Story ID: 
Wheels Up Introduces King Air Access Program
By: James Wynbrandt
Caption: Wheels Up hopes that the new UP King Air access program will lock in more customers at a discounted price.
Word Count: 217
Wheels Up introduced the UP King Air access program this week for its eight-passenger King Air 350i turboprop twins. The three-tiered deposit plan—$50,000, $100,000, and $200,000—provides guaranteed availability and fixed hourly rates for flights east of the Mississippi River. The King Air 50 plan includes 250 days per year at $4,695 per hour, while the King Air 100 and 200 programs offer 275 days per year guaranteed at $4,495 per hour. According to Wheels Up, the 200 program “locks in more volume at the discounted price.”
All three plans include a complimentary Wheels Up Connect membership, which otherwise requires a $1,995 initiation fee. Its Connect program provides features and benefits such as shared flights, private online community forums, access to signature events, and discounted empty-leg flights.
Wheels Up aims to “push King Air demand in specific regions where our routes have known profitability and we have aircraft available,” said executive v-p Nicole Hammond. The new deposit plans are expected to appeal to customers “that have been chartering with local providers and have historically voiced hesitation about paying an initiation fee or annual dues,” as well as to customers introduced to Wheels Up through ad hoc charter arranged by subsidiary brokerage Air Partner, Hammond added.