Flexjet Chairman Kenn Ricci Tells Embry-Riddle Students to Be 'Passionate' and 'Compassionate'

Flexjet chairman Kenn Ricci spoke at a Presidential Speaker Series event on Oct. 27 at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Daytona Beach Campus. The audience included students, alumni, faculty, staff, industry partners and friends of the university. Ricci is also a member of the Embry-Riddle Board of Trustees.

He urged students to be "passionate about what you do and compassionate about how you do it," and credited this approach for Flexjet's sustained success since he acquired the company in 2014. Ricci said Flexjet has focused on process more than results, building a culture grounded in attention to detail, safety, long-term relationships, trust and empathy. "Employees are the foundation of this company," he said, adding that people come to the industry with passion and perform well when placed in an environment where they can enjoy their jobs.

The event included a student-moderated discussion led by Ander Turueno Garcia, a graduate student pursuing a master's degree in Aviation Finance. Garcia served two terms as Student Government Association president and interned at Flexjet as an Embry-Riddle undergraduate. The conversation covered Ricci's early career as a private pilot, Flexjet's core values and his leadership philosophy.

Ricci began his career as an entrepreneur in 1981, when he bought Corporate Wings for $27,500. As a pilot he flew clients including President Bill Clinton, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen and Barbra Streisand. He said that experience gave him insight into what high-end luxury clients expected and later informed his decision to position Flexjet in the luxury space. He flew Clinton during his presidential campaign and later to his inauguration, an experience he said taught him about forming long-term relationships. "Don't ever be afraid to admit your faults," he said.

On avoiding complacency after success, Ricci said Flexjet emphasizes humility, innovation, discipline and continuous improvement. "We don't need our competitors to fail for us to succeed," he said. Embry-Riddle's Presidential Speaker Series brings industry leaders, prominent alumni and aviation and aerospace trailblazers to the Daytona Beach Campus.

In fractional and luxury private aviation, the product a customer experiences is largely delivered by people: pilots, cabin staff and ground teams whose consistency determines whether a brand holds its position. Ricci's emphasis on process, trust and employee environment reflects how operators in this segment tend to frame their competitive edge, since aircraft and routes are broadly comparable across providers while service reliability is harder to copy.

The setting matters as well. A chairman who sits on the university's Board of Trustees, and whose company has taken Embry-Riddle undergraduates as interns, is speaking to a pipeline of future pilots, finance staff and managers. Talks of this kind double as employer-brand work, signalling the culture a graduate would join at a time when the industry competes for the same pool of trained people.

The remarks are a statement of philosophy rather than a set of commitments, so there is no pending decision or date attached to them. The measurable follow-through would be visible in hiring and internship ties between Flexjet and the university, which the event itself illustrates through Garcia's path from intern to moderator.