Wheels Up Seeks Diversity As It Diversifies

From its launch in 2013, Wheels Up quickly built itself into one of private aviation’s most recognized brands. Then, in the past year-and-a-half the New York City-based company has been diversifying its offerings. Now, it’s doubling down on diversity as it seeks to expand its clientele to reflect greater society.

_{“If you want to be the world’s best private aviation company, you need to be the most inclusive, and you have to action that inclusiveness.”}

_{– Kenny Dichter, founder and CEO of Wheels Up}

This morning the private aviation solutions provider is appointing as its first chief growth officer Stephanie Chung, one of business aviation’s most prominent black executives. She’s accompanied by Thomas Fry, who’s openly gay, and will serve alongside her as director of growth marketing and public relations. Their mandate is to connect the brand with communities of color, female leaders, the LGBT market, and other market segments not typically targeted by private aviation.

They join Gail Grimmett, who in February was appointed chief experience officer, the most senior female executive at the company.

“If you want to be the world’s best private aviation company, you need to be the most inclusive, and you have to action that inclusiveness,” Wheels Up’s CEO Kenny Dichter said during an interview. “Diversity and inclusiveness equal perspectives, and the more perspectives the company has, the better the company’s perspective.”

The appointments follow what has been an 18-month transformation of the aviation business founded by Dichter as he moves forward towards a possible IPO.

Less than two years ago, the brand, backed by high-profile ambassadors like Tom Brady and Serena Williams, was mainly selling $17,500 pay-as-you-fly memberships on an owned, but outsourced fleet of King Air 350i turboprops. Today, it is the second largest operator of shared private aircraft in the U.S., trailing only Berkshire Hathaway’s NetJets.

In February 2019 Dichter pushed his long-held goal of democratizing access to private aviation by launching Connect. The entry level membership starts at under $3,000 for fliers wishing to share flights or buy empty legs, which cost under $500 for the entire aircraft.

After acquiring TMC Jets, Delta Private Jets, and Gama Aviation Signature, the company operating its distinctive blue tail fleet, Dichter now has three of the nine largest Part 135 charter operators under his umbrella.

Those deals brought along hundreds of aircraft in all shapes and sizes, including long-haul Global Express and Gulfstream airplanes that can fly nonstop to Asia or Europe, a big jump for the popular King Air, which is best suited for short-hops and accessing airports with runways that can’t take jets.

It also added jet cards, retail and wholesale on-demand charter, aircraft management and even maintenance to the services Wheels Up can now provide.

Then last week, Dichter launched Wheels Up Aircraft Sales, recruiting three top executives from two of the sector’s most prominent players, QS Partners, which is owned by NetJets, and U.K.-based Jetcraft. A 2019 study from the latter projects a market of over $150 billion in new and pre-owned aircraft transactions through 2023.

“From your first private flight to buying a brand new Gulfstream G700, we are there,” Dichter said in revealing the news.

With a wide array of products and services to sell, Dichter now plans to expand into new customer segments, promoting private travel beyond the industry’s typical wheelhouse affinity targets of horses, golf courses, and tennis.

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“I’ve known Stephanie for many years and watched her tremendous successes within our industry, so it’s with great pride and excitement that we welcome her to Wheels Up as our first chief growth officer,” said Dichter. “She shares our commitment to diversification as a driver for growth and new member acquisition.”

Fry says, while their positions are new, he was attracted by Wheels Up’s existing corporate esprit. He points to initiatives like Meals Up, launched by Dichter with the help of NFL star quarterback Russell Wilson and Jennifer Lopez. To date it has accumulated donations delivering over 15 million meals for COVID-19 relief through Feeding America.

Noting the pandemic has disproportionately impacted communities of color, Fry said, “It’s about doing something, not just saying something.”

Dichter, who after the acquisition of Delta Private Jets, now counts Delta Air Lines as his largest shareholder, says seeing the Atlanta-based airline’s leadership in diversity initiatives close-up impressed him.

“Diversity to Delta is paramount and it’s reflected internally and externally,” says Grimmett, who was a longtime executive at the airline prior to joining Wheels Up.

When Chung exited JetSuite earlier this year, Dichter says he sprung at the opportunity to recruit her and then Fry, who was marketing director.

Black Americans and the LGBT community represent a combined $120 billion travel market in the U.S., according to separate studies by Mandala and Out Now, respectively.

Despite the buying power, women, minorities and LGBT are massively underrepresented in the C-suite, according to various reports. U.S. Blacks make up 20% of the employees in the U.S. hospitality industry, but only 1.5% of executives. There are currently just 37 female and four openly LGBT CEOs among Fortune 500 companies.

Chung, whose experience in aviation spans 30 years, started as a baggage handler at Boston’s Logan Airport before making the switch to private aviation, rising to vice president of sales at Flexjet and most recently president at JetSuite. During her tenure there, the company received a perfect score from the Human Rights Campaign, a group supporting LGBT issues in the workplace. Earlier this year she was named to Ebony magazine’s Power 100 list.

“Wheels Up has redefined private aviation in the air and on the ground, and I am thrilled to further its strong trajectory of growth with a key focus on diversity,” said Chung. “Wheels Up is an incredible brand that is uniquely positioned to serve the full lifecycle of a private flyer, and I look forward to amplifying that message to more audiences.”