Follow our journey.
We’re transforming regional air travel with a unique approach. Using technology & data to design a human-centered experience, we get you from parking to seated with a beverage in less than 15 minutes.
Celebrating the Many Milestones we Achieved in Q3.
September 2023
We have rounded out our 3rd quarter with an exciting close on funding to help launch service in the Southern Great Plains. Along with this expansion, we are happy to say that we are also finalizing the purchase of our own charter operator company which will assist in the continued growth of WingTips service.
WingTips Co-Founder and Lead Data Scientist, Laurie Garrow Ph.D., won a National Science Foundation grant to research using advanced data tools to accurately forecast demand for Regional Air Mobility flights. WingTips is the industry partner for this grant, supporting Laurie with her research and benefiting by incorporating her work into the WingTips system.
WingTips and Haven Aero have built the operating procedures to launch both private and shared charter flights in the Southern Great Plains region. We anticipate service will be available in mid-Q4 of this year.
In early November we will launch another Wefunder campaign to raise funds for continued investment in our proprietary software and for marketing the launch of the Great Plains region. Investors will receive flight credits equal to the amount of their investment. Credits can be applied toward a 50% discount on shared charter flights and a 15% discount on private charter flights.
Early investors will receive 3X their investment in WingTips flight benefits.
July 2023
If you’ve been following us, you know we have been seeking investment funding to help accelerate our growth. As we enter into the 2nd half of 2023, we continue to make progress with our investment initiatives. In July alone, we:
Realized an injection of non-dilutive funding.
Applied and executed the due diligence process with multiple Angel Investment forums. If you are an Accredited Investor, contact us directly to get the details regarding our Angel investment offering.
Hosted a meeting with one of our Venture Capital partners who shared that they believe our investors and customers are likely one and the same. As such, they recommended we develop an Equity Crowd-Funding campaign, which is currently scheduled to launch in mid-September.
The campaign will offer WingTips services and/or discounts equal to the individual investment dollars. For example, if you invest $10,000 you will receive discounts for private charters and seat credits for shared charters. The crowd-funding campaign is under Regulation CF and open to nonaccredited investors.
This is a great way to invest in the early stages of a game-changing travel company. Once we launch the campaign, we’ll provide an update here, as well as send an email to our client database. If you haven’t yet subscribed to our email, you can do so here.
If you’re interested in being part of our expansion journey, contact our Founder, Mike at mike.azzarello@flywingtips.com.
Investment Initiatives to Fuel Growth.
WingTips’ Acquisition of FAA Part 135 Charter Operator is Progressing.
June 2023
The current owner of the Charter Operator WingTips is in the process of acquiring is working with the FAA to upgrade their current Charter Certificate. This upgrade will allow WingTips to utilize an unlimited number of both the pilots we hire and/or contract and the aircraft we are able to fly; which will increase our operational aircraft in the Western Region and allow us to expand to the Southern Great Plain. Once the upgrade is approved, the formal transfer of the Charter Operation will be complete, we anticipate this will occur this quarter.
Department of Transportation Grant for Air Service in Riverside County, CA.
May 2023
WingTips, in partnership with Riverside County Aviation, has submitted a proposal to the US Department of Transportation for a grant to support air service in the Riverside County area of California. The grant provides matching funds that have committed to accelerate the launch of air service from General Aviation airports.
Using WingTips’ unique solution for Regional Air Mobility, residents of Riverside County will have a cost-effective means to travel throughout the Greater Southern California area — which means they get to their destination 4x faster than driving, at airline-level fares.
WingTips announces the creation of Aircraft Leasing, LLC.
April 2023
To meet flight capacity needs for our growth projections, WingTips has created a separate Limited Liability Company to manage the acquisition and leasing of aircraft to WingTips. The company is WingTips Aircraft Management LLC.
The Company is designed to provide an income stream to Members (Members are Limited Liability owners of the Company) based on aircraft lease income. As an asset-backed company, WingTips Aircraft Management LLC strives to maintain stable asset values while generating predictable income streams for Members.
To increase the upside for Members, WingTips, as the Manager of the Company, is matching Member investments with 10% of WingTips Preferred Shares, providing further potential upside to Members. Additionally, there are flight benefits for Members, including preferential charter rates and terms that result in dramatically lower charter costs compared to retail pricing.
Investors that are considering the purchase of an aircraft or Jet Card can instead invest in the Company and receive a return on their investment, as well as access to WingTips-operated aircraft at preferential rates.
The LLC is accepting new Members, please contact Mike Azzarello directly @ mike.azzerello@flywingtips.com for more information.
Technology-Fueled Growth.
March 2023
Advancements with the WingTips proprietary software continue to drive growth. Our ability to efficiently scale our service is the direct result of continued investments in technology.
The full WingTips story outlines the evolution and proof-of-concept of our proprietary software that captures and aggregates consumer demand and supports flexible operations decisions to manage costs. The recent advancements have accelerated our response times, increased our service volume, and optimized our operations.
Our Concierge Service Team has been instrumental in developing and managing the enhanced features. Additionally, we recently contracted with Katie Remlinger, a User Experience Expert, to design the WingTips 2.0 website and integrated these applications to ensure a seamless customer experience.
Southern Great Plains Region Expansion.
February 2023
WingTips expanded its relationships with third-party charter operators in the Southern Great Plains Region. This expansion allows WingTips to offer flights in this region by Q3 2023.
A new partnership with Haven Aero of Amarillo, Texas allows WingTips to execute our expansion plan, while we build up our own charter operation.
Charter Operator Acquired.
January 2023
WingTips acquired Sad Monkey Aviation LLC, a private charter operator in Texas.
“The primary goal of the acquisition is to support our efforts to scale operations, reduce costs to operate flights, and optimize efficiency. Having a fully owned charter operation means we fly our own aircraft. This provides us with the ability to better align flights based on aggregated customer requests,” said Mike Azzarello, WingTips CEO & Founder.
Along with the acquisition of the business entity, Charlie Cope, will become the Director of Operations for Sad Monkey Aviation upon the execution of the contract. Charlie brings more than 20 years of experience in private aviation operations. The transfer of ownership will be complete in the second quarter.
2022 Highlights.
December 29, 2022
WingTips closed 2022 with some notable highlights. The successful completion of our proof-of-concept test provided validation of demand for our service and important feedback on the price sensitivity of the service. We conducted research using historical data from other charter operators, developing some key intellectual property for our flight operations.
Our crowdfunding campaign closed in November. We are now working on a Seed+ Round to expand service and deploy our developed IP into the ‘flight matching’ application. The WingTips mobile application for iOS and Android is targeted for release in Q2 2023.
Revenue increased by over 37 times that of 2021.
Marketing Strategist Appointed.
October 22, 2022
WingTips appointed Kris Potter of The Potter Co. to lead a major marketing strategy effort. Clarifying and solidifying marketing priorities is critical to our 5-year plan. This appointment also frees up WingTips leaders to focus on financial and operational priorities.
With an impressive career in travel, Kris brings a deep knowledge of marketing, consumer behavior, and utilizing data to deliver human-centered service. This engagement's key objectives are building the WingTips brand and the systems and templates to support future expansion.
Ampaire Contract.
July 26, 2022
WingTips secured an order for five of Ampaire's latest Eco Caravan aircraft. These new eco-friendly-high-efficiency aircraft will operate short-haul routes across the southwestern United States. WingTips hopes to cut both travel time and emissions with these new aircraft.
Available in about two years, the Eco Caravan aircraft provides WingTips with a nine-passenger aircraft, flying at 175 mph, using a fraction of the fuel a normal Cessna Caravan uses. Besides the fuel savings, there is a reduction in maintenance and overhaul costs, which helps deliver a premier travel option to clients without the high price tag.
WeFunder Campaign.
July 24, 2022
WingTips launched a Regulation CF crowdfunding campaign on WeFunder. The campaign focuses on raising awareness of WingTips outside of the Western Region where we operate. WeFunder reaches investors interested in early-stage private companies investing in founders building the future.
The funding is earmarked for continued development of software as well as completion of FAA certification to receive Part 135 air carrier certification.
Proof of Concept Success.
April 30, 2022
The results of WingTips’ proof of concept campaign prove the viability and future potential of the brand and service offering.
Following the launch of the Proof-of-Concept campaign in March, WingTips and Abacus Agency analyzed the data, which proved a success. In partnership with Mountain Lion Aviation of Truckee, CA, WingTips successfully delivered flights across multiple days to multiple passengers (parties) on each flight.
As a Proof of Concept, we proved the market demand for shared charter flights for Regional Air Mobility, performed price sensitivity testing, stress-tested our systems, and discovered areas for improved automation to scale the service to our goal of 1,000 passengers per day nationwide within five years.
Proving WingTips’ Viability.
March 24, 2022
WingTips formulated a Proof-of-Concept test to gather important data about our service. Using the Spring music festivals and other activities in the Palm Springs area, WingTips and our advertising agency Abacus, created a comprehensive campaign to attract travelers to the site.
Department of Transportation (DOT) Grant.
January 24, 2022
WingTips, in partnership with the Murrieta Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau, submitted a grant application for Small Community Air Service.
The Small Community Air Service Development Program (SCASDP) is a Department of Transportation (DOT) grant program designed to help small communities address air service and airfare issues. As an applicant, WingTips must self-identify the community’s air service deficiencies and propose an appropriate solution.
The grant proposal focused on the highly congested I-15 freeway and its impact on residents and businesses in the area surrounding French Valley Airport in Riverside County, California.
If awarded, the funding will be used to expand flight operations out of the French Valley Airport.
A Good First Year!
December 28, 2021
WingTips hit many milestones on our journey to bring a completely new travel service to regional travelers. Upon closing our Seed Round in January 2021, we moved quickly to get the website and internal systems in place and generated revenue.
Among our accomplishments, we successfully connected with charter operators who see the potential future of regional travel with WingTips. WingTips marketing launched an influencer-based marketing campaign and hired a digital advertising agency.
There will be much more to come in 2022 as we continue developing our systems and company, as well as meeting many people who want four times the speed of driving.
Digital Marketing Agency.
October 11, 2021
WingTips hired Abacus Agency of Toronto, Canada, to drive our digital marketing efforts. Abacus brings deep knowledge of digital marketing and private aviation knowledge to WingTips. The team is ready to jump in to design a digital lead generation campaign that captures demand for regional travel.
FAA Certification.
August 4, 2021
WingTips has added Charles (Charlie) Cope as our Director of Operations and Chief Pilot. Charlie has founded and led multiple Part 135 Charter Operations over the last two decades working in the private aviation industry. Charlie has filed our Preliminary Application for the FAA Certification process.
Focused on Instagram Growth.
July 7, 2021
WingTips teamed up with two prominent Instagram Influencers in Southern California. With their focus on Southern California and Disneyland in particular, the message about WingTips' new regional flight service is reaching the right audience. To follow them, search for @morningswithmickey and @princessturnedmom on Instagram.
WingTips is Live!
June 4, 2021
The WingTips web-based customer application went live this month. The application makes it easy to make flight requests and seamlessly integrates with our back-end systems and customer service team who work to aggregate multiple flight requests and passengers onto a flight.
Seed Funding Round.
January 23, 2021
WingTips closed a Seed Funding Round led by Temeku Holdings, a Family Office in Temecula, California. The round raised over $1M.
The funds allowed WingTips to launch service in the Western US during a proof-of-concept phase of the business. “It is great to see our vision of regional air travel operating. These funds provide the critical capital to deliver our unique regional air travel solution to travelers. And with these funds, we are able to make significant progress across several key areas of the company to position us for growth”, Mike Azzarello, CEO & Founder of WingTips.