August 8, 2024
Year Founded
2013
Headquarters
Atlanta, Georgia
Leadership
Adam Zirkin
Executive Chairman
George Mattson
CEO
Dave Holtz
Chairman, Operations
Todd Smith
Chief Financial Officer
Dave Harvey
Chief Commercial Officer
Kristen Lauria
Chief Customer & Marketing Officer
Laura Heltebran
Chief Legal Officer
Mark Briffa
EVP & Chief Commercial Officer
David Godsman
Chief Digital Officer
Jet Card Hourly Rates
King Air 350i from $5,995, plus FET and Fuel Surcharge
Related Companies
Delta Air Lines, Aspirational Consumer Lifestyle, Avianis, Mountain Aviation, Gama Aviation Signature, Certares, Knighthead, Cox Enterprises
Wheels Up Experience was founded in 2013 by Kenny Dichter and veterans of Marquis Jet Partners.
It was based in New York City until it moved its headquarters to Atlanta in 2024.
Following a SPAC merger with Aspirational Consumer Lifestyle in July 2021, Wheels Up is a pure-play publicly traded private jet operator and broker.
It trades on the NYSE under the symbol UP.
Wheels Up Experience Inc. is the new name of Wheels Up Partners Holdings LLC following its merger with Aspirational Consumer Lifestyle Corp in July 2021, making it a public company.
It continues to be known as Wheels Up.
In 2022, it was the third largest charter/fractional operator in the U.S., behind NetJets and Flexjet.
In a 20-month span through January 2021, it acquired TMC Jets, tech platform Avianis, Delta Private Jets, Gama Aviation Signature, and Mountain Aviation. In February 2022, it acquired Alanate Air Charter, adding 12 light jets.
The acquisition of Delta Private Jets made Delta Air Lines the largest shareholder in the company. (Review private jet fractional and membership company M&A activity with our PRIVATE AVIATION DEAL BOOK.)
Following Wheels Up’s IPO, Delta Air Lines remains the largest shareholder.
Wheels Up offers various membership options across its fleet of King Air 350i turboprops, Citation Excel/XLS, and Citation X jets and off-fleet partners.
It is a leader in jet sharing with flights by the seat and split between members.
In November 2021, it retooled its membership program, increasing rates, minimums, and call-outs but maintaining the number of peak days.
It was revised again, effective June 2022.
Its changes, announced on Nov. 1, 2022, go into effect on Dec. 1, 2022.
It has a wide variety of partnerships, including the NFL Players Association, Porsche, American Express, Costco, Landry’s, Waldorf Astoria, and Inspirato.
It said it would launch a helicopter service via a partnership with Textron Bell in 2021. No further announcements have been made.
In May 2023, it announced a new reduced service area designed to cut losses.
In August 2023, it announced a $500 million Delta-led investment package following mounting losses, decreasing cash, and bankruptcy rumors.
The deal closed in September 2023.
At the same time, CFO Todd Smith was named Interim-CEO, replacing Dichter.
In August 2023, Delta named its CFO Dan Janki, Chairman of Wheels Up. In September 2023, Delta Board member George Mattson was named CEO, with Smith returning to his CFO role and Dichter exiting the board.
| Aircraft | Aircraft Size | Number in Fleet |
|---|---|---|
| Beechcraft King Air 350 | Turboprop | 56 |
| Cessna Citation CJ3 | Light | 18 |
| Beechcraft Hawker 400XP | Light | 31 |
| Cessna Citation XLS | Midsize | 18 |
| Cessna Citation X | Super Midsize | 40 |
| Gulfstream G450 | Large | 1 |
2013
Wheels Up is publicly traded under the symbol UP. Delta Air Lines, Certares, which owns Internova, one of the nation’s largest luxury and corporate travel agencies, restructuring specialist Knighthead, and Cox Enterprises control 95% as of Sept. 2023.
Wheels Up has 12,000 members as of May 2023.
Wheels Up had $1.55 billion in revenues in 2022.
George Mattson
Wheels Up uses its fleet of owned and leased aircraft and third-party charter operators. In Oct. 2023, it sold its managed fleet to Airshare.
Wheels Up Membership is $8,500 per year, plus a $100,000 fund deposit.
Wheels Up offers capped hourly rates and dynamic pricing.
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