JetSetGo: An Indian woman’s story of owning 10 private jets at 32

Kanika Tekriwal, an Indian woman, has founded her own aviation-based startup at the age of 22 back in 2012.

"JetSetGo" was founded with an aim of making private flying more accessible, transparent, economical, and efficient to everyone.

Owning 10 private jets within a decade is something that we may not even dare to dream of, but she has made it possible despite having a fair share of struggles.

She is one of the few women working in the Indian aviation industry.

Also called the Uber of the Indian skies, JetSetGo is a plane aggregator startup that operates, manages, and flies chartered planes and helicopters for owners. 

"I had the idea brewing in my head for close to three years or so, but when I took out my sketch board and started working on it, I was diagnosed with cancer, which set me back by a year. Luckily for me, nobody else in the country had gotten around to doing something similar until I finished treatment or until now," says Kanika.   

What is JetSetGo doing

The startup is now pioneering air taxis with intra-city connectivity in India using electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.

It uses a mix of tech, unique maintenance procedures, and "SMART" management — all of which are developed by proprietary properties of JetSetGo, reports India Times.

This, in turn, helps reduce maintenance cost, increases airtime, decreases ground time, thereby ensuring profitability. In fact, it also reduces the cost of chartered aircraft substantially, making them more readily and frequently accessible to flyers.

The idea

When she realised the industry of privately chartered planes were filled with brokers and operators – causing a lot of frustration – Kanika decided to change it.

She has told India Times that anyone who wanted to use a private jet would have to contact a broker or a private operator, who would recommend jets or helicopters, which give them maximum commission, irrespective of the client's requirements.

"Due to sheer lack of transparency and non-availability of charter planes, customers pay astronomical amounts. Similarly, if the customer contacts an operator, they would pitch an aircraft solely operated by that operator," Kanika explains.

After working close to 20 months behind the scenes, Kanika launched JetSet go for private jet and helicopter charter. 

Kanika's vision

With the "SMART" management technique, maintenance prevention, and prediction technologies, the startup offers safety and on-time arrival like never before. Kanika envisions to tap the third dimension – the sky – to its fullest potential, and make chartered air travel the future of transport for Indians who value time and convenience.

"We are looking to democratise air travel," adds Kanika.

Tekriwal, an MBA graduate, co-founded her company with her friend Sudheer Perla.

She hails from an orthodox Marwari family. Her father was running a real estate and chemical business.

Kanika got a boarding school education in South India.

She later moved to Mumbai for her under-graduation in economics and a diploma in design.