Meet Matt Dalton. The newest addition to the Fly Louie team has a serious passion for private aviation. An industry veteran of 17 years, Matt brings extensive experience and insight to Fly Louie. We caught up with him to get his perspective on the industry, his new role, and a peek into how he spends his time when he’s not working.

Q: When did you first become interested in aviation?

I got the bug when I was about eight or nine. As a kid, I was glued to the TV watching F-16s flying off aircraft carriers and scenes from the Gulf War. When finally tall enough to reach the pedals, I took my first flight lesson at 13 years old. I still remember the adrenaline rush handling the controls of the small Cessna 150.

My first job in aviation was during high school. During the summers I worked for a small FBO in Beverly, Massachusetts and did aircraft fueling to help pay for flight training. Early on I saw my future as a professional pilot. I went to college with the intent of studying programs that would put me in a position to fly for the airlines. But about midway through, I switched majors to Aviation Management to pursue the business side of aviation.

Over the last 17 years, I've worked for some of the larger brokers and operators in the private jet industry. And now with Fly Louie, I get to leverage my experience from both sides of the business to continue to grow the Alliance and our WholesaleFlex program.

Q: What were you doing before joining Fly Louie?

Before joining Fly Louie I worked six and a half years with Jet Linx, one of the larger national jet card membership and aircraft management companies with a focus on providing exceptional, localized client experience. During my time with Jet Linx we achieved significant growth: expanding from 7 bases and 35 aircraft to 18 bases and over 100 aircraft under management. I was part of a broader team tasked with driving aircraft revenue hours and increasing fleet utilization and efficiency through industry partner channels.

I remain extremely grateful for that opportunity - to be a part of an industry leading team with a shared commitment to excellence. The personal relationships and shared knowledge will last a lifetime. Jet Linx’s unique business model continues to drive new base development and membership growth and I am excited to see what the future holds.

Q: What are some areas of opportunity in private aviation?

Over the years I've seen many optimization products enter the market. However, the industry is still not optimized to a level where the smaller operators are able to capture profitable one way and transient charter opportunities (in a normal demand climate). Meanwhile for the basic local round trips, margins have taken a hit, specifically due to increasing competition from large floating fleets who often own their aircraft. Traditional aircraft management business models that depend on charter revenue have had to take on more risk, often attempting to float while balancing owner usage, crew and maintenance demands. The missing piece to the puzzle remains the lack of efficient matching of buyers needs within a broad marketplace. Some of the utilization/efficiency problems have been solved through consolidation however it remains that 95% of US based 135 operators are made up of small to midsize companies operating less than 20 aircraft. To be competitive in the marketplace they have to invest a significant amount of time and resources. The challenge for this size operator is that they don’t have enough time or resources on their own.

Q. How do you see Fly Louie closing the gap on some of these operator challenges?

Fly Louie fills the gaps by leveraging technology and larger volume wholesale buyer relationships. Our suite of offerings support small and medium size operators throughout the lifecycle of their businesses.

For example, we work with our WholesaleFlex operators to integrate scheduling and route optimization platforms to identify efficiencies and decrease empty flying. We also work with existing online B2B marketplace resources to ensure each aircraft is represented accurately. Fly Louie reviews and updates aircraft pricing, amenities, insurance and other information relevant to the wholesale buyer, driving increased exposure and in turn, charter utilization.

The second part of the equation is exposure to the large volume wholesale buyers. Fly Louie has invested in maintaining and growing these personal relationships, which are a critical component of the charter sales transaction. We are able to harness the power of these relationships to benefit our Alliance operators. We have contacts and experience to help operators navigate the complex vetting process with these large volume wholesale buyers. Upon completion and approval, operators can enjoy the opportunity to take part in Guaranteed Charter Programs or simply gain access to stronger demand and higher margin revenue flying.

Each operator and each aircraft have unique revenue needs. We work hand in hand with our WholesaleFlex clients to identify those needs and offer solutions which otherwise would require extensive resources to take on independently.

Q: What are you most excited about working on at Fly Louie?

I'm excited about making connections between the aircraft operator and buyers. I look at my position as being able to create a win-win result. For the aircraft operator by increasing hours and market exposure while helping to solve the supply issues that the larger buyers experience in the current high demand climate. Simply put, it is like playing matchmaker. In any successful matchmaking service, when the two parties finally connect, they're able to see the benefits of my role in establishing that connection. Being the person to facilitate the connection is incredibly rewarding to me.

I’m also excited about providing other benefits to the small operators where they're achieving economies of scale through the Alliance network. To me, Fly Louie is a great conduit to access the markets that the small operators really struggle to access.

Q: When you’re not working, what do you like to do for fun? Any hobbies or interests?

I enjoy home remodeling projects which is a constant learning experience for a self-proclaimed DIY’er. Anything that lets me work with my hands makes me content. I'm also very active outdoors -- I enjoy skiing, boating, and fishing. I have a boat here in Connecticut on the ocean and go out deep sea fishing every spring for striped bass and cod fishing in the fall. Even if I don’t catch anything, it's still a blast to spend time with family and friends.

When he’s not out fishing, Matt’s 17 years of industry experience is invaluable to accomplishing our team’s mission to leverage the power of scale among operators. Fly Louie is dedicated to providing smaller operators access to benefits and markets they previously could not, and we’re so excited to have him working on behalf of the Alliance and the Fly Louie team.

Industry Veteran Predicts Rapid Growth for Fly Louie’s WholesaleFlex