How did you get into business aviation?

Aviation never crossed my mind as a career. Growing up, I was curious about how things work – especially businesses and markets, and why some succeed while others don’t. That curiosity led me to study financial engineering at Princeton and then into asset-backed finance on Wall Street, which is where I first came across aviation, specifically business jets.

From there, I was introduced to VistaJet and was immediately drawn to the vision of building a more global, service-driven business aviation company. I joined Vista in 2016 to build out Asia-Pacific and later moved to lead the US business.

What surprised me is the industry is much less about planes than people think. It’s really about connectivity – helping entrepreneurs, executives and families move efficiently when time matters.

Any advice for your younger self?

I’d tell myself that the real shift happens when you understand that your job is to build a team of smart, capable people – and trust them.

What was your best business decision?

One of the best business decisions I made was joining Vista. In 2016, I joined to lead Asia-Pacific. At the time, the company was still in an early stage of global expansion. Later, moving into the US was another big decision – it’s the most mature and competitive business aviation market in the world and we were still relatively new there.

At the time, you don’t really know how fast you will scale. Or how the market will respond when you are building something different. But I believed in the long-term vision.

The best decisions are rarely made with perfect information. You never have all the facts. You work with what you have at the time. And then you make a judgment.

What’s your favourite aircraft?

The Global 8000. We’ve just converted our Global 7500s, so maybe I'm a bit biased because we operate the largest fleet of them. But I’ve also seen how much our members love it.

What makes it special is that it solves a real problem. Our members are global. They have family to see all over the world, businesses across multiple cities and then passions or sport interests in different places. Being able to fly long distances nonstop changes how they manage time completely and show up at their best. Members can really scale their flying up or down depending on where work and life take them. That flexibility matters a lot.

Is business aviation in the climb, the cruise or the descent and why?

I think we’re still very much in the climb – although it doesn’t look exactly like it did 10 years ago. The biggest change is how people live and operate. More entrepreneurs, investors and families are inherently global now. They’re not really based in one place anymore.

At the same time, we’re seeing a younger client base come in earlier and they think differently about ownership. It’s less about owning an asset and more about having access when they need it.

That shift is important. A younger, more global and sophisticated wealth base doesn’t want to be tied into assets that sit idle or depreciate. They prefer simplicity and the ability to scale usage depending on what’s happening in their life at any given moment. It’s why subscription-based models will continue to climb and traditional models will become less relevant over time.

How do you relax?

Aviation is a 24/7 business, so I’m never fully switched off. When I’m not in meetings with the team or clients, I do try to find ways to recharge – but it’s not really about disconnecting completely. It’s more about changing environment.