Wheels Up, a private aviation membership and on-demand charter provider, now exclusively operates Embraer Phenom 300 and Bombardier Challenger 300 series aircraft.
Wheels Up said Wednesday that it retired all of its legacy jet fleets, completing its move to premium Phenom 300 and 300E and Challenger 300 and 350 models. The move lowers the average age of the company’s fleet by about a decade as it looks to streamline its operations and customer offerings and tap into more premium revenue.
Wheels Up began adding the new Phenom and Challenger aircraft during 2025. By year’s end, they comprised about 40 percent of its fleet, some operated under sale-leaseback agreements.
The company said in October 2024 that its fleet modernization effort would be complete in three years. It said in February that it expected to beat its mid-2027 target. With Wednesday’s announcement, it ended up doing so by about 18 months.
“Retiring our legacy jet fleets from revenue service repositions our offering to a more consistent, premium, and operationally efficient experience for our members and customers,” George Mattson, CEO of Wheels Up, said in a statement. “We are encouraged by the higher customer satisfaction ratings we are receiving on our Phenom and Challenger offering and remain focused on building a stronger, simpler, and more scalable aviation platform.”
Wheels Up said “safety-vetted” third-party partners will fulfill member orders for legacy jets that have been retired. Its fleet previously included light jets such as the Citation Encore+, Citation CJ3+, and Hawker 400XP; large-cabin jets such as the Falcon 2000, Challenger 604, Gulfstream GIV-SP, and Gulfstream G450; King Air 350i turboprops; and midsize, super midsize, and extended long-range jets.
In 2024, the company said it planned to continue operating a fleet of King Airs. It said Wednesday that it will maintain other charter services through its partner network.
Wheels Up previously announced it was working with Embraer, Bombardier, and others to develop standardized liveries, interiors, and other improvements for its new additions. It said in February that by the end of 2026, new livery and interior installations will be complete or underway for about half of them.
New Wheels Up
Wheels Up has faced years of declining revenue but has begun to turn things around since Delta Air Lines and other investors threw it a $500 million life preserver in 2023.
At the end of that year, it recorded a net loss of about $80 million. Year-over-year revenue was down 40 percent. But the company’s $29 million net loss in Q4 2025 was a 67 percent year-over-year improvement, mainly due to a stronger mix of profitable customers and the retirement of older aircraft.
Quarterly revenue of $184 million was down only 10 percent annually, driven by declining group sales and discontinued membership programs. Private jet flight revenue—which had been on the decline—remained flat.
Wheels Up also improved its completion rate and on-time performance last year. It spent about $9 million on fleet modernization and ended the quarter with $234 million in liquidity to continue investing in an improved customer experience.
For example, the company has an agreement with Gogo Business Aviation to equip its new Phenom and Challenger aircraft with Galileo HDX Wi-Fi. It said in February that the entire fleet will have Galileo HDX by year’s end.
In September, Wheels Up introduced its premium Signature Membership, which gives members 365-day, nationwide access to the new additions for a $200,000 deposit and monthly fee. Members also earn Delta SkyMiles Diamond Medallion status and can save up to 20 percent on certain Delta flights when booking through Wheels Up.
The company said it sold more than 600 Signature Memberships in Q4 2025, accounting for more than 40 percent of its corporate membership fund sales for the quarter. About one-quarter of those sales were new customers. Corporate membership fund sales are the company’s fastest-growing segment, growing 35 percent year-over-year in Q4.
Wheels Up also continues to deepen its relationship with Delta, which began in 2019 after its merger with Delta Private Jets. The integration gives Wheels Up members Delta perks. They can book a Delta flight into a major hub airport and fly with Wheels Up for the final leg.
In January, the company added self-booking for Delta flights through its own platform—a first for private aviation. It is exploring the option to book Wheels Up trips on Delta’s platform.
Also in January, Wheels Up merged its membership and charter businesses, with both now managed by the same team. The idea is to convince customers who have only used one offering to try out the other.