Marc Sellouk, founder and chair of Flyte, started his first company, a tech company, in 1998 then found himself looking for the next challenge. He’d been an aviation enthusiast and pilot for many years before, starting at age 11 watching aircraft take off from the airport, so aviation was a natural fit, he says.
Sellouk, based in Long Island, New York, founded Flewber in 2018.
Creatd, a public holding company, acquired a controlling interest in March 2025 in a transaction valued at about $8.3 million. The company rebranded as Flyte.
Q. You were inspired by the ride-share and eVTOL concepts, such as Joby and Archer. How so?
A. When I was flying from FBO to FBO, I realized that there was a parallel with the jet parked at these ramps and what the black cars were doing before Uber came into the marketplace and became a ride-sharing network. It occurred to me that there was an opportunity in a very regional scope to mimic, to the extent possible, what Uber did on the ground—and bring that aerially—and peeling back the onion and understanding the different facets of the industry and where it was going.
Two companies stuck out—one by the name of Joby and the other Archer. They were creating an eVTOL network with electric vertical takeoff aircraft. I really love the whole idea ... I thought to myself, ‘Look, that’s years away. What if I can build a platform with a suitable conventional aircraft that mimicked the model—and almost become a precursor to that model.’ Fast forward seven years. We have a model that we’ve executed with suitable conventional aircraft, which is the (Cirrus) Vision Jet, and it seems to be working very well. It’s certainly more profitable than we thought. And the demand is absolutely incredible. I think that’s just the beginning.
Q. How did you get started?
A. When I first started, rather than becoming a (Part 135) operator, which we know how challenging it is, I ended up acquiring a Part 135 operation (Ponderosa Air), which had two piston aircraft in it (both Cessna 421 Golden Eagles). We started with piston aircraft, and we started to just get an understanding of how this whole thing comes together—how does it work from a regulatory, from a compliance, from a business, from logistics, from sales. You’ve got to be able to really take all of that, dissect it, peel back the onion, understand it, and then put it together, then wrap it up in a bow and then deliver it.
Q. The company has evolved. What happened next?
A. We went from there—from those aircraft—to a (Cirrus) Vision Jet, which is quite frankly, no pun intended to the name, but that’s it—that accomplished our vision in this whole marketplace. It’s evolved very much. Ultimately, we’d like to be into the per-seat business, but in order to get there, you really have to build a threshold in terms of marketing to the mass. At the moment, we are catering to the whole aircraft market—but to a demographic that is more focused on flying and getting around regionally as opposed to your typical jet charter, which is a typical $25,000 ticket, north to south, east to west, longer routes. We’re creating more regional routes here, so typically 400 nm. We’re really starting to build this—it’s the regional air mobility market, and that’s what we’re focusing on. It started here out in the New York tri-state area, and we’re about to launch in the Florida market. For us, it’s copy and paste. You right click, copy and paste what works and evolve as you grow.
Q. At one point, you considered buying the assets of charter operator Verijet when the company went bankrupt, including its Vision Jets. What happened there?
A. We actually did not buy the assets. We looked at the assets under the Verijet bankruptcy. The aircraft themselves were so poorly maintained that they weren’t supported by a maintenance program. They’re just not supported any longer. To get them back on the program was just cost prohibitive. It made more sense to go after other aircraft that had less time on them, that were maintained better. So that’s really the route we went.
Q. How large is your fleet today?
A. We’re now going on our third aircraft. We plan to evolve to a total of seven by the end of the year. It’s all going to be utilization based—demand based. Our demand is currently very strong in the New York tri-state area. We have a good flow of perspective demand in the southeast, in the Florida market specifically. From there, we’re going to look at Texas and L.A. as further expansion.
Q. When we spoke earlier, you mentioned south Florida was projected to open in February. What about Texas and Los Angeles?
A. I would say third quarter (2026) on Texas and L.A.
Q. Is your fleet all Vision Jets?
A. At this point, they are all Vision Jets. They will all be Vision Jets.
Q. You mentioned that you’ve seen a change in your customer base. How so?
A. The customers have really evolved. Most travelers these days are not private jet owners. They’re business owners; they’re professionals; they’re families who fly frequently. They’re pragmatic about it. They’ll still fly commercial, if it works. But they’re increasingly looking for local private aviation companies with regional routes where commercial services really are inefficient or unpredictable in their market. Oftentimes you’ll see airlines shut down routes in particular regional markets. We’re filling that void.
We’re catering to airports that in fact that most people never knew existed ... and that are closer to their homes. And they could do so in a way that won’t break the bank.
Q. How many private operators, such as yourself, operate Vision Jets in their fleets?
A. I would say there are a handful around the country. The Vision Jet itself, because of the economics of the aircraft is really the aircraft of choice to utilize for this mission. You’ll find several operators that either have owners that are using them and chartering it at times they’re not. Or you’ll find operators like us who have the aircraft on a full-time charter basis, where we don’t have any owners that are looking to utilize the plane. The planes are on our certificate. We use it at our discretion. We don’t have any limitations or blackout dates or things like that.
The aircraft is fully dedicated to the operation. It is on a dry lease to the company, but the company has full operational and all rights to their utilization.
Q. What is your biggest challenge?
A. The biggest challenge is finding the right aircraft and obviously pilots. But we feel, based on the aircraft being a single pilot-rated aircraft and aircraft that are out on the market becoming available, I think that will become less of an issue as we expand. Cirrus (recently announced) their new G3 models, so a lot of folks want to upgrade from their G2s, their G2 Elites, their G2+s to the G3. So, we anticipate—at least we see in the market that a lot of folks want to upgrade and part ways with their older aircraft.
Q. Are you finding the pilots you need?
A. We are. The good news is that the aircraft is really easy to fly. All of our pilots are (Part) 135, ATP pilots. It’s very easy to get type rated in the aircraft because the aircraft is single pilot rated. In fact, we introduced a co-pilot to the clients when they fly, and they actually feel safer than flying in most other aircraft—it’s the red button that’s above that’s called (Garmin) Safe Return. So, we introduce them—‘Here’s your captain speaking, and then, here’s your co-pilot, which is the red button if your captain gets incapacitated. Just press this button, and you’ll be on the ground before you know it safely.’ That’s been a very powerful sell for us, along with the CAP System (Cirrus Airframe Parachute System), which is the parachute in case the aircraft has a catastrophic failure, God forbid. If the structural integrity of the aircraft gets compromised, that gets pulled, the CAP System takes over, and the plane gets on the ground safely. That’s been a great selling point.
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