Business Brief: flyExclusive Doubles Down on Innovation and Expands Leadership Team
flyExclusive, a leading provider of premium private jet charter experiences, today announced the expansion of its leadership team along with new strategic investments that will accelerate the company’s growth and deliver on its promise of innovation in private jet travel. The company named Tommy Sowers as President of its private charter operation, while David Ivy joins the team as Vice President of Engineering. Sowers will oversee charter operations in Kinston and Ivy will operate out of flyExclusive’s new technology hub in Durham, North Carolina, where the company will develop innovative applications to enhance operations and continuously improve its world-class private jet experiences for clients and partners.
Tommy Sowers joins flyExclusive following a successful career in entrepreneurship, academia, the military and public service. Sowers most recently served as the Southeast region lead for innovation for the U.S. Department of Defense and taught innovation and entrepreneurship at Duke University. Prior to this, he co-founded and was Chief Executive Officer of Durham- and San Francisco-based GoldenKey and was a management consultant at McKinsey & Company. A U.S. Army Green Beret combat veteran, Sowers previously served as an Assistant Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. At flyExclusive, he will work with the leadership team to develop and execute the company’s strategic growth plan, which includes recently passing 500 employees and close to $250 million in annual recurring revenue.
“flyExclusive has become one of the fastest-growing companies in North Carolina, with an incredible team of industry veterans using their combined expertise to build an elite brand in private jet travel,” said Sowers. “With the creation of our new technology hub, we are doubling down on our strategic investment in North Carolina and creating advancements that will power innovative private jet travel offerings as we look toward the next phase of our explosive growth.”
David Ivy joins flyExclusive with a proven record of success leading technology teams and developing consumer and enterprise software applications across a variety of industries, including healthcare and data science. In his new role, Ivy will build an in-house engineering team focused on creating and improving applications to increase the efficiency and usage of flyExclusive’s floating fleet of more than 70 light-to-heavy jets.
“flyExclusive’s close proximity to North Carolina’s Research Triangle provides access to some of the best and most creative engineering talent in the nation,” said Ivy. “We will draw on the region’s top software development professionals and data engineers to create technologies that will use artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analytics to optimize the private jet travel experience for our customers.”
