Ben Klein

The Dispatch

Most airline CEOs read the safety card. This one wrote parts of it - and flies the plane.

Ben Klein leads Aero, the by-the-seat semi-private jet airline that Uber co-founder Garrett Camp launched out of Van Nuys Airport in Los Angeles. Aero sells a single seat on a scheduled flight and lands you at a private terminal, in the space between a first-class ticket and a whole chartered jet. That is the pitch. Klein is the unusual part.

He took over as CEO in September 2023, and unlike almost anyone else with that title, he holds a type rating on the company's aircraft. Several times a month he trades the corner office for the cockpit and flies revenue routes as a certified first officer on Aero's Embraer 135s and Legacy 600s. The org chart says CEO. The flight manifest says right seat.

Being in a courtroom and a cockpit are not as different as you might think. Both require calm under pressure and a clear head.

— Ben Klein

He got there sideways. Klein took his first flying lesson at 12 and had his private pilot's license before he could legally rent a car, finishing his check ride at 16 - the summer before college. Then he became a lawyer. Two BigLaw firms in New York, a federal clerkship in between, a stint at a boutique in Vermont serving aerospace and defense clients, and eventually his own litigation shop, Gross & Klein LLP, with offices in New York and San Francisco. The specialty that kept surfacing: aviation law.

"I didn't plan on becoming a lawyer," he has said. "It was just another path that led me back to aviation." The through-line was always the airplane. Everything else was scenery.

The Flight Plan

A career that never flew a straight line.

Age 12

First flying lesson. The obsession begins. "I just never got over it."

Age 16

Earns his private pilot's license, check ride done before he leaves for college.

2000s

Two BigLaw firms in New York City, with a federal clerkship in between.

2000s

Decamps to a boutique firm in Vermont with aerospace and defense clients - a move he talked over with his wife.

2011–2019

Partner at Gross & Klein LLP, a bicoastal litigation boutique built around complex civil and aviation law.

2019–21

Goes in-house at an aviation technology company - his first taste of building instead of arguing.

Jul 2021

Joins Aero as General Counsel and Secretary.

Jan 2023

Completes licensure to fly Aero's own jets as first officer.

Jun 2023

Named President of Aero.

Sep 2023

Appointed CEO, succeeding Uma Subramanian - the executive he first met at a conference cocktail hour.

In His Own Words

Six lines that explain the man.

I just never got over it.

I didn't have to think much about the chance to combine my life passion with my career. It was an easy decision.

Aero was created to fill a gap between the first and business class offering in commercial airlines and private aviation.

We have an average NPS score of 93, which is unheard of in the industry.

Being in a courtroom and a cockpit are not as different as you might think.

We want to continue to innovate and offer something truly unique.

The Character Study

Calm in the left brain, restless in the right.

How he operates

Calm under pressure - a courtroom habit that transfers to a cockpit
A self-described social person; his big break came from a cocktail-hour handshake
Systems over heroics: "scale breaks ad hoc decision-making"
Hands-on to a fault - he literally flies the product
Innovation with a purpose, not novelty for its own sake

Fun facts

One of the very few airline CEOs qualified to fly the company's own fleet
Calls himself an "aviation nut" who "just never got over it"
Holds instrument, commercial, multiengine and flight-instructor ratings
Teaches the next crop of aviation lawyers as a San Jose State adjunct
His boss's boss is Garrett Camp, co-founder of Uber and StumbleUpon

An NPS of 93 is not normal

Net Promoter Score — illustrative comparison of typical industry ranges vs. Aero's stated figure

Legacy airlines

~30

Premium carriers

~55

Aero (stated)

93

Industry ranges illustrative; Aero figure per Klein interviews.

The Details That Stick

The small stories behind the big title.

The cocktail-hour handshake. Klein met Aero's then-CEO Uma Subramanian at a reception during a San Francisco aviation conference. That chance introduction became a job as general counsel, then president, then the CEO seat she once held. Networking, it turns out, is a flight path.

The check ride before the dorm room. He wrapped up his private pilot's license at 16, the summer before college. Most teenagers were learning to parallel park. He was learning to land.

The Vermont detour. A boutique firm with aerospace and defense clients pulled him out of New York and into New England - a relocation he decided on with his wife, and one more instance of aviation quietly steering the wheel.

Right seat, several times a month. Being CEO did not ground him. He still climbs into the cockpit as first officer and flies paying customers on real routes - the rare executive who experiences his own product at 41,000 feet.

Watch & Listen

Hear him tell it.

▶ YouTube · SpotDraft

How a Pilot Turned Into a CEO: Ben Klein, CEO at Aero

▶ YouTube · Ironbird

Ironbird Private Jet Podcast - Ben Klein, Aero

The Rolodex

Find him & Aero.

✈ aero.com in / LinkedIn X / @GoAero Facebook Aero on LinkedIn ABA Journal Profile AeroTime Interview