Wheels Up names former Amazon, Airbnb head as Chief Marketplace Officer

Wheels Up app

As Wheels Up continues its push to digitalize and democratize the industry, Chief Marketplace Officer Vinayak Hegde lays out a vision of what’s ahead

Wheels Up is continuing to add to its all-star executive line-up. As it prepares to become a publicly traded company, the New York-based private aviation services provider has plucked alumni of GE, Airbnb, Amazon, Hilton, NetJets, Grey Goose, and the Air Force. The latest addition, Vinayak Hegde as chief marketplace officer, brings more digital marketplace and public company experience.

Inside Wheels Up’s plan to be the Amazon of private jets

Wheels Up

In advance of its public listing on the New York Stock Exchange, the company presented analysts its lofty ambitions to revolutionize private jet access

Wheels Up founder Kenny Dichter believes the addressable market for private aviation can grow from its current $31 billion to $80 billion by 2025. It plans to be a key driver. Here’s how…

A detailed overview of each presentation during Wheels Up’s Analyst Day

“So if you’re tired of the same old story…turn some pages.” – REO Speedwagon

Ready or not, Kenny Dichter and Wheels Up plan to change the face of private jet access. It’s a big leap from marketing ploys like selling memberships through Costco. Beyond stump speeches at industry conferences, there will be the harsh spotlight from being a publicly traded company. If he’s successful, the lifelong entrepreneur will find his name alongside aviation innovators such as Pan Am founder Juan Trippe, former American Airlines chairman Robert Crandall, who ignited revenue management and frequent flyer programs, and inventor of fractional private jet ownership, Richard Santulli. The latter created NetJets, the world’s largest private jet operator, and gave Dichter his entree into the industry. In fact, Dichter might fly higher than all of them. Success would make Dichter the Jeff Bezos of private jets.

In a two-hour presentation to financial analysts Friday morning, the founder and CEO of Wheels Up, along with his leadership team, discussed various milestones, projected growth, and insights on where it’s coming from. More than that, they unveiled a dramatic vision for a private aviation marketplace they say could more than double the addressable market by 2025, democratizing the segment down to low single-digit millionaires. It will certainly be key in their plan to grow revenues from $695 million last year to over $2.1 billion by 2025.

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