Wheels Up buying GrandView fleet, switching to Phenom and Challengers, agrees $332m Delta backed-loan
Wheels Up is simplifying its jet aircraft fleet and plans to only operate Embraer Phenom 300 and Bombardier Challenger 300 jets.
It has agreed to buy GrandView Aviation’s entire fleet of 17 Phenom 300 and Phenom 300E aircraft. The company is now looking for pre-owned Challengers. It says all of the new aircraft will have Gogo Galileo HDX satellite WiFi.
It plans to replace its existing jet fleet of Citation Jets and Hawker aircraft within three years.
Wheels Up has also agreed a new $332m senior-secured five-year revolving loan with Bank of America. It expects to sign this when it buys the GrandView fleet before the end of the year.
The new loan will provide cash for the GrandView fleet and also allow it to repay the Enhanced Equipment Trust Certificates that it issued in October 2022. Delta Air Lines, Wheels Up’s biggest shareholder, is guaranteeing the loan.
“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,”said Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Air Lines. “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.”
Global Medical Response, which is owned by private equity firm KKR, bought GrandView Aviation for around $250m in March 2022.
Wheels Up plans to buy the Challengers pre-owned. Its exclusive sales and acquisitions adviser is 5×5 the aircraft broker that was spun-out of Wheels Up.
In June 2024 Wheels Up had 164 aircraft: 56 King Airs, 18 Citation Jet CJs3s, 31 Hawker 400s, 18 Citation XLSs, 40 Citation Xs and one G450 according to Private Jet Card Comparisons.