Kenn Ricci

Aviation entrepreneur Kenneth C. "Kenn" Ricci is the principal of Directional Aviation Capital, which owns or invests in various aviation enterprises including Flight Options and FlexJet, which he also serves as chairman. Ricci also is an operating partner at Resilience Capital Partners,[1] a private equity firm with a wide variety of portfolio companies, including an investment in Flight Options,[2] and has helped found or lead other companies, including Nextant Aerospace and Constant Aviation.

Corporate Wings

In 1981, Ricci began his entrepreneurial career by founding Corporate Wings, an aircraft management and charter operation company providing charter flight service to corporate clients. The company grew rapidly, with annual revenues increasing from $300,000 to approximately $3.4 million between 1981 and 1985, they still remain the industry leader.[3] The firm was named to the Inc. 500 list of America's fastest-growing companies, among other honors.[4]

Over time, Ricci expanded Corporate Wings into a diversified service-oriented transportation firm that provided other aviation support services; including aircraft maintenance, fueling and storage, and other aspects of aircraft operations.[5]

In 2005, Corporate Wings acquired a stake in Mercury Air Centers, a company operating aircraft support facilities at airports around the U.S.[6] As chief executive officer, Ricci realigned its operating divisions, deployed $245 million of invested capital and eventually sold the company to the Macquarie Infrastructure Trust in 2007. The deal was valued at $615 million.[7]

Flight Options

Ricci founded Cleveland, Ohio-based Flight Options in 1998 in an effort to develop a nationwide fractional jet services ownership program. Flight Options enjoyed significant early success, with its annual revenues growing from $35 million to $300 million in 17 months of operations.[8] In December 2001, the company combined operations with Raytheon Travel Air, a subsidiary of Raytheon Company, doubling the company's size.

Ricci left the company in 2003,[9] but then re-purchased a stake in Flight Options[10] in April 2008 and rejoined the company as chairman that summer.[11] In March 2009, Directional Aviation Capital, an investment firm led by Ricci, and private equity firm Resilience Capital Partners, acquired an interest in Flight Options.[12]

Like other companies in the private jet market, Flight Options saw its business diminish during the recession of 2008. However, the firm has recovered rapidly since then.[13] Flight Options currently provides a suite of fractional jet services, membership and 25-hour jet card programs for personal travel by individuals using a full line of previously owned aircraft from a diverse range of manufacturers.[14]

Flexjet

In September 2013, Ricci announced that Directional Aviation would acquire Flexjet, a leading provider of fractional, jet card and charter services, from of Bombardier Aerospace, the world’s largest business aviation manufacturer,[15] in exchange for a $185 million cash payment. [16]

Ricci also announced substantial investments in Flexjet’s fleet during 2013, placing orders with Bombardier that, with options, could total $5.6 billion in new aircraft. [17] [18] In 2014, Flexjet further expanded its fleet, moving beyond its former exclusive commitment to Bombardier-manufactured planes to add the Embraer Phenom 300 under an existing contract between Directional Aviation and Embraer. It also placed orders for up to 50 long-range aircraft from Gulfstream.[19] In total, Flexjet has confirmed orders for 207 new planes with options that could total up to 445 aircraft.

Also during 2014, Flexjet prepared to exit the charter market. As part of the first consolidation of its aviation companies, Directional Aviation combined the charter brokerage operations of its Flexjet, Flight Options and Sentient Jet companies under the Skyjet brand name, which it had acquired from Bombardier as part of the Flexjet transaction. Skyjet would concentrate solely on charter services, with Flight Options, Flexjet and Sentient Jet continuing to offer fractional and membership programs. [20]

In November 2015, Flexjet announced that it had placed a firm order valued at $2.4 billion for 20 Aerion AS2 supersonic jets, with delivery to begin in 2023.[21]

Nextant Aerospace

Ricci also has founded or been involved with the management of several other companies, including Nextant Aerospace, which he serves as chief executive officer. Founded in 2007, Nextant is the first company to introduce the concept of aircraft remanufacturing to the business jet market[22] with its Nextant 400XT, a remanufactured Beechjet 400A/XP equipped with the Williams FJ44-3AP engines and Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21™ integrated avionics suite. More recently, Nextant has developed the Nextant G90XT, which applied the same principles of remanufacturing to the turboprop market. [23]

Personal Background

An alumnus of the University of Notre Dame and the Cleveland–Marshall College of Law, Ricci had a long career as a type-rated pilot in Gulfstream, Falcon and Citation jets[24] that included serving as personal pilot to President Bill Clinton during his first race for president.[25]

Ricci also has been recognized for his writings in management philosophy, which center around the principles of treating employees in an open and trusting manner. "Management by Trust," a distillation of his philosophy, is a widely read management primer.[26]

He has served on a number of charitable boards, including those of the Business Advisory Council of the University of Notre Dame; University Hospitals; the Arizona Cystic Fibrosis Foundation; the Rainbow National Leadership Council; and, Gilmour Academy. He also is an active member of the Young Presidents' Organization.[27][28]

Accolades

Ricci has received many awards, including an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award[29] and four NEO Success Awards for business growth.[30] He also has been named one of the most influential people in aviation by Aviation International News.[31] In 2010, Ricci received the Harvard Business School's Dively Entrepreneurship Award.[32] In 2012, he was the recipient of the William A. Ong Memorial Award from the National Air Transportation Association, awarded for his extraordinary achievement and extended meritorious service to the general aviation industry.[33] In 2015, Corporate Jet Investor ranked Ricci as no. 1 on its Power List 2015 [34] and Nextant was selected as Aviation Week’s 2015 winner of the Laureate for Business Aviation for introducing new technology to business aviation.[35]

External links

References

  1. ↑ Kenneth Ricci biography, Resilience Capital Partners, accessed December 20, 2011 .
  2. ↑ Flight Options; accessed December 20, 2011 .
  3. ↑ Inc., "To Have and to Hold," October 1, 1988. .
  4. ↑ Inc. List of Top 500 companies, 1988. .
  5. ↑ Smart Business, "Flying High," July 22, 2002, accessed December 20, 2011.
  6. ↑ Bloomberg BusinessWeek.com, Mercury Air Centers Inc. Company Overview, accessed February 9, 2012.
  7. ↑ Kenneth Ricci biography, Directional Aviation Capital, accessed January 3, 2012. .
  8. ↑ Smart Business, "Flying High," July 22, 2002, accessed December 20, 2011.
  9. ↑ AVWeb.com, "Flight Options Appoints New Chief Executive Officer, " February 19, 2003. .
  10. ↑ Crain's Cleveland Business, "Flight Options prepares to expand," August 11, 2008, accessed December 20, 2011.
  11. ↑ Business Jet Traveler, "Kenn Ricci Back at Flight Options," August 1, 2008, accessed February 12, 2012
  12. ↑ Aviation International News Online, "Private-equity Firms Increase Stake in Flight Options," March 31, 2009.
  13. ↑ Aviation Week, "Flight Options at Full Throttle, Fractionals Healthy, Shopping for Mid-Size," accessed February 1, 2012.
  14. ↑ Fractional News, "Flight Options," accessed December 20, 2011
  15. ↑ Flexjet and Quatar Airways Launch Marketing Alliance Flexjet News Release, May 14, 2012
  16. ↑ Bombardier Bails out of its Flexjet Business by Jon Ostrower and Karen Johnson, The Wall Street Journal, September 5, 2013.
  17. ↑ Got Lear Jets? Flexjet Buys Dozens More. by Stephen Pope, Flying, October 22, 2013
  18. ↑ Flexjet Changes Ownership, Places Record Breaking Order by Pia Berggvist, Flying, September 6, 2013.
  19. ↑ Gulfstream Confirms New Business Jets: G500 and G600 Unveiled After Years of Secrecy Over Project by Jon Ostrower, The Wall Street Journal, October 14, 2014.
  20. ↑ Directional Revives Skyjet Charter Brokerage by Kerry Lynch, Aviation Week, June 30, 2014
  21. ↑ "Flexjet Order For 20 Supersonic Jets Boosts Aerion". Aviation Week. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  22. ↑ The Economist, "Business Jets for an Austere Age," October 5, 2011
  23. ↑ Nextant G90XT Completes First Flight by Stephen Pope, Flying Magazine, January 20, 2015
  24. ↑ Aviation International News Online, "FBO Chain Profile: The Chain with No Name," September 13, 2006, accessed December 20, 2011.
  25. ↑ Forbes Video Network, interview with Kenneth Ricci, accessed December 20, 2011. .
  26. ↑ Google Books, review, "Management By Trust", accessed February 9, 2012
  27. ↑ Kenneth Ricci biography, Resilience Capital Partners, accessed December 20, 2011.
  28. ↑ Legacy Magazine, "Solving the Cystic Fibrosis Conundrum," Summer 2010
  29. ↑ Aviation Pros.com, "Corporate Wings Sells Air Services," August 13, 2007, accessed December 20, 2011.
  30. ↑ Kenneth Ricci biography, Management by Trust, accessed January 31, 2012.
  31. ↑ Kenneth Ricci biography, Management by Trust, accessed January 31, 2012.
  32. ↑ Kenneth Ricci biography, Directional Aviation Capital, accessed February 2, 2012.
  33. ↑ Aviation International News Online, " NATA Honors Ricci with Ong Award," June 5, 2012. .
  34. ↑ Corporate Jet Investor Power List 2015 by Alasdair Whyte, Corporate Jet Investor, January 23, 2015
  35. ↑ Business Aviation Laureate: Nextant Aerospace, BizAv Game Changer Aviation Week & Space Technology, March 20, 2015.
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