WingTips

Our Story

Our story began when our founder, Mike, was experiencing what is a rite of passage for many parents and students: dropping your kid off at college. As the big day neared, the question of whether to drive or fly came up; and the realization hit that hour for hour, there would be no difference in time spent between the two because of the lack of short distance flights. Over the next several years, every time he visited his children, the “drive vs fly” question was debated.

That’s when Mike, an instrument rated-pilot with a multi-decade career in data technology, decided to harness the power of data science and AI to deliver a premium travel service for short distance trips (100-400 mile flights), not serviced by major airlines. From that vision, WingTips’ private flying for everyday travelers was born. 

Our Mission

We aim to transform short distance (100-400 miles) air travel by offering affordable, accessible and sustainable flight service connecting 5,000 local airports across the US. WingTips provides everyday travelers with a frictionless solution that lowers the number of vehicles on the road, and is 4X faster door-to-door than driving and commercial flying.

Unique Value Proposition

Welcome aboard to a new experience in flying. WingTips is making short distance travel available to everyday travelers. Considering that 80% of US residents live less than 30 minutes away from an airport, we have an extensive potential customer base within easy reach.

Our proprietary software, deep data-driven aggregation, and dynamic flight scheduling capabilities, coupled with our fleet of Hybrid-Electric Aircraft, makes flying chartered short distance flights more affordable and accessible to a wider market of travelers. 

The Problem

The short distance (100-400 miles) travel market is woefully underserved by the current airline industry. The US has a vast network of thousands of smaller, local airports for these distances, but no major commercial airline provides service to them. 

The lack of short distance flights means there is often no alternative between spending hours driving to and from a major airport, or hours driving to the destination itself. Over 80% of the population in the US lives less than 30 minutes from a local airport that WingTips can use.

*Source: WingTips and ForeFlight

Our Solution

WingTips offers shared, on-demand chartered flights to the local destinations commercial airlines don’t, taking the hassle and inconvenience out of long drive times.  

We deliver an easy-to-access, flexible, and convenient  premium quality local air travel service for short distance trips (100-400 miles) by combining our background in chartered flight service with our core AI-powered proprietary technology that ensures our business model can scale; all at a price comparable to flying commercial. WingTips is actively servicing California, Nevada, Texas, and Arizona with shared charter service, with plans to bring our shared charter service model nationwide by 2025. 

The Product 

Our proprietary booking software enables our shared on-demand charter service. The  AI-based software uses machine learning algorithms to automate analysis tasks, dynamic modeling to find travel itinerary matches, and providing customized options that give customers the ability to select the flight that meets their travel needs and budget. 

Travelers can book flights via our mobile app and website. We offer three travel options: 

• We currently use partners to fly 55 charter planes on regional routes between 2,410 local airports in California, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas and Arizona.
• Each plane can carry up to 8 passengers, 400 lbs. of luggage, and is subject to FAA safety standards.
• Our planes are piloted by professional pilots hailing from commercial and military flight backgrounds and that undergo the highest level of certification and training.
• WingTips only uses business aircraft, which have more standardized safety equipment when compared to general aviation aircraft.
• Each plane is equipped with premium leather seats.
• The safety of our flights is the result of the Federal Aviation Certification as an On Demand Air Carrier with clear and well-enforced operating specifications that our pilots adhere to.
• WingTips uses over 5,000 local airports to provide short distance flight service, 15x the 300 airports used by the airlines.

Aircraft used by WingTips typically seats eight passengers; One flight removes up to eight cars from the road. But the offset is more significant than just eight cars:

• Using an average trip length of 250 miles, the drivers in the eight cars each spend five hours of time, a total of 40 hours of travel time, one way. 
• The eight WingTips passengers spend about one hour door to door, a total of 8 hours of travel time for all the passengers one way. 
• While the fuel is about the same, the human benefits (time savings, no traffic, no long security lines, no lost luggage) are substantial when flying WingTips. 

OUR FUTURE FLEET is Green with HYBRID-ELECTRIC AIRCRAFT

Operating more eco-friendly aircraft is part of our plan to cut both travel time and emissions as we scale our service nationwide. 

In 2022 we partnered with Ampaire, a Hybrid-Electric aircraft powerplant company to secure an order for five of Ampaire's latest Hybrid-Electric Eco Caravan 9-passenger aircraft,  with an option to order 50 more. These aircraft are capable of flying at 175 mph, using a fraction of the fuel a normal Cessna Caravan uses. The integration of these hybrid aircraft into our fleet will result in: 

• Fuel costs reduced by 75%
• Operating expenses reduced by 40%
• Emissions 75% less in traditional flight profiles
• Lower maintenance and overhaul costs 
• WingTips is on track to be the first electrified airline for Short Distance Trips

These reductions are not only better for the environment, they help deliver a premier travel option to clients without the high price tag. Both Hybrid-Electric and Full-Electric aircraft are long-term drivers for making WingTips flights more efficient and more affordable, expanding the market opportunity to an even larger size.

WingTips is operating now in 4 States with existing, proven aircraft technology. The move to Hybrid-Electric is a win-win for both WingTips and our clients. 

Our Multi Channel revenue model differentiates WingTips from our competition.

Because of our Intellectual Property (IP), we are able to increase our margins on every flight.

• Sales of Private Charter and Shared Flights have a gross margin of up to 45%.
• With scale-up in operations, these numbers are forecast in 2025 to be private charter flights at 40 hours/month/aircraft, and shared charter tickets sales will be 90 passengers/day.
• Annualized revenue is projected to be over $30M, which does not include contributions from licensing agreements in international markets, which are currently under development.

Traction

WingTips is actively serving the market and has achieved product market fit. We underwent years of consumer and market research to unlock the ideal customer price point of $2 per mile.

We currently service 2,400 local airports between California and Texas. 

In 2024 we are forecasting a strong increase in revenue, will gain access to our own fleet, as well as anticipate improved gross profit.

WingTips has steadily expanded our strategic partnerships, significantly increasing our reach and market penetration. In addition to our partnership with Ampaire for 5 Hybrid Aircraft, in 2023 we:

• Acquired a charter operating company and signed a partnership with a Texas charter operator to expand our service coverage, with more in the pipeline. 
• As part of our B2B SaaS revenue stream, we are in joint venture discussions with Highland and Islands Airports in the UK to use our proprietary software for their own charter service needs.
• We have engaged in a joint project with Georgia Tech University scientist and WingTips Co-Founder, to use Location Data to forecast short-trip air travel demand.
• We have product market fit and are revenue generating. Travelers, and the world,  are ready for WingTips, but we need the capital to deliver it to them. 

Forward-looking statements are not guaranteed.

Our Competitive Space

As commercial airlines continue to raise prices and provide subpar service demand is increasing for alternatives. There are a number of charter services in the market today, but none offer the competitive edge that WingTips does. While our main focus is to bring our high value per-seat, charter service to a mass scale, our software systems also improve private charter, making WingTips and our partners more competitive while maintaining revenue and margin targets.

Market Opportunity

• A 2022 study by the Georgia Institute of Technology found that 248,000 people a day would pay for short distance flights, but airlines do not offer this service, losing $50 million in daily revenue.
• In the Western region of the US, about 33,000 people fly per day; in the Southern Great Plains region, it’s 56,000.
• With our proprietary technology, capacity to scale rapidly, and proven demand for our service, we are uniquely positioned to service this $110 million serviceable obtainable market for short distance flights.

1. Market Tested

WingTips' in-market test proved the viability of this business, followed by a NASA / Georgia Tech study about city pairs, which proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that there was indeed a huge market opportunity for short distance travel. McKinsey reports further support the immense potential of this service to provide value to millions of “every day” travelers.

2. Cost-Efficient Business Model

The proprietary WingTips software solves both the challenge of aggregating customer demand and maintaining operational efficiencies needed to keep seat costs competitive.  

3. Expert Co-Founders & Boards of Advisors

Our founders tapped into the wisdom and expertise of industry pioneers in aviation and data to ensure our product is grounded in best practices of science, data, flight and business. 

WingTips has already inspired a passionate and loyal following from our customers.  More than 50% of customers who have traveled with us, request flights again. The warm feedback we receive proves beyond a doubt that consumers need and appreciate the service Wingtips provides. 

Our methodical approach of using data-driven insights to inform our business roadmap has clearly yielded incredible results:

• Our software works, the demand is there, we are generating revenue and are actively booking and operating short distance flights across 5 states, with more on the way
• Development roadmap has major enhancements over the next 18-24 months that move WingTips ahead even farther 
• Development roadmap has major enhancements over the next 18-24 months that move WingTips ahead even farther 
• With this traction, we are primed to achieve the next milestone of growth 
• We view this fundraise as an opportunity to offer equity ownership to our supporters and share in our journey of success together.  

With the help of your investment, we can expand our successful shared-charter short distance flights across the US and beyond. 

We are offering Flight Credits that match the investment

Investors get 50% credit on Shared Charter and 15% on Private Charter, up to the amount of their investment. Early Bird investors get 3x their investment in Flight Credits.

We have raised two previous rounds of seed funding totaling $1.3M which helped us launch our short distance charter service and release Version 1.0 of our software.

WingTips is the Right Investment at the Right Time