flyExclusive has made a number of key leadership appointments, adding additional experience to the company's executive leadership. Brad Garner joins as chief financial officer; Matt Lesmeister will become chief operating officer; and Mike Guina will transition to chief commercial officer, effective immediately.

“The addition of Brad to our team adds significant bench depth to a leadership team that we believe is the best in the industry. The actions reflect our commitment to a leadership team with world-class professionals and positions the company for the next phase of growth,” says founder and CEO Jim Segrave. “I'm thrilled to welcome Brad to the organisation, and I'm confident his expertise in fundraising, innovative capital structuring and accounting will further optimise our finance organisation. His addition, in close coordination with Matt Lesmeister, should extend and leverage the significant improvement in our processes made by Matt and team over the course of this past year. Brad's addition also allows Matt and Mike to accelerate strategic operational and new business initiatives designed to drive multiyear value and success for flyExclusive's customers, employees and shareholders.”

Garner joins flyExclusive from Hale Partnership Capital Management (HPCM), a multi-strategy investment partnership with a focus on public equity, private equity and real estate, where he has served as chief financial and compliance officer since 2015. Garner also served as the chief financial and principal accounting officer for the publicly traded HG Holdings from 2018 through 2022. Also while at HPCM, he served as the CFO of protein bar company Best Bar Ever, where he helped lead the spin-off of non-core assets and structured multiple rounds of venture capital investment and ultimate exit. Prior to HPCM, Garner spent nearly 10 years in public accounting at Dixon Hughes Goodman in both the audit and tax practices. He has a BSc and a Master of Science in accountancy from Wake Forest University.

“I'm incredibly excited to join flyExclusive as it sets the industry standard for excellence in private aviation,” Garner says. “I look forward to leveraging my public company experience to build on the strong foundation that's been established and continue flyExclusive's impressive growth trajectory.”

As chief operating officer, Lesmeister will focus on driving operational excellence across the enterprise with continued alignment and coordination between finance, sales and operating functions.

As chief commercial officer, Guina will further focus his oversight of flyExclusive's sales and new business strategies across wholesale, retail, fractional, Jet Club and aircraft maintenance, repair and operations.

“I'd like to thank Matt and Mike for their continued leadership and dedication to our business,” Segrave says. “They have been instrumental in driving excellence across the organisation, and we're a stronger company today because of their many contributions to date. I have never been more confident than I am today about the leadership team we have in place and look forward to further leveraging this core strength to consolidate and accelerate flyExclusive's leadership position in the industry.”