Wheels Up announced the appointment of Vinayak Hegde as President. The move comes during a time of historic demand and revenue growth and on the heels of its public listing in July 2021. Since May 2021, Hegde has served as Chief Marketplace Officer, responsible for leveraging innovative and proprietary technology to both grow and expand its customer base beyond the traditional membership model.
With its next-generation technology-driven platform, the Wheels Up Marketplace is expanding the addressable market and increasing the accessibility of private air travel from hundreds of thousands to millions of consumers. Hegde will continue to report directly to Wheels Up Chairman and CEO Kenny Dichter.
“I am excited to announce the promotion of Vinayak Hegde to President,” said Kenny Dichter, “Since joining our team in May, Vinayak has successfully leveraged his proven, successful track record with Product, Engineering, Sales, Marketing, Data, and Operations to deliver substantial value to the enterprise. Over the last five months, Vinayak has immersed himself in our business, and has rapidly implemented several system enhancements, driving disciplined reporting rooted in transparency and accountability, and hired key leaders which enables us to take Wheels Up to the next level, at an accelerated pace.”
Hegde has spent over two decades leading the technology, marketing, and product development sectors within world-class organizations, including Amazon and Airbnb. He has been recognized as one of the early innovators to combine data, product, engineering, marketing, and revenue management to help companies scale their consumer internet offerings, all of which perfectly position him to lead the team and harmonize all functions of the organization.
In his expanded role, Vinayak will focus on developing and implementing a seamless and holistic approach to the customer, from sales to the management of our members’ and customers’ experience and loyalty. Vinayak will drive world-class execution through ownership of enterprise wide KPI’s across Sales, Revenue, Product, and Operations that measure our performance and drive accountability. Additionally, he will also lead key strategic initiatives across the enterprise.
“I am incredibly fortunate to be a part of Wheels Up and humbled for the opportunity to work with this extraordinary team who are delivering exceptional service to our members and customers in the air and on the ground each and every day. I look forward continuing to make Wheels Up a great place to work and the preferred private aviation and lifestyle company for our members and operating partners,” said Hegde.
