Flexjet’s Ricci Tapped for NBAA SDC Keynote Address

Aviation industry leader Kenn Ricci will be the featured keynote speaker at the opening session of this year’s NBAA Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference, which will take place in Cleveland from March 24 to 26.

Best known as the chairman of global fractional fleet operator Flexjet, Ricci launched his first aviation business 45 years ago, and today he owns and manages more than 12 companies covering virtually the entire industry, including aircraft charter, management, maintenance, engineering, brokerage, and sustainability.

Ricci’s passion for aviation started as a pilot with an ATP type rating, and he has amassed more than 6,000 flight hours, including serving as then-Gov. Bill Clinton’s pilot during the 1992 presidential campaign. He also sits on the board of trustees for the University of Notre Dame (his alma mater), Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and the Smithsonian Institution.

Among his honors was being inducted as a Living Legend of Aviation, as well as receiving that group’s Lifetime Aviation Entrepreneur Award, which has since been named after him. Ricci is also a recipient of Harvard Business School’s Dively Entrepreneurship Award and NATA’s highest honor, the William “Bill” Ong Memorial Award.

“Kenn Ricci has spent his entire career shaping the future of business aviation, creating innovative pathways that bring people, technology, and opportunity together,” said NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen. “He is a true leader and visionary in our industry, and we look forward to hearing his perspectives at what promises to be an inspiring and forward-thinking edition of our Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference.”