Launched only three years ago, the Wheels Up member-based fractional aircraft access program has attracted almost 4000 members and is now eyeing Europe for potential market expansion. At a press conference at the NBAA BACE show in Orlando Monday, Wheels Up founder Kenny Dichter said the company’s King Air 350i-based aircraft fleet can serve 90 percent of popular European city pairs nonstop.
In this exclusive podcast from NBAA, Dichter said the company has seen explosive growth and has more than 3750 members in the U.S. The company’s ethos is to expand access to business and personal transportation in turboprops and jets and Dichter believes the potential universe is 10 times what’s being reached by traditional fractional and personal ownership models. Presently, Wheels Up has 70 airplanes: 55 King Airs and 15 Citation XLSs
“Our business is more Netflix and less Net Jets,” Dichter says. Memberships are at two major levels, $29,500 for a corporate membership and $17,500 for an individual member. Hourly fees for the King Air 350i are $3950, according to the company’s website. Wheels Up guarantees aircraft availability 365 days a year, with 24 hours’ notice. Annual dues are about half the membership buy-in and the company does not charge ferry costs.
“What that guarantees is access to a fleet of 55 Kings and 15 XLSs. You have the use of these airplanes on a one-hour minimum basis. You don’t have to worry about crew overnights. You don’t have to worry about repositioning,” Dichter said.
Dichter said Wheels Up is promoting the service among viewers to business news outlets such as CNBC and Fox Business, Bloomberg and ESPN College Game Day. He said these markets have yielded takers who might consider a charter, but don’t see the value of a fractional or wholly owned airplane. Dichter believes the traditional market for such services has been about 250,000 people and that Wheels Up’s potential is to expand that to be between 2 and 3 million.
One way of doing that is to move into the European market, which Wheels Up hopes to do by next year. “Europe is a continent that’s set up beautifully for Wheels Up. The geography is one third the size of the United States. The King Air is a green airplane and that’s very important in Europe,” Dichter said.
