As it reaches its five year milestone, the Fly Louie Alliance has capped a significant period of growth that's driven meaningful economic value to its operators and FBO partners. In five years, Fly Louie has sold $150 million worth of fuel on behalf of its FBO partners and nearly $100 million of charter on behalf of its operators. The Fly Louie team of six full-time members leans heavily on its deep operator relationships, its proprietary technology and its fresh approach to overcoming common challenges facing small and medium operators and their partners.

One such challenge is competition for lucrative Part 135 business at private aviation FBOs. Companies like Sheltair have joined forces with Fly Louie in order to capture a greater share of Part 135 business, while offering those operators the most competitive rates on fuel. Leonel Rivera, Sheltair senior vice president FBO operations, says: “We value our close collaborative relationship where our teams meet regularly to brainstorm strategies to drive new business. Fly Louie has been a key partner in growing volume, especially at Orlando. We appreciate the results over the last five years and have seen more than 250 Alliance operators purchase more than two million gallons of fuel through the Fly Louie programme across our many locations.”

In 2019, Fly Louie started the Alliance in order to bring the power of scale to small and medium operators. The Alliance launched with 20 Preferred FBO partners and 10 Part 135 charter operators. Five years later, the Alliance now includes more than 350 member operators, accounting for over 3,500 aircraft, with more joining each month. In 2024 alone, Fly Louie has welcomed 20 new operators. The Alliance fuel savings programme was originally designed to secure savings for member operators, but now delivers industry-leading utilisation for FBO partners. The programme boasts more than 70 Preferred FBO locations and regularly offers operators the best rate on field.

Garry Madolid, president at Republic Jet Center at Republic airport in Farmingdale, New York, was among the first to sign on to the Alliance Preferred FBO network. “We joined the Fly Louie Alliance just before the pandemic created really challenging conditions for us at Farmingdale, when we didn't have as much name recognition with operators,” he says. “With Fly Louie's help, we were able to grow our market share 11 per cent year over year to become dominant on the field. Over 140 Alliance operators have collectively purchased 400,000 gallons through the Fly Louie programme at Republic Jet Center since the start of our partnership, and loyal Fly Louie customers from years ago are still using us today.”

Through its Platinum Sales programme, Fly Louie oversees wholesale charter sales for participating operators, enabling those operators to focus on their retail customers or to secure new management contracts. In the past year, Fly Louie has booked over 3,500 hours of charter on a growing fleet of aircraft. The most recent operator to join boasts a six-aircraft fleet, adding another G200 and soon a GIV to the Fly Louie Platinum fleet of over 40 wholesale-ready aircraft, distributed across the US.

“We're proud of the growth we've achieved, and the value that we continue to deliver to small private aviation businesses,” says founder and CEO Julia Takeda. “It's gratifying to serve the many great partners and Alliance members who have been with us from the start.”

In addition to fuel and Platinum Sales, the Alliance offers insurance, car rentals, hotels and much more. Fly Louie anticipates continued growth for the remainder of 2024 and into 2025.