On-demand aviation operator Wheels Up (WUP, Teterboro) has announced the relocation of its maintenance facilities to West Palm Beach International, which will mean the closure of existing outfits in Cincinnati International and Denver Rocky Mountain, including a headcount reduction and the relocation of mobile service units from several locations across the United States to the new facility in Florida.
Due to open later this year, the Palm Beach facility “represents a strategic shift in the allocation of the company’s maintenance facilities” and will “better align resources to the company’s geographic network and flight demand density,” the business charter specialist said in a statement.
In preparation, Wheels Up will reallocate resources from underutilised facilities, resulting in the closure of the Cincinnati and Denver MRO operations, the relocation of the mobile units at Las Vegas Harry Reid, Sacramento International, and Salt Lake City, and certain service units at Burbank to the eastern United States, and the relocation of resources currently in Fort Lauderdale International to Palm Beach later this year.
The company did not disclose how many employees would be impacted by the relocation but said it had coordinated with MRO firms FEAM Aero in Cincinnati and AVEX Aviation in Broomfield to provide “a direct path for placement opportunities for affected staff.”
A subsidiary of the Part 135 specialist, Mountain Aviation, held a repair station certificate at Denver Rocky Mountain, while another subsidiary, Wheels Up Private Jets, operated technical service centres at Cincinnati and Fort Lauderdale.
Wheels Up endured a difficult year in 2023, losing 21% of its active members and revenue versus the previous year, posting a USD487,000 net loss, and narrowly avoiding bankruptcy. However, it forged a strategic partnership with Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson), which committed to a USD100 million liquidity facility and USD30 million additional financial support. Other new investors in the charter operator include Knighthead, Certares, Kore Capital, and Whitebox.
At the end of 2023, Wheels Up operated a fleet of 185 aircraft, including 126 owned and 59 leased airframes, consisting of Cessna Aircraft Company, Gulfstream Aerospace, Textron Aviation, and Beechcraft-made business jets.
In its 2023 fourth quarter investors call, Wheels Up management said the company was in the midst of optimising its fleet, with a new regional programme rolled out last June that concentrates the controlled fleet flying in its primary service areas “where we have significant advantages from network density. We anticipate that this will drive our asset utilisation through improved maintenance, availability, and crew efficiency, and it will allow us to reduce our fleet size.”
