Charter aircraft provider Wheels Up has secured fresh financing and revealed plans to replace its fleet of owned jets with used Embraer Phenom 300s and Bombardier Challengers.
The Atlanta-based company will continue operating the Beechcraft King Air 350 turboprops that traditionally composed the backbone of its fleet. But it will simplify its operation by divesting all the jets it currently owns, including Citation CJ3s, Citation Excels, Citation X and Hawker 400XPs.
It will replace those with the incoming Phenom light jets and the Challenger super-midsize jets, with a goal of only owning those jet types within about three years.
“The transition to replacement aircraft types [known] in the industry for their best-in-class operational reliability will drive a step-change improvement in operational performance, efficiency and, in turn, an enhanced customer experience,” Wheels Up chief executive George Mattson says on 22 October at NBAA BACE in Las Vegas.
“My operating team cannot wait to get their hands on these aircraft and put them into service for our customers,” he adds.
Wheels Up, which has struggled financially in recent years, has signed a “binding agreement” to acquire for $105 million all 17 Phenom 300s and 300Es operated by US company GrandView Aviation. It expects to close that deal in the fourth quarter of this year.
It will also acquire GrandView’s maintenance programmes and integrate GrandView’s pilots into Wheels Up’s pilot pool.
Mattson calls the Phenom 300 an “ideal premium light jet for customers flying short- to mid-range trips”, citing the type’s capabilities and cabin comfort.
Those aircraft will replace Wheels Up’s current 33 owned light jets, which include Citation CJ3s and Hawker 400XPs.
Mattson says Wheels Up is now seeking to “opportunistically acquire” a fleet of pre-owned Challenger 300s and 350s, either through leases or purchases. It expects to begin introducing the Challengers in 2025.
“The Challenger 300 and 350 deliver a customer-centric experience with roomy, comfortable cabins, stand-up cabin height, flat floors, full galleys and much-larger dimensions than our current super-mid offering,” Mattson says.
To make room for incoming Challengers, Wheels Up has already agreed to sell its 13 super-midsize Citation Xs to an unnamed buyer, but it intends to lease some of those Citations back.
Additionally, Wheels Up has signed deals with Gogo Business Aviation to equip the incoming Phenoms and Challengers with Gogo’s Galileo HDX satellite-based wi-fi.
“Both of these aircraft types have large installed bases and correspondingly large secondary markets for pre-owned aircraft, which enable an earlier transition of our fleet to these aircraft types over the next few years,” Mattson says.
Additionally on 22 October, Wheels Up said it secured $332 million in new credit from Bank of America, with Delta Air Lines – which owns about 40% of Wheels Up’s stock – providing credit support.
Wheels Up went public with high expectations in 2021 amid a booming business aviation market. The company has since struggled as the market has cooled, losing $194 million in the first half of 2024.
