Q3 Financials: Wheels Up sees reliability, transformation progress

The Wheels Up quarterly earnings results will, as usual, be seen through two distinctly different lenses.

Those who see the glass as half empty will again find the top-line numbers easy to latch onto.

Their pessimistic view will focus mainly on stagnant revenue and continued losses.

They will continue to question Delta Air Lines’ strategy.

Its key backer wants to position Wheels Up as a premium offering that it can sell to its thousands of blue-chip corporate accounts and HNWs seeking something beyond first class.

Those who see the glass gradually filling will have noted a transition plan taking hold.

They can point to Delta Air Lines’ and its core investment partners’ continued backing.

Delta Air Lines, CK Wheels LLC, and Cox Investment Holdings, LLC extended their commitment during the quarter.

Wheels Up continued to exit more non-core businesses while increasing liquidity.

It followed through on cost savings announced with its Q2 earnings.

They will say Wheels Up has yet to even scratch the surface in terms of mining data on Delta flyers who might value private aviation access for at least some of their trips.

Research with Private Jet Card Comparisons subscribers shows nearly 90% use a mix.

New Premium Focus

Half-fullers can also point to a Houdini-like product switch.

In a year, Wheels Up has gone from being a value provider mainly attractive to private aviation users looking for low prices (via its aging Hawker light jets, Citation Xs, and King Airs) to one that now has a different type of value story, this time targeting the premium flyer who wants flexible access to Phenom 300s and Challenger 300s.

In an interview with Private Jet Card Comparisons, CEO George Mattson says he expects to be halfway through the fleet transition announced last year by the end of the year.

By the end of 2026, it should be 80% complete.

There are currently 19 of the top-selling Embraer light jets, five of the stand-up cabin Bombardier super-midsize jets, with 10 expected by the start of the new year.

During Q3, the provider’s Phenom 300 fleet became its most used light jet.

The target is high-volume flyers who value avoiding the longer-term commitment, the acquisition costs, and the monthly management fees required by major fractional programs for those popular aircraft types, but still need minimal peak days, short callout and cancellation terms, plus a national primary service area.

Mattson says the fleet of refurbished Phenom 300s and Challenger 300s gives Wheels Up a product that is attractive to that market, particularly Delta Air Lines’ blue-chip corporate accounts.

Many of those companies have their own flight departments and want premium solutions for supplemental lift that match their aircraft, something Wheels Up previously lacked. 

Mattson says the target market is noticing.

Corporate Membership jet card sales hit a quarterly record $62 million, up more than 15% year-over-year.

It also represented 49% of all membership fund sales in the quarter, a record.

Customer Switch

While the top line is flat (see financials below), Mattson says that, under the surface, Wheels Up is trading lower-spending, price-focused customers for higher-spending ones who see value in flexible access to its new premium fleet.

At the same time, regarding its new Signature membership, which is based on the Phenoms and Challengers, Mattson says 75% of the first 100 sales were from legacy customers.

Beyond that, Mattson says the decision to offer prospects a choice between fixed or dynamic pricing is yielding signed contracts.

Of the breakdown between fixed and dynamic pricing, Mattson says, “It’s interesting. It’s very close, suggesting it was good to offer a choice. So, we’re offering two pricing plans, and it turns out that there are half of the people who like one and half of the people who like the other.”

Operational Improvement

Part of the glass-half-full story is continued operational improvement.

Despite onboarding two new fleets – the Phenoms and Challengers – while exiting the Hawker 400XPs, CJ3, and now Excels, Mattson points to the company’s best completion performance and improved on-time performance.

Completion percentage was 99% in Q3, up one point.

The on-time percentage increased by four points to 89%.

There was also a record 24 brand days.

Brand days are days without cancellations.

There was also some third-party recognition of the improvement.

Wheels was the top vote-getter in North America for private jet companies at the World Travel Awards and ranked among the top 10 favorites by readers of Conde Nast Traveler. 

Excel/XLS Fleet Sold

Regarding exiting older aircraft, Mattson confirmed Wheels Up had reached a deal to sell its Citation XLS/Excel midsize fleet.

Two sources tell Private Jet Card Comparisons the buyer is Contour Aviation.

Contour operates as a regional airline feeder and has a small fleet of VIP charter jets.

That leaves just the Citation Xs and King Air 350s.

Multiple sources say Wheels Up was in negotiations to sell its entire King Air fleet, although it is now more likely to continue winding it down gradually.

Mattson declined to comment.

What that means is for now, Wheels Up is selling both the rabbit and the hat.

While focusing on its new Signature memberships, it’s still selling the legacy membership that includes capped rates on the King Air fleet and category access to light, midsize, and super-midsize jets.

READ: Wheels Up takes fixed rates nationwide with the Signature program

Wheels Up Q3 Financials

For all the good news, critics of Wheels Up won’t need to dig deep.

They can point out the continued losses.

The net loss in the quarter was $83.7 million, up from $57.7 million, although that is attributed to one-time charges and will be offset by its announced cost-cutting plans.

Year-to-date revenue was $552.6 million, down 6%.

Net loss increased 5% to $265.3 million.

However, those numbers don’t tell the whole story, according to Mattson.

In a letter to investors, he wrote, “Total Gross Bookings, a measure of gross spend by members and customers across our broader product portfolio, grew by 5% year over year, driven by 14% growth in on-demand charter offerings.”

Gross bookings account for the value of off-fleet on-demand charter bookings through its Air Partner brokerage, rather than just the margin between what the flight is sold for and what Wheels Up pays to the operator.

Those made-to-measure solutions are a key part of the integration with Delta, where Air Partner has been selling charter flights in Europe to flyers arriving from the U.S. in Delta One business class.

In terms of the numbers, Mattson noted, “We improved our Gross Profit profile and expanded Adjusted Contribution Margins from essentially breakeven at the start of our transformation just over two years ago to mid-to-high teens margins over the last year. As a result, our Adjusted EBITDAR losses have reduced by approximately 25% year-to-date.”

Mattson spoke about what he sees as positive news ahead.

The CEO said:

‘We expect our fourth quarter financial results to be the best since starting our transformation two years ago, setting the stage for accelerating improvement as we close the year and head into 2026.’

Wheels Up 2025 Q3 Earnings

• Revenue decreased to $185.5 million from $193.9 million
• Loss from operations increased to $61.3 million from $41.8 million
• Net loss increased from $57.7 million to $83.7 million
• Adjusted EBITDA loss increased to $23.2 million from $19.9 million
• Adjusted EBITDAR loss increased to $19.6 million from $11.6 million

Wheels Up Financials – Q3 and YTD

Source: Wheels Up

To accelerate its nascent turnaround, Wheels Up is implementing nearly $70 million in cost-saving measures, up from an initial target of $50 million.

It is streamlining its sales and operations organizations.

Fleet simplification will yield additional savings.

Overall, Wheels Up had $225 million in liquidity at the end of the third quarter, which includes cash and cash equivalents and the $100 Delta Air Lines-backed revolver.

Wheels Up also raised equity capital by issuing $50 million of common stock.

Net proceeds were used to invest in the fleet modernization program.

Membership Fund Sales

Even as Wheels Up has made drastic changes to its private jet offerings, membership fund sales are still a significant part of the business.

Total Q3 Membership Fund sales reached $127 million, which is equal to the second quarter of this year.

This is slightly down from the $147 million in Membership Fund sales recorded in Q3 of 2024, but a significant increase from the $79 million recorded in Q3 of 2023.

Wheels Up Membership Fund Sales by Quarter (2021-25 by Quarter)

Source:  Wheels Up

According to the company’s SEC filing, during the first nine months of 2025, Wheels Up sold $387.9 million of Membership Funds.

This was about 4% less than the $405.3 million sold in the first nine months of 2024.

Wheels Up stated that the decrease “was primarily attributable to changes in our membership program offerings aimed at attracting and retaining higher spending, more frequent flyers.”

Wheels Up Stock Price

Up closed the day at $1.20.

The stock’s 52-week range is $0.74 to $3.50.

For Delta, its 37% stake in Wheels Up was valued at $485 million at the end of Q3, according to its SEC filings.