Berkshire Hathaway increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 44% in the second quarter. The airline owns 36% of Wheels Up.
Berkshire Hathaway increased its stake in Delta Air Lines during the second quarter, multiple published reports noted.
Per CNBC, “The holding in Delta Air Lines climbed 44% during the quarter, to 57.3 million shares, valued at about $5.4 billion at the end of June.”
Earlier in the year, the owner of NetJets returned to investing in the scheduled airline industry with a stake in Delta valued at $2.6 billion.
Delta Air Lines has held a stake in Wheels Up since selling Delta Private Jets to the private aviation company in 2019.
It currently owns 36% of the private jet company and is its largest shareholder.
The Atlanta-based airline saved Wheels Up from potential bankruptcy in 2023, leading a $500 million investment.
It has also backed $332 million of financing via Bank of America for Wheels Up’s fleet update in 2024.
Wheels Up retired the last of its legacy fleet earlier this year.
It is currently operating Phenom 300 light jets and Challenger 300 super-midsize jets.
The changes are part of its strategy to attract more blue-chip corporate business by cross-selling private aviation via Delta Air Lines’ sales force to its more than 40,000 accounts.
Delta also supported a $100 million term loan in June, noting that more financing would be available if needed.
Wheels Up currently ranks as the fourth-largest U.S. private jet operator measured by charter and fractional flight hours.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian has said he regards Wheels Up as an important part of the airline’s premium strategy.
In 2023, he installed longtime Delta board member and former Goldman Sachs banker George Mattson as CEO of Wheels Up.
READ: A brief history of private jet and airline partnerships
In charter and fractional fleet flight hours, NetJets leads the industry, with more than double the flight hours of second-place Flexjet.
However, while Flexjet, Inc. generates over $750 million in annual revenue through its Sentient Jet and FXAir brokerages, NetJets recently curtailed sales of both jet cards and leases to new clients.
It was the second time in five years NetJets, which sells its jet cards and leases as an on-fleet program, limited sales.
Its aircraft management arm, Executive Jet Management, scrapped its guaranteed jet card during the Covid surge and has yet to bring it back.
Berkshire Hathaway has given no indication that its interest in Delta Air Lines extends to its stake in Wheels Up, any synergies, or the integrated sales approach.
However, the NetJets jet card program launched in 2001 through an outsourced relationship with Marquis Jet Partners.
It then bought Marquis Jet in 2010 and dropped the name from its jet cards in 2021.
Until Covid, the jet card program had been a key entry point for consumers who would then end up joining its core fractional ownership offering.
Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett is very familiar with the challenges of making profits with private jet operators and airlines.
He once quipped, “If a farsighted capitalist had been present at Kitty Hawk, he would have done his successors a huge favor by shooting Orville down.”
After taking a $711 million loss, Buffett told shareholders that NetJets had lost money in the first decade he owned the company.
Buffett also noted that without Berkshire Hathaway’s backing, NetJets would have failed.
Buffett said, “Without Berkshire’s guarantee of this debt, NetJets would have been out of business.”
More recently, Buffett and current CEO Greg Abel have credited current NetJets Chairman and CEO Adam Johnson with making the company profitable.
At its 2023 shareholders’ meeting, the late Charlie Munger, then Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman, said he valued the private jet airline like a major airline.
He told shareholders, “NetJets has been remarkable. You can argue it’s worth as much as any airline now.”
At the time, that would have implied a valuation of at least $9 billion.
Wheels Up is still trying to change losses into profits.
The $5.4 billion valuation of Berkshire Hathaway’s position in Delta Air Lines doesn’t rank in its top 10 holdings.
Its biggest outside investment is Apple, valued at $65.9 billion as of June 2026.
In tenth place, Kraft Heinz was valued at $7.7 billion.
READ: Private Aviation M&A Deal Book
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