Mixed Results Leave Wheels Up Striving for Net Profits

Still chasing a net trading surplus, air charter and membership group Wheels Up achieved a gross profit of $9.6 million in the second quarter, representing a $7 million improvement year over year. However, its net loss widened to $107 million from $82.3 million in the prior-year period, driven by a $13 million increase in interest expense and aircraft lease costs and a $13 million non-cash impairment charge for legacy fleet retirement.

Reporting results today, the private flight group said the margin boost had been achieved despite having about $5 million in quarterly expenses associated with ongoing “transformation” costs, including the now-complete fleet replacement. 

Revenues in the quarter dipped by 4% year over year, to $182 million, which Wheels Up said reflected the cessation of income from non-core service businesses sold off in 2025. Over the same period, bookings declined 8%, to $241.8 million, which Wheels Up said reflected transitory inefficiencies from its ongoing sales force transformation. 

"Our focus is on the direction of the business, not putting a date on profitability," Wheels Up CEO George Mattson told AIN. "We have largely accomplished the foundational parts of our transformation, and we're already seeing those structural changes translating to stronger operational performance, expanding margins and an improvement in adjusted EBITDAR. Now it's about executing the remainder of our transformation plan to build upon the foundation we've built and continuing that trajectory toward sustained profitability. "

Private jet flight revenue was flat year over year, as demand for trips on the company’s Embraer Phenom 300s and Bombardier Challenger 300/350s more than doubled, offsetting the retirement of legacy aircraft flying. Live flight legs fell 28%, to 8,649, while revenue per flight leg rose 27%, to $22,048, reflecting the higher average rates commanded by the premium fleet. At the same time, the adjusted contribution margin edged up to 12.4% from 12.2%.

According to Mattson, the availability of the newer jets is moving the dial in multiple ways. "Utility improved 20% year-over-year on the higher maintenance reliability of these fleets, and our adjusted EBITDAR loss improved 27%," he told AIN. "As we scale to more than 50 aircraft by year-end and push Utility toward our 70-hour long-term goal, we expect those economics to keep improving.

Operational Boost

Operationally, the company reported its best metrics since it began disclosing such data in 2023. Its completion rate reached 99.4%, up nearly 2 points year over year, representing the percentage of scheduled flights operated and completed, excluding customer-initiated cancellations.

On-time flight performance, defined as arrival within 30 minutes of plan, climbed to 86.8%, up more than 6 points. Wheels Up also logged 119 “brand days”—days with zero cancellations across the fleet—through the end of July, surpassing its full-year target at midyear.

The Atlanta-based operator has now consolidated its owned fleet around the Phenom 300 and Challenger 300/350 after retiring its legacy aircraft in April, roughly 18 months ahead of schedule. The Phenom and Challenger fleet expanded from 22 to 40 aircraft year over year and is set to surpass 50 by year-end.

The company’s Signature Membership program, launched in September, has doubled year to date to more than 1,200 members. As such, it now accounts for more than half of Wheels Up’s active member base, up from 800 members representing one-third of the base at the end of the first quarter. 

"Those members generally fly more hours at higher rates, and demand for our premium fleet more than doubled year-over-year," Mattson explained.

Delta Air Lines, Wheels Up’s majority shareholder, extended its $100 million revolving credit facility commitment through September 2028. During the quarter, Wheels Up also announced plans to adopt Surf Air Mobility’s Enterprise BrokerOS, a charter operations platform built on Palantir technology, aimed at improving booking decisions and creating new revenue opportunities in its charter business. Demand from corporate customers grew more than 8% year-over-year across membership and charter combined, which the company attributed to the Delta partnership. 

Expanding Customer Base

"The Delta partnership is also bringing new customers into private aviation: corporate flight revenue grew, and the integrated Delta–Wheels Up offering has been met with a broadly positive customer response," Mattson said. "Joint marketing activations, including a Signature Membership trial and a co-executed corporate travel campaign, are extending our reach into Delta's premium customer base."

Efforts to expand its customer base are driving an intense focus on the priorities of a new generation of private aviation consumer, including greater flexibility and service consistency. According to Mattson, the ability to switch between premium scheduled airline services with Delta and private travel with Wheels Up holds strong appeal for this market segment.

"Today's customers expect the reliability of the best premium commercial experience—every trip, not most trips—plus seamless connectivity and digital booking. That's where we've invested: a 99.4% completion rate, our best-ever on-time performance, a standardized fleet and streaming-capable satellite Wi-Fi across the entire controlled fleet—a first at scale," he told AIN. "They also expect flexibility. That's why we've built a service-based model with programs to fit every customer need – from on-demand charter to membership – without the large upfront capital commitment and multi-year lock-ins of fractional ownership."

Wheels Up said it has substantially completed initiatives expected to deliver $70 million or more in annual cash cost savings through operational efficiencies and overhead reductions, with remaining opportunities expected to be realized by year-end.

This story was updated on August 5 with additional context and comments from Wheels Up.