LLC, a multi-strategy investment partnership focusing on public equity, private equity, and real estate.
He has been the Chief Financial and Compliance Officer at Hale since 2015.
Garner also served as the Chief Financial and Principal Accounting Officer for the publicly traded HG Holdings, Inc.
Garner was also CFO of Best Bar Ever, Inc., a protein bar company, where he helped lead the spin-off of non-core assets and structured multiple rounds of venture capital investment and ultimate exit.
Prior to HPCM, Brad spent nearly a decade in public accounting at Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP.
While there, he worked in the audit and tax practices.
“I’m incredibly excited to join FlyExclusive as it sets the industry standard for excellence in private aviation,” Garner said.
He added, “I look forward to leveraging my public company experience to build on the strong foundation that’s been established and continue flyExclusive’s impressive growth trajectory.”
Lesmeister will focus on “driving operational excellence across the enterprise with continued alignment and coordination between finance, sales, and operating functions.”
Guina will further focus on sales and new business strategies.
His responsibilities cover wholesale, retail, fractional, jet cards, aircraft maintenance, repair, and operations.
FlyExclusive ranked as the 5th-largest charter/fractional operator through June, per ARGUS Traqpak.
After moving into red ink following its December 2023 IPO, Segrave told analysts that, following its Q2 earnings, he believed the company had turned the quarter.
Earlier this month, FlyExclusive agreed to take over Volato’s fleet management services.
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