Dichter says Real SLX offshoot Real Jet will expand the private jet market generating incremental business from new and low propensity flyers.
One of private aviation’s strongest evangelists, Kenny Dichter, is coming back.
Like Marquis Jet Partners and Wheels Up, Dichter believes Real SLX offshoot Real Jet will attract new consumers and corporate flyers to private aviation and generate incremental spending from those who only fly privately sporadically.
Dichter launched Real SLX last September.
The company is a sports and entertainment experience platform.
He has already inked deals and partnerships with FanDuel and BetMGM.
FanDuel boasts over 12 million active users.
BetMGM saw its active users jump 55% last year.
Dichter said at the launch, “With Real SLX, you don’t have to be a professional sports team owner to have the team owner experience.”
Real SLX, he says, enables online businesses to create a physical experience with top customers.
He calls his new private jet concept a “bold new venture focused on exceptional service, simplicity, and community.”
Dichter tells Private Jet Card Comparisons Real Jet will be at the crossroads of several trends, including traveling with friends and family to high-profile sporting and entertainment events, experiential luxury travel, small and mid-market companies seeking customer VIP experiences, and the desire to fly privately.
Dichter says:
‘Real Jet adds a new dimension to the broader Real SLX platform, offering
unprecedented access to private aircraft—without membership fees or long-term commitments. As part of a dynamic ecosystem that includes hospitality, unique experiences, and curated benefits from world-class partners, Real Jet is designed for a generation of flyers who expect flexibility, predictability, and personalization.’
He says that Real Jet will not operate its aircraft but partner with leading operators.
In 2001, he launched Marquis Jet and helped grow the private jet market after convincing NetJets Chairman Richard Santulli to let him sell access to the Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary’s fleet in 25-hour jet card chunks.
Previously, to enter the Netjets program, a customer had to buy or finance a share of a private jet—fractional ownership, commit to a five-year contract, and typically needed to fly at least 50 hours per year.
Dichter’s relentless promotion helped build the then-nascent jet card market from a handful of companies to a market with over 80 providers and 500 program options.
Of his latest venture, Dichter says:
‘We built Real SLX in order to put our members at the right events, in the right seats, next to the right people. Real Jet serves its customers in the same way- by connecting flyers with the right companies, the right aircraft, and the right people.’
At Wheels Up in 2013, Dichter popularized turboprops, elevating the King Air.
Dichter pitched it as private aviation’s version of the all-purpose SUV.
In both cases, Marquis Jet and Wheels Up, backed by Dichter’s relentless marketing, with dozens of celebrity ambassadors, sponsorship of two Triple Crown winners, appearances on Entourage and The Apprentice, and sales of memberships via Costco, helped attract multiple thousands of first-time flyers into private aviation.
Dichter says the two program-based companies sold over $10 billion in jet cards and memberships, averaging a 90% retention rate.
The programmatic offerings also encouraged infrequent private flyers to make incremental trips.
Dichter says, “Real Jet is more than getting from point A to point B. It’s about unlocking everything that comes with being part of the broader Real SLX community: sports, lifestyle, experiences, and lifelong memories.”
Dichter says specifics about the Real Jet programs will be available in the next 45 to 60 days.
While programmatic private jet products – jet cards and fractional flight providers – retained 95% of the first-time customers they gained during the Covid demand surge, providers who sell private flights on an ad hoc basis report that only about 10% of those new flyers have stayed around.
Dichter says Real Jet won’t compete with existing programs.
He adds, “We think Real SLX’s reach to over 22 million U.S. millionaires, of whom maybe 150,000 are regular private aviation users, creates a white space where we can help bring lots of new consumers into the market.”
Aviation International News selected Dichter as the 2021 Top Flight Award for Excellence in Innovation or Design winner.
In 2020, Dichter won the Living Legends of Aviation Eren Ozmen Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
The award recognizes innovators and disruptors.
In 2008, his alma mater, the University of Wisconsin, named him to the Forward Under 40 list of top entrepreneurs.
As a freshman, he opened a retail shop called Bucky’s.
Other Dichter ventures include a record label and aviation-centric Tequila Avion.
Wheels Up had over 12,000 members, and its annual revenues reached over $1.5 billion after a 2021 SPAC IPO.
However, losses mounted as it struggled to integrate a half-dozen operators it acquired immediately before and in the early days of the Covid pandemic.
Dichter exited Wheels Up in 2023 after helping it secure additional funding via Delta Air Lines.
While criticized for his buying spree, his acquisition of Air Partner has become a key element of its current strategy.
Likewise, Marquis Jet, after its acquisition by Berkshire Hathaway in 2010, became the NetJets jet card product, and before Covid, was the entry point for about 50% of its core fractional customers.
Dichter says that this time, however, private aviation will only be a piece of the puzzle, although if he’s successful, Real SLX through Real Jet could be a conduit for new consumers into the market.
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