Aviator Sky Dayton to Keynote NBAA-BACE

Sky Dayton, an entrepreneur who helped usher in the Internet revolution, will share his insights with attendees at the Day 1 Keynote on Tuesday, Oct. 22, at NBAA’s Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE).

Over the past 25 years, Dayton has founded, co-founded and helped build companies that have propelled the Internet into our everyday lives. He founded EarthLink in 1994 at the age of 23 after becoming frustrated with how hard it was to connect to the Internet. EarthLink eventually grew to serve millions of consumers. Dayton went on to found Boingo Wireless, and co-found and foster the growth of many other private and public companies.

In the 2000’s Dayton became captivated by aviation. “Ten years ago,” he said, “a friend took me for a ride in his Eclipse Jet, and I realized how much I wanted to learn to fly.” He completed his Private Pilot certification in a Cirrus SR22 in 2011, and over the past eight years he has accumulated almost 2,000 hours of flight time, training to a jet rating along the way. Today he flies a Phenom 300 between his home in Oregon and companies up and down the West Coast.

Dayton is an active investor and board member at several companies using technology to solve some of the world’s toughest problems. One of these is Joby Aviation, which is building a revolutionary electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft for urban air mobility.

Dayton served on the board of the Center for Public Leadership at the Kennedy School at Harvard University, currently serves on the Parents’ Advisory Board at Stanford University, and was named Entrepreneur of the Year by the University of Southern California.