Wheels Up is merging Air Partner’s private jet and group charter businesses under its brand with a singular organizational structure in the U.S.
The U.K., Europe, and the rest of the world are anticipated to follow in the coming months, per the announcement.
Wheels Up bought Air Partner in 2022 for $107 million.
Last August, it sold off several of the business units acquired as part of the deal.
The Delta Air Lines-backed private jet company retained the core private jet, group, and cargo charter businesses.
So what is happening now?
Per the release:
‘These organizational changes bring together the Wheels Up and Air Partner brands in the U.S., which were previously supported by separate sales, marketing, account management, and service delivery organizations, as well as separate back-end platforms and processes. This approach fully realizes and delivers the breadth of the Wheels Up portfolio and reinforces the company’s commitment to a more streamlined, customer-centric, end-to-end aviation experience.’
For customers, it means a single team managing private aviation membership, ad hoc charter, group charter, and hybrid private-commercial itineraries with Delta Air Lines.
Last year, Wheels Up introduced online booking for members using funds for flights with Delta Air Lines.
Selling private aviation solutions to Delta Air Lines’ corporate accounts has been a key part of the company’s strategy.
Wheels Up CEO George Mattson said, “These go-to-market changes are designed to deliver a more seamless and personalized experience while leveraging the full breadth of our industry-first aviation solutions platform.”
Mattson added, “By unifying our global membership and charter sales teams and our customer service functions, we will provide a consistent experience throughout the customer journey.”
He continued, “The integrated, high-touch, service-driven model reflects our commitment to delivering an elevated and tailored experience on every trip, providing access to our full range of programmatic and global charter offerings and enabling customers to choose the right aviation solution and aircraft for every journey through a single point of contact.”
Under Mattson, the company has repositioned itself from a purely programmatic provider to offering a solutions-based approach.
Its new Signature jet card enables members to choose between dynamic and fixed rates.
Since Mattson joined, there has been a greater focus on ad hoc charter flights via Air Partner.
Wheels Up, Air Partner
Under the new structure, customers are paired with dedicated, industry and regionally-focused sales and service teams.
Each team owns the relationship and supports the customer “end-to-end on every trip.”
The integrated teams are responsible for sales, booking, trip support, and service coordination across every phase of the journey.
The new structure also aligns with Delta Air Lines’ regional and industry sector structure.
Per the announcement:
‘All U.S. private jet and group charter services will now operate under the Wheels Up brand, with no impact to existing customer agreements. The U.K. and the rest of the world are anticipated to follow in the coming months.’
What’s Next For Air Partner?
Wheels Up Chief Sales Officer Mark Briffa was CEO of Air Partner before its acquisition.
He said, “The strength of Air Partner has always been its people and their deep expertise in managing complex aviation needs.”
Briffa added, “Bringing our teams together under one platform and one brand allows us to build on Air Partner’s over 65 years of heritage across private jet and private group charter solutions, while delivering more connected, coordinated, and comprehensive solutions for customers.”
Cargo services will continue to operate under the Air Partner brand.
There are no changes to Air Partner’s U.K. and Europe jet card program at this point.
