KinectAir, the digital platform that’s delivering on-demand private air travel, has announced the appointment of new co-CEOs.
Aviation expert and retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Katie Buss and technology entrepreneur Ben Howard are helming the company jointly.
Previously Buss served as KinectAir’s COO and Howard as co-founder and CTO. Former CEO and co-founder Jonathan Evans continues to serve KinectAir as board chair.
Committed to making private air travel as accessible and easy as booking a hotel online, Buss and Howard are combining their perspectives to grow the KinectAir platform into a household name and provide value to customers at every step in the travel process.
“Alongside Ben’s impressive experience scaling companies and the robust foundation Jonathan has built, I’m excited to bring my aviation and leadership background to this new role,” said Buss.
“KinectAir is opening a world of air travel to a much larger demographic. Our mobile platform is ideal for business travelers, but also makes it easy for friends and families to come together for wine adventures, skiing, golfing trips and music festivals. With a few taps on the app, your loved ones (and your bicycles, clubs or even pets) are able to book an adventure with first-class pilots that operate with the best safety practices. As we scale, we’ll continue to rapidly expand these capabilities and network efficiencies and offer more people an enjoyable travel alternative where getting there is part of the adventure.”
“To make on-demand flight accessible to the public, the industry needs a software platform that allows you to see where you can go and how much it costs,” said Howard.
“We’re removing current barriers with powerful software backed by AI-driven dispatch and a mobile-first strategy to meet customers wherever they are—for frictionless access to safe, FAA-regulated, open-ended travel. In many instances, we’re able to leverage the untapped potential of repositioning flights or ‘empty legs’ to reduce prices dramatically, down to a fraction of traditional charter costs. KinectAir’s AI is built to optimize routing, gracefully handle itinerary changes, consider off-peak hours, reduce scheduling overhead and much more, ultimately to make the entire air travel industry more economic, environmental and accessible. Like Katie, I’m thrilled to join forces and work as a dynamic team so that KinectAir becomes the platform every traveler checks and uses for 100- to 1,000-mile trips.”
“Now is the right time for Katie and Ben to take the leadership yolk and scale KinectAir, as we have long planned,” said Evans. “Our platform, AI technology and marketplace of vetted Part 135 operators is at a maturity point where we’re entering an exciting new phase of growth. KinectAir will continue to leverage a point-to-point pattern of air travel at thousands of local and regional airports across the nation to empower the next age of democratized transportation. I’ll continue to join them in cultivating that noble vision and proudly share the KinectAir story with others.”
