Kenn Ricci will deliver the keynote presentation at the 2026 NBAA Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference (SDC2026), to be held in Cleveland, Ohio from 24 to 26 March. Ricci, chairman of Flexjet and an aviation entrepreneur since 1981, manages more than 12 companies in areas such as fractional ownership, jet cards, aircraft charter, MRO, brokerage and sustainable flight.

NBAA’s president and CEO Ed Bolen says: “Kenn Ricci has spent his career shaping the future of business aviation, creating innovative pathways that bring people, technology and opportunity together. He is a true leader and visionary in our industry.”

Ricci oversaw a record $800 million investment in Flexjet by L Caterton, the investment arm of LVMH, and has received multiple accolades including the NATA Ong Memorial Award, Aviation Week Laureate Award and the Harvard Business School Dively Entrepreneurship Award. He was named a Living Legend of Aviation and previously received that group’s Lifetime Aviation Entrepreneur Award, which now bears his name.

In 2018, Ricci founded the Philanthropic Succession Partnership to support a $100 million donation to the University of Notre Dame. He serves on the boards of Notre Dame, the Smithsonian and Embry-Riddle, and holds more than 6,000 hours of flight time, including flying for Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign.