Private aviation-membership company, Wheels Up, launched in August 2013, and by the end of 2014, Wheels Up had already signed up 1,000 members who can all book a closed-fleet of private planes through their mobile app at a flat, all-inclusive hourly rate. Wheels Up offers two different types of membership programs, Individual/Family or Corporate Membership and both types of aircraft in the Wheels Up fleet have many amenities including, room for up to nine passengers, premium leather seats, a full lavatory, onboard entertainment systems, satellite WiFi, power outlets at every seat, blankets, Bluetooth, and a conference system. Founder and CEO Kenny Dichter is here with me today to discuss the democratization of private aviation.
KENNY DICHTER“You can’t fight technology, if I’m going to have tech, it’s going to be a balance of power.”
“Our Wheels Up pilots’ uniforms could be interactive.”
“Some of the best work in the world has been done in the bathroom. You brain is free of everything else.”
“I wanted to create the Starbucks card of private aviation.”
“Wheels Up is more Netflix than anything. Shared economy, shared rides.”
“We think this is a $50 billion dollar space. We’re broadening the space and making it available to more people.”
“We have two tiers of membership. It’s $17,500 to join as an individual. And $29,000 for corporation.”
“The flying SUV is our King Air. We own that plane exclusively.”
“In private aviation there’s only one SUV. We own it.”
“$4295 per hour for 8 people. Less than $500 a seat.”
“Before I was in private aviation I was sold a company to ClearChannel. It became Live Nation today.”
“Flying privately is better than private publicly.”
“I started my private aviation career as a steward. It was my introduction. I knew I wanted to get out of music and marketing and into private aviation.”
“I’ve taken 3000 private flights. It’s control, predictability, luxury. Efficiency with our time. TSA keeps people safe, but it’s a pain.”
“We’ll exit 2017 with 4000 members. We have 25 hours or more fliers and just bought our 80th plane. We’re really in the first inning of what we’re doing.”
“Brands are service. The Four Seasons you know what you’re getting. Good service = anticipation. You have to anticipate what your client wants before they order it. That’s hospitality.”
“Never give up. No never means no, it means not know. You got to be able to pivot. Everyday I pivot.”
“Yesterday’s business plan is obsolete today.”
“Costco sells value, Wheels Up delivers value. They said it was a natural partnership with Costco.”
“If the Wright brothers were looking down, they’d approve the Costco partnership.”
“Amazon would not be Amazon if it didn’t take 10 years selling books.”
“Thomas Edison said, “I don’t want to invent anything that doesn’t sell.””
“The first private jet ride I ever went on was a loaner jet. I was hooked right away.”
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Dr. Joel Fuhrman is a former competitive figure skater turned world-renowned physician. His practice is based on his “nutritarian’ nutrition-based approach. He has written several books promoting his dietary approaches and his 2013 book Eat to Live was on the New York Times bestseller Paperback Advice list for 90 weeks. In 2016, Eat to Live with Dr. Fuhrman premiered across the nation on PBS.
DR. JOEL FUHRMAN“My primary focus was ice skating, training 6 hours a day. Most of my high school and college life was skating.”
“My real passion was in nutrition. My father was sickly but he got better through nutrition.”
“I met my wife and she was going to medical school. I was jealous. She told me to quit everything and go back to school, so I did.”
“The medical system is insane and people don’t have informed consent. We keep people sick by drugging them into sickness.”
“I decided to write books and do research to have society adopt the beliefs I had.”
“I have 6 NYT bestselling books. I raised over $30 million for PBS tv and have helped thousands of people reverse chronic illness.”
“I was satisfied helping people to the best of my ability. It’s still a process trying to inform people.”
“Fast food is highly addicting. People can’t get off the foods and feel sickly.”
“It would be very hard to be too focused on fitness and health considering how obese this country is.”
“You can overexercise. It can become too much of a stress on your body. Especially as they get older.”
“I want exercise to be fun, and most people don’t get enough of course.”
“The facts show that one serving of french fries a week increases your chances of breast cancer 20%.”
“Two servings of commercial baked goods a week increase the risk of depression by 51%.”
“People don’t realize that tastebuds improve.”
“I disagree with the theory that you can eat TOO healthily.”
“Too much attention to nutritional excellence is like saying you can too kind.”
“You can change later in life. Heart disease is 99.9% preventable.”
“As far as cancer is concerned, common cancers are preventable with a healthy life. The more exposure to processed food in earlier life, the higher your risks of cancer are.”
“Early stage cancer can see reversals with the nutritarian approach.”
“I want a woman’s body fat below 23% and a man’s below 15%.”
“The average American woman weighs over 160 and the average man over 180.”
“We lose weight in the kitchen and gain weight in the gym.”
“Have a big salad once a day as a main dish. We have to have a pound of raw veggies a day. Make the dressing healthy, not the oil and sugar kind.”
“Make a big pot of mushroom and bean soup.”
“Lunch is the most important meal of the day. You’re out in the world and exposed to temptation.”
“Raw greens and raw onions have powerful effects against cancer.”
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