At CEO (Boardroom Media) we track over 1,000,000 startups and over 5,000,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top New York based CEO’ operating in the Aerospace space. If you think a CEO’ is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on [email protected].
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.

Kewsong Lee
Co-Chief Executive Officer of The Carlyle Group
Kewsong Lee is based in New York, joined Warburg Pincus in 1992 and leads the firm’s investments in the consumer, industrial and services sectors. He also helps drive the firm’s financial services investments and capital markets activities. Mr. Lee is a member of the firm’s executive management group. Previously, Mr. Lee was a consultant with McKinsey & Company. He is currently a director of Aeolus Re, Aramark, Arch Capital Group, Consolidated Precision Products, MBIA, The Neiman Marcus Group and Total Safety. Mr. Lee serves on the board of Lincoln Center Theater, where he is a member of the executive committee, and also is a trustee of Choate Rosemary Hall. Mr. Lee received an A.B. in applied mathematics in economics from Harvard College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
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About RenaissanceRe Holdings, The Carlyle Group, TradeCard: The Carlyle Group is a global private equity firm that caters to early and later stage companies.

Kenny Dichter
Co-Founder & CEO of Wheels Up
Kenny Dichter is Founder and CEO of Wheels Up, a revolutionary membership-based private aviation company that eliminates fixed costs and provides unparalleled flexibility. Wheels Up will commence full-service flight operations October 2013, appealing to new entrants as well as to individuals and corporations currently flying privately. Previously, Dichter Founded Marquis Jet in 2001 and introduced the first-ever fractional jet card program, which revitalized and democratized the private aviation industry. Led by Dichter, Marquis Jet generated over $4 billion in revenue, culminating in its sale to Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway’s Net Jets in 2010. At that time, Dichter was named Vice Chairman of Net Jets. Dichter’s role enabled him to build lasting relationships with CEOs,entrepreneurs, celebrities, athletes and tastemakers around the globe. An entrepreneur at heart, with a sociology major from the University of Wisconsin, Dichter is a self-proclaimed “man of the people.” Since his youth, he has been known for being a trend spotter and trendsetter, and has always had an innate knack for branding, marketing, public relations and advertising. Dichter’s successes prove that he can apply these skills to a variety of industries. As always, Dichter has his eye on early-stage businesses where he sees potential for hyper growth. He has an active role and has invested in Juice Press, a Manhattan-based, multi-location, grab-and-go organic, raw food and juice company; SportYapper, a global communications platform for talking sports; CYC, the first indoor cycling studio aimed at college students and young professionals at universities across the country; and Cirrus, a fitnesscompany that customizes premium exercise equipment. In 2010, Dichter co-founded Tequila Avion, an ultra-premium brand that in 30 months has positioned itself, through branding and distribution, as an emerging leader in its category. Paris-based Pernod Ricard, the world’s second largest premium wine and spirits company, purchased a minority stake in Tequila Avion in 2011, and has the worldwide distribution rights. In 2004, Dichter Founded MGX Lab, an independent, full-service, digital media, brand strategy, and business development company that serves as a think tank for companies such as Disney, Bayer, Patch, cambio.com and Muhammad Ali Enterprises. Dichter is also Founder and Chairman of Tour GCX Partners, Inc., a golf membership program providing cliententertainment solutions to corporations and individuals, through access to private country clubs. In 1996, Dichter co-founded Alphabet City, a sports marketing and music company, which was acquired by Robert FX Sillerman’s SFX Entertainment in 1998. Dichter is a regular guest on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” and sought by media outlets for his perspectives on the aviation industry, consumer brands, and the luxury goods and services sector. Dichter co-founded Action America, along with AOL Chairman and CEO Tim Armstrong, to unite and activate Americans everywhere to turn the events of 9/11 into positive action. He also chairs the Council of Advocates at New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital for Dr. Ken Davis, Mount Sinai’s Chairman and CEO, and sits on the Board of the Jack Martin Fund, which currently works with the hospital’s cutting-edge pediatric oncology department. Also,Dichter is a major supporter of his alma mater, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
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About Wheels Up: Wheels Up is a membership-based private aviation company that focuses on reducing upfront cost to fly privately.
Rob Wiesenthal
Co-Founder & CEO of BLADE
Until June 2012, Wiesenthal was Executive Vice president and Chief Financial Officer of Sony Corporation of America, Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer, Sony Entertainment Inc., and Group Executive, Sony Corporation, leading corporate development, and mergers and acquisitions. From 2012 to June 2015, he was Chief Operating Officer of Warner Music Group. Wiesenthal now heads Blade, an aviation start-up. He incubated Blade in early 2014 as the first digitally powered short-distance aviation company. Since its inception, the company has remained asset light and utilizes a business model that crowdsources flights enabling fliers to set the departure point, time, destination and type of aircraft, and selling remaining seats to the Blade user community. Today Blade services 22 core routes in 7 states and maintains seven flier lounges in four states. Key routes include the New York City area, Eastern Long Island, the New Jersey Coast, Connecticut, the Cape (Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard), Los Angeles, Palm Springs, and Orange County.
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About BLADE, Warner Music Group: BLADE is an application that provides short-distance flight management solutions to its clients.
Brian Streem
Founder, CEO of Vermeer
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About Vermeer: AR/VR & AI Enable Mission Planning Tool
Rema Matevosyan
Co-founder & CEO of Near Space Labs
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About Near Space Labs: Near Space Labs is a cutting-edge Earth imagery and geospatial data company on a mission to provide universal access to high-quality information about our rapidly changing planet. They provide timely, wide-scale, ultra high-resolution imagery with the largest zero-emission balloon fleet in the stratosphere. Near Space Labs is revolutionizing the way that businesses, communities, municipalities and researchers gather data that can help solve some of the world’s biggest challenges such as climate change.
Peter J. Gundermann
President and Chief Executive Officer of Astronics
Appointed President and Chief Executive Officer in 2003, Peter Gundermann has been with the Company since 1988. Mr. Gundermann has been a director of Astronics since 2001. He holds a B.A. in Applied Mathematics and Economics from Brown University and an M.B.A. from Duke University.
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About Astronics: Astronics is a leading provider of advanced technologies for the global aerospace and defense industries.

C Vijayakumar
Chief Executive Officer of HCL Technologies
C Vijayakumar (CVK or Vijay) is the President & Chief Executive Officer of HCL Technologies, a US$ 6.7 billion global IT services company. Vijay leads HCL Technologies, a team of over 111,000+ professionals in 32 countries helping customers reimagine their businesses as a 21st Century Enterprise with technology at the core. Driving growth and transformation in an age of connected assets and connected experiences, Vijay is responsible for devising a robust strategy, overseeing meticulous execution and guiding enduring partnerships. Vijay joined HCL Technologies in 1994 as a member of the core team that designed and implemented India’s first ever fully automated trading network at the National Stock Exchange. With a strategic vision and global outlook, he relentlessly reinvented himself to emerge as a leader who could span a breadth of technologies and deftly navigate the shifting industry landscape. Most recently, as Chief Operating Officer, he led the company’s strategy to leverage the transformative nexus of forces like Digitalization, Internet of Things, Cloud, Cyber-security and Artificial Intelligence. His Mode 1-2-3 Strategy today serves as the company’s blueprint for serving IT needs of the 21st Century Enterprise. Previously, as President of HCL’s Infrastructure Services Business, he led its exponential growth and market dominance over the years leading up to a contribution of 40% to HCL’s revenues today. As part of the founding team of its wholly owned subsidiary HCL Comnet, he played an instrumental role in building the Remote Infrastructure Management value proposition which is today a multi-billion-dollar market. Over the years, Vijay has held several Technology, Business & Operational leadership positions at HCL and is widely recognized in the industry for his strategic thinking and impeccable execution. He is currently a member of Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council and is on the Steward Board of World Economic Forum’s Strategic Initiative on ‘Future of Education, Gender and Work’. Vijay is deeply invested in promoting sustainable business practices in the communities where HCL operates in, with an emphasis on advancing STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) learning for the youth and is also a passionate champion of the Diversity and Gender empowerment agenda. Known for his hands-on approach, diligence, and deep connect with his teams and the clients, Vijay’s leadership style has been commended in the business bestseller ‘Blueprint to a billion: 7 essentials to achieve exponential growth’ by renowned management guru David G. Thomson. Vijay is a graduate in Electrical & Electronics Engineering from P.S.G. College of Technology, Tamil Nadu, India. Vijay was born in Coimbatore in the state of Tamil Nadu in India.[11] He is currently based out of New York City and Cary, North Carolina in United States.[12] Vijay is married and has one daughter. In his free time, he likes to listen to classical music and read books.[13]
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About HCL Technologies: HCL Technologies is a global IT services company, working with clients in the areas that impact and redefine the core of their businesses.

Christopher Kubasik
President & CEO of L-3 Communications
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About L-3 Communications, L3 Technologies: L3 Technologies has grown very quickly into the sixth largest defense company in the United States, and is a leader and prime defense

Michael Fuchs
Co-Founder, President & CEO of Engineered Propulsion Systems
Michael Fuchs is the Founder, President & CEO at Engineered Propulsion Systems.
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About ASL, ASL Defense Systems, Engineered Propulsion Systems: Engineered Propulsion Systems was formed in 2006 to develop, manufacture and market a revolutionary new General Aviation diesel engine.

Jason Kelly
CEO & Co-Founder of Kambr
Jason Kelly is the CEO and Co-Founder at Kambr.
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About Kambr: Raising airline revenue performance through Software, Consultancy and Content.

Jeffrey Max
Chairman & CEO of Agile Space Industries
Jeffrey Max is a Chairman and CEO at Agile Space Industries.
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About Agile Space Industries: Agile Space Industries is an aviation and aerospace that specializes in propulsion, test rockets, and space exploration.

Ben Frank
CEO of Seer Aerospace
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About Seer Aerospace: Seer Aerospace provides software and data tools for the aviation industry.