Charles Alcock is managing editor of the AIN Media Group, having rejoined the company in 2019. He has been an aviation journalist since 1986, and previously worked for AIN from 1990 to 2017, most recently as editor-in-chief. His main focus is on covering new aviation technology and business models, as well as international news.
Having been raised in the London area, Alcock studied at the University of Manchester in the UK and earned an honors degree in Politics and Modern History. He speaks English and French, and some German.

Managing Editor

Bombardier manufactures a variety of business aircraft models, provides engineering, and aircraft maintenance services.

Charles Alcock

Against a backdrop of what it defined as uncertain market conditions, Wheels Up continues to strive for profitability, some 19 months after an investor consortium led by Delta Air Lines restructured the <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2023-09-22/wheels-names-new-board-sans-founder-kenny-dichter">private flight provider’s leadership team</a>. Results released on Thursday for the period through March 31 showed revenues at $177.5 million, which were 9.9% down on where they had been in the same quarter in 2024, and a net loss of $100 million that was higher than the $97 million deficit recorded in the first three months of last year.
Nonetheless, CEO George Mattson insisted the Atlanta-based company is heading in the right direction, while acknowledging that unstable and uncertain business conditions were, in part, prompted by the new U.S. administration’s disruptive economic policies. He pointed to a 7.7% increase in Wheels Up’s gross flight bookings at $241.9 million during the first quarter as evidence of progress, as well as a 50% year-over-year improvement in its EBITDA loss, which stood at $24.1 million for the first quarter.
The group’s adjusted contribution, with a 12.6% margin, was reported as $22.4 million. This represented nearly a 12-point improvement on the same period last year.
“We are on track on what has always been a multi-year project that is more of a transformational journey than a turnaround journey,” he told AIN. “What we have built is quite different, and we’re on track with both this strategy and commercially with momentum.”
<h2>Stock Buy-back after NYSE Warning</h2>
In response to a New York Stock Exchange notice of a potential delisting, the Wheels Up board has approved the repurchase of up to $10 million of shares. The company can now action this option as it endeavors to meet the requirement for its stock to trade at above $1 for a 30-day consecutive period within six months of the April 22 notice.
As work to rebuild the balance sheet continues, <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2025-03-11/wheels-eyes-profits-fleet-efficiencies-grow-margins">Wheels Up</a> holds over $270 million in total liquidity, including approximately $172 million in cash and equivalents, and an untapped $100 million revolving credit facility. This previously agreed line of credit, which has now been extended by Delta&nbsp;to September 2026.
According to Mattson, Wheels Up is now in a position to execute the strategy rolled out last year on a foundation of modernizing and standardizing its fleet around 17 Embraer Phenom 300 light jets through the acquisition of <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2024-11-14/wheels-completes-332m-financing-acquires-17-jets">GrandView Aviation</a>&nbsp;and the addition of some super-midsize Bombardier Challenger 300s. In addition to transitioning its fleet, he said the company is now “playing offense” when it comes to reshaping its business model around more profitable flying through both its charter and membership offerings.
With international trade tensions rising, Mattson said market sentiment has “deteriorated.” While “uncertainty breeds caution,” he noted that it is too early to assess the full impact of turbulent business conditions, but accepted that the business aviation sector will not be immune if this trend continues along the current trajectory.
<h2>Tariffs Make Environment Challenging</h2>
“We didn’t see much shift in our first-quarter results due to the macro [economic] uncertainty with [the impact of] tariffs creeping into the environment,” Mattson commented. “We need to manage what could be a challenging environment, and we have a number of levers that will help us. For instance, the fleet transition is flexible so that if demand weakens, we can slow it down as we’re getting aircraft from the secondary market.”
For now, Wheels Up feels there is a good balance between demand for private lift and available capacity. In Mattson’s view, if individuals and companies feel the need to decrease spending on travel, this could play to the company’s strengths in terms of offering a less capital-intensive alternative to owning aircraft.
Against this backdrop, sales of corporate memberships are currently the fastest-growing segment for Wheels Up. During the first quarter, these increased by 13% and now represent nearly 40% of total membership sales, growing at a faster rate than demand for leisure flights.
Mattson said his sales team is finding more success by offering companies and individuals “a toolkit of solutions,” rather than just focusing on selling flight hours. This has meant, for example, that even clients who have a fleet of their own aircraft can be engaged in conversations around the value proposition of using Wheels Up for supplemental lift. In some cases, this could mean selling a portion of their existing fleet or using their own aircraft for domestic flights and contracting for international trips.
<h2>More Pricing Transparency</h2>
Wheels Up is stepping up its commitment to transparency on dynamic flight pricing, actively encouraging clients to consider alternative departure times to secure trips at a reduced cost by publishing trailing flight-hour prices over a 90-day period. This is freeing up fleet capacity and driving improved revenues from assets, as well as cost savings, according to the company.
Building on the partnership with Delta’s scheduled services, Wheels Up is introducing hybrid offerings this summer, with Delta One passengers able to take connecting private flights in Europe. Customers flying to Athens, Barcelona, Naples, Nice, and Rome will be able to book “seamless transitions” to business jets or helicopters arranged through Wheels Up’s Air Partner International charter brokering subsidiary.
Also gaining momentum over the summer months will be the installation of Galileo HDX satellite Wi-Fi systems in Wheels Up aircraft. After an initial announcement in October, the operator has now signed a definitive agreement for the upgrade with supplier Gogo. During the relatively quiet first quarter, the company took the opportunity to step up fleet repainting and renovation work.
During the quarter, Wheels Up achieved a 97% completion rate, meaning the percentage of scheduled flights operated and completed, excluding customer-initiated cancellations. On-time performance of 85% represented an improvement on the 80% rate reported in the fourth quarter.

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