Wheels Up, a private aviation provider, announced that the company’s primary investor group, led by Delta Air Lines, has committed to providing a new $100 million term loan in support of the company’s growth plans, plus capacity to expand the facility by an additional $100 million from new or existing investors. (The facility is a pre‑approved agreement that lets a business borrow money up to a set limit when needed.)
In addition, said the announcement, Wheels Up has reached agreement in principle to upsize its revolving equipment notes facility by adding a mezzanine tranche of financing arranged by AIP Capital. This upsized and enhanced aircraft financing facility and additional term loan facility, said the announcement, are expected to close during the second quarter and generate an incremental $165 million of liquidity, with the additional unused capacity anticipated to be available to support aircraft investments in future periods.
George Mattson, CEO of Wheels Up, said, “The continued backing of our investors — led by Delta Air Lines — along with the additional new support from AIP Capital, provides the investment capital needed to execute our growth plan and reflects confidence in the progress we’re making to build a strong and sustainable business.”
The corporate segment, said Mattson, “continues to be our strongest segment.” He continued: “We’re seeing really strong acceleration with corporate. The segment has been “growing at roughly 25% a year over the last couple of years since the investment of Delta and the rollout of our strategy. And that trend is continuing.”
Wheels Up also announced that its fleet modernization was completed 18 months ahead of schedule. In April, all Citation X and Hawker 400XP aircraft were retired from revenue service. Premium Phenom and Challenger jets now comprise 100% of Wheels Up’s controlled jet fleet, and the company expects to double the size of those fleets between the end of 2025 and the end of 2026. The completion of the fleet modernization plan, said the announcement, “is expected to meaningfully enhance cost efficiency, further improve operational reliability, increase fleet utilization and support the platform’s premium positioning.”
Ed Bastian, Delta’s CEO, said, “Since our strategic investment in 2023, the Wheels Up team has driven operational excellence, transformed its offering, strengthened the foundation of the company and set the stage to accelerate their progress.” With its fleet transition complete 18 months ahead of schedule, he said, “the company’s momentum continues to build, and this new financing reflects our confidence in the path ahead for our partnership.”
Wheels Up reported first-quarter revenue of $168.9 million, down 5% year over year. The net loss was about $83 million compared with a net loss of $99.3 million a year prior. Mattson said the revenue decline masked shifts within the business, as demand for its newer Phenom and Challenger aircraft offerings more than doubled year over year while Wheels Up is deliberately winding down its legacy flying.
Total gross bookings for the first quarter were up 10% year over year to $267.2 million, driven by growth in the charter business, according to Wheels Up. Private jet gross bookings dropped 6% to $193.2 million.
