Gogo Appoints Monte Koch, Chair Emeritus of the NBAA, to Board of Directors
The Board of Directors of Gogo Inc. has announced the appointment of Monte Koch as a member of the Board, expanding the Board from 9 to 10 directors.
"Monte brings unique, deep expertise on the business aviation ecosystem and is a valuable addition to Gogo's Board," said Oakleigh Thorne, Gogo Chairman and CEO. "For nearly 20 years, Monte served on the Board of the National Business Aviation Association, not to mention logging over 5,000 hours as a pilot, reflecting his lifelong passion for private aviation."
"That experience, coupled with his 25-year career in finance and role as a public company director, will benefit Gogo and our shareholders as we launch new products that deliver order of magnitude improvements in inflight connectivity, and capture more of the opportunity in the underpenetrated business aviation market," Thorne said.
"Gogo has a long history as the clear business aviation inflight connectivity technology and service leader, and I am proud to join the Board at this exciting time for the Company," said Koch. "Gogo's next-generation products create opportunity to serve all business aviation customers around the world and will unlock significant value creation opportunity."
Monte Koch Biography
Koch is a private investor and a retired Partner of BDT & Company, a distinguished merchant bank managing over $20 billion in assets.
Koch is Chair Emeritus of the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), the leading trade association serving the business aviation community, following his tenure as a board member from 2005 to 2023, including serving his last two years as NBAA's Board Chair.
Additionally, Koch serves as a Director of Choice Hotels International, a publicly traded company managing over 7,000 hotels worldwide.
An accomplished pilot, Koch holds an Air Transport Pilot rating with more than 5,000 hours of flight time and is type-rated in various aircraft, including the Falcon 10, Falcon 50/900, Gulfstream G-IV/G450, Gulfstream G-V/G550 and Boeing 747-400. He also holds helicopter and seaplane ratings.
Earlier in his career, Koch co-founded and served on the board of Ten-X / Auction.com, the largest online marketplace for residential and commercial real estate in the U.S. He also had a 25-year career in investment banking, including roles as the Global Head of Real Estate Investment Banking at Deutsche Bank Securities, the U.S. investment banking and securities arm of German banking firm Deutsche Bank, as well as serving as its Chairman of Mergers and Acquisitions for the Americas.
Koch graduated from The College of William & Mary with a Bachelor of Business Administration in management.
