It’s the most exclusive way to fly — and money can’t buy it.
Willa Air’s only plane, a Challenger 850, can seat barely a dozen people. The upstart airline offers deluxe amenities including a private departure lounge in LA with champagne breakfasts and IV drips to boost vitamin intake or relieve hangovers.
But the airline didn’t sell seats on its inaugural flight, from LA to Palm Springs, in April — timed to the Coachella music festival. Instead, anyone who wanted to feel like a million bucks at 30,000 feet could apply for a seat. Money didn’t matter. Influence did.
The handful of social-media influencers who turned clout into a coveted seat included film director Bryce Hirschberg (Insta followers: 554,000 and counting), “The Challenge” co-star Morgan Willet (305K followers) and singer Trevi Moran (1.4m followers).
Aron Levin, Willa Air’s chief marketing officer, claimed that 2,000 “creators” applied for a place.
“We were overwhelmed by the number of people who wanted to be part of this,” he told The Post, adding that even though the flight to and from Coachella was brief, the vibe was instant. “None of them knew each other but coming back the dynamic was like they were 12 best friends.”
Private air travel is just one of the many over-the-top perks social-media influencers can indulge in, as a whole new industry has cropped up to support the so-called Creator Economy. One study from LinkTree identified that 200 million people worldwide are trying to bankroll their lives on the back of their social media posts — that’s more than the entire population of Mexico. Some 61% of them managed to earn money last year that way, per an MBO Partners study.
Willa Air’s future schedule is in flux, but Levin has plans to shuttle Insta-celebs to the front row of New York Fashion Week. The airline is really an offshoot…