Private aviation supplier Wheels Up has agreed to acquire the entire Embraer Phenom fleet of GrandView Aviation, a subsidiary of Global Medical Response, Wheels Up announced Tuesday. The $105 million purchase includes 17 Embraer Phenom 300 and Phenom 300E aircraft and related maintenance assets to support the fleet.
Wheels Up expects to assume GrandView's existing customer programs and retain most of the existing pilot group, integrating them into the existing Wheels Up pilot workforce, according to the carrier, which expects the deal to close this quarter.
Wheels Up also has agreed to sell all 13 of its Citation X aircraft to an unrelated third party in order to acquire and lease a fleet of pre-owned Bombardier Challenger 300 and Challenger 350 aircraft. Wheels Up plans to introduce the Challenger planes beginning next year.
These deals are part of Wheels Up's strategy to modernize its fleet through the eventual retirement of four existing aircraft types—the Citation X, Citation Excel, Citation CJ3 and Hawker 400XP—and replacing them with Embraer Phenom and Bombardier Challenger aircraft. The company also intends to continue to operate a fleet of King Air 350i aircraft within its existing service areas.
Wheels Up expects the fleet transition to occur over the next three years, and this shift is projected to lower the average aircraft age of the company's fleet by about 10 years.
"Fleet modernization is the next critical step in the journey of Wheels Up," CEO George Mattson said. "We believe our fleet modernization strategy and the enabling transactions we are announcing today will allow us to deliver those solutions with a best-in-class aircraft fleet, with an elevated customer experience to match."
Gogo Business Aviation Deal
Wheels Up also has agreed to equip the Phenom and Challenger aircraft it expects to acquire with Gogo Galileo HDX satellite-based Wi-Fi.
"We anticipate that we will be one of the first and only domestic fleets of private aviation aircraft equipped with this level of capability," Mattson said.
Gogo has agreed to complete HDX certification by the middle of 2025, with the moves to update Wheels Up's fleet planned to begin immediately afterward, according to the carrier.
"In the year since we've invested in Wheels Up, their operational performance, financial progress and the successful revamp of their customer offering have validated our decision to embark on this one-of-a-kind strategic partnership," Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said in a statement. "Underpinned by those key improvements and further fueled by the forthcoming execution of this modernized fleet strategy, we feel more confident than ever that Wheels Up is on the right track to be a global leader in private aviation, as we work together to build an unrivaled partnership spanning across commercial and private travel."