Airshare Closes Deal for Wheels Up's Managed Fleet

Airshare closed its deal to acquire the aircraft management arm of Wheels Up on October 1. The acquisition doubles the size of Airshare, adding 90 aircraft and 316 employees to the Airshare Aircraft Management division. This triples the size of the fleet it currently manages, many of which may be available for charter. The company said the majority of aircraft joining the fleet are super-midsize and larger, including aircraft from OEMs such as Bombardier, Cessna, Dassault Falcon Jet, and Gulfstream.

K.C. Ihlefeld will join the Airshare Aircraft Management division as senior vice president of aircraft management. Ihlefeld was formerly senior vice president for aircraft management at Wheels Up. Other employees joining Airshare from Wheels Up include pilots and specialists in account management, owner services, flight control, maintenance, training, and administration.

Airshare has been in business for 23 years and offers aircraft management, fractional ownership, jet cards, charter services, and third-party maintenance. “As we went through the process with Wheels Up, we immediately realized their aircraft management business would be a perfect fit for us, especially in terms of our shared commitment to delivering an outstanding experience for every customer,” said Andy Tretiak, Airshare's chief marketing officer. “Their culture was also very well aligned with ours. Aircraft management had become a core source of revenue for Airshare, so this move really checked all the boxes for us.”

“Adding aircraft capacity and valuable owner relationships to our rapidly expanding managed fleet positions us very well for the future,” said John Owen, Airshare president and CEO.

Overland Park, Kansas-based Airshare announced its intention to acquire Wheels Up’s aircraft management business on August 9. Wheels Up, which has incurred heavy losses in recent years, said it was selling its aircraft management division to focus on its core business activities.