Wheels up

[johnsonrod]

I did not realize WU was looking to potentially order this many Citations (of course it requires them to ACTUALLY hit their growth targets):

From AIN:

In a CNBC interview with Wheels Up founder and CEO Kenny Dichter on Friday, Cessna CEO Scott Ernest indicated that the initial commitment calls for the manufacturer to provide no more than 20 Citations, but it is unclear whether these will come from the manufacturer?s CitationAir charter fleet. Dichter expects to take between 120 and 150 Citations over the next seven years if the membership base for the program reaches 10,000 by 2020. As of mid-December, Wheels Up had approximately 150 members and Dichter expected this number to reach at least 250 by month-end.

 

[JustPlaneTruth]

Wheels Up, Tires Flat. 120-150 over 7 years? Get real.

 

[flagshipper]

Heard the new hires walked in to class the other day expecting 75k and were told it is now 65k. Several walked out

 

[NoJoy]

^^^What? Didn't they have some paperwork on them stating $70,000 for CAs and $55,000 for FO's. If pilots have the type in the 350 and experience, pay is supposed to start out at $80,000 for CA's. WTF. Not sure if this is Wheels Up doing or Gama. The sched is already bad enough-now their screwing with the pay scale. Avantair part II-yay

 

[Newkem]

Wtf

Heard the new hires walked in to class the other day expecting 75k and were told it is now 65k. Several walked out

Pilots who would accept a job without an offer letter stating terms of employment should not be in the NAS. Unfortunately companies are out there demonstrating their union-provoking management style making mistakes like this. Does not bode well for the future of WU, or at least for GAMA as an operator of WU aircraft.

Applause for those who walked out. I'll be taking your job now. :blush:

J/K. Unfortunately there are many unemployed gear yankers who are eager and ready to do so.

 

[johnsonrod]

Article is not well written (some inaccuracies) but interesting data on the number of Citations expected before the end of 2014.... I assume they would be hiring exiting CitationAir pilots (or Netjets furloughees) with types and experience to fly these. Quite a few airplanes by end of 2014 if you include the 27 King Airs, 15-20 Citations and the 5-10 Globals operated by Jet Aviation/VistaJet...



US members-only private aircraft operator Wheels Up is broadening its aircraft offering with the acquisition of pre-owned Citation XLS and Sovereign business jets from Cessna.

The move is designed to rival leading US fractional ownership programmes NetJets, Flight Options and Flexjet, and fill a gap in Wheels Up's fleet. The company's fleet currently consists of Beechcraft King Air 350i twin-engined turboprops, Embaer Phenom 300s and CJ3s light business jets owned and operated by air taxi company JetSuite and top-end Bombardier Global 5000 and 6000s. These super-large and long-range twinjets are owned by Swiss VIP operator VistaJet. Wheels Up acts as VistaJet's US sales agent.

The first XLS and Sovereigns are now being refurbished by Cessna [in Wichita] with the Wheels Up interior and livery, and should be delivered before the end of the first quarter of 2014, says Wheels Up founder and chief executive Kenny Dichter. We plan to have between 15 and 20 aircraft in the fleet before the end of next year and up to 150 Citations from across the range by 2020," he adds. "The aircraft will be no more than ten years old.

The New York-based company was launched in August 2013 on the back of a record order for 105 350is. Nine of the twins have been handed over to date, and another 18 aircraft are scheduled for delivery in 2014.

If you look at the fractional ownership landscape right now, the major players are in bed with Bombardier and Embraer, says Dichter. NetJets which has an order for [midsize] Sovereign and Latitude business jets ? is phasing out its fleet of older light-cabin Citations. Flexjet does not offer Citations and Flight Options operates mainly Phenom 300s, Legacy 600s and Nextant 400XTs, he adds.

Citations are workhorses. By offering a range of these aircraft we can differentiate ourselves from the fractionals. I'm confident they will be popular with our members, Dichter says.

Since its launch, Wheels Up's membership has grown to 150, and Ditcher is confident it can add another 100 members before the end of the year. This is one of the busiest times for the business aviation market, he says.
Wheels Up is targeted at high net-worth individuals who typically fly 10 to 100h a year

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/wheels-up-adds-citations-to-members-only-programme-394268/

 

[C680]

Pilots who would accept a job without an offer letter stating terms of employment should not be in the NAS. Unfortunately companies are out there demonstrating their union-provoking management style making mistakes like this. Does not bode well for the future of WU, or at least for GAMA as an operator of WU aircraft.

Applause for those who walked out. I'll be taking your job now. :blush:

J/K. Unfortunately there are many unemployed gear yankers who are eager and ready to do so.

Those who have not learned from history, who cannot remember the past, are doomed to repeat it.

 

[Sparse]

The first XLS and Sovereigns are now being refurbished by Cessna [in Wichita] with the Wheels Up interior and livery, and should be delivered before the end of the first quarter of 2014, says Wheels Up founder and chief executive Kenny Dichter. We plan to have between 15 and 20 aircraft in the fleet before the end of next year and up to 150 Citations from across the range by 2020," he adds. "The aircraft will be no more than ten years old.

In 2005, at a new hire lunch, Steve O'niel was asked where he thought citation shares would be in 5 years. His answer, "I see us at 150 aircraft in 5 years. That's where we would like to be. No larger. "

 

[OHGOON]

In 2005, at a new hire lunch, Steve O'niel was asked where he thought citation shares would be in 5 years. His answer, "I see us at 150 aircraft in 5 years. That's where we would like to be. No larger. "

He also predicted that Flex would be gone. So what's your point?

Steve O'Neill is and was a crook who would tell anything to anyone as long as he thought there was an angle for him to exploit in order to enrich himself.

 

[pilotyip]

In 2005, at a new hire lunch, Steve O'niel was asked where he thought citation shares would be in 5 years. His answer, "I see us at 150 aircraft in 5 years. That's where we would like to be. No larger. "

It is 1978, I am a New Hire at TransAmericna Airlines, DO comes into ground school tells us they have 24 747's on order. He says everyone in the the room will be a 747 Captain in five years. We would be making $100k/yr which in 1978 was in line with the big boys. Five years later they are out of business. It is the nature of this career you are going to run across unfulfilled promises. The same as you run across crap jobs that turn into FedEx. Luck and timing have so much more to do with a career than the elements of skill and desire.