Private aviation provider Wheels Up has received another $100 million in term loan support from its investor group led by Delta Air Lines, plus the capacity to expand the facility by an additional $100 million from new or existing investors, the company announced Monday. In addition, Wheels Up received a commitment of $65 million in mezzanine financing from AIP Capital, the company announced Monday.
The deals are expected to close in the second quarter, according to the company.
Delta contributed more than half of the $100 million, Wheels Up CEO George Mattson told BTN. Delta in 2023 led an investor group that provided a $500 million lifeline to Wheels Up, which gave them a 95 percent stake in the company.
The new AIP Capital contribution supplements Wheels Up's aircraft financing facility with Bank of America. The structure will allow Wheels Up the ability to borrow more against the value of its aircraft acquisitions, Mattson said. "Going forward, we can use less cash to buy aircraft than before," he added.
Wheels Up plans to use the additional "$165 million in incremental liquidity to fund additional fleet investments and multi-year business growth," according to the company. In the 12 months to March 31, 2026, the company expanded its fleet of owned and leased Phenom and Challenger aircraft to 36 from 21, and Wheels Up "is going to double the size of the Phenom and Challenger fleet in 2026 versus the end of 2025," Mattson said.
The company also completed its fleet modernization plan 18 months ahead of schedule, with the Phenom and Challenger aircraft now 100 percent "of the controlled jet fleet in revenue service," according to Wheels Up.
Mattson added that the corporate segment "continues to be our strongest segment. We're seeing really strong acceleration with corporate," he said. The segment has been "growing at roughly 25 percent a year over the last couple of years since the investment of Delta and the rollout of our strategy. And that trend is continuing."
Wheels Up Q1 Metrics
Wheels Up reported first-quarter revenue of $168.9 million, down 5 percent year over year. The net loss was about $83 million compared with a net loss of $99.3 million a year prior.
Mattson said the revenue decline masked shifts within the business, as demand for Phenom and Challenger offerings more than doubled year over year while Wheels Up is deliberately winding down its legacy flying.
At the same time, GAAP requires counting of only the net revenue or gross profit of some charter operations instead of the full transaction value, understating its true value, he said.
"If customer A buys a flight for $10,000 with their membership, that's $10,000" in revenue, Mattson said. "If customer B buys a charter flight for $10,000—the same flight, the same trip," only Wheels Up's commission—say, $2,000—counts as revenue.
Total gross bookings for the first quarter were up 10 percent year over year to $267.2 million, driven by growth in the charter business, according to Wheels Up. Private jet gross bookings dropped 6 percent to $193.2 million. Live flight legs were nearly 7,800, down from 10,900 in Q1 2025.
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