Welcome to Flightinfo.com

  • Register now and join the discussion
  • Friendliest aviation Ccmmunity on the web
  • Modern site for PC's, Phones, Tablets - no 3rd party apps required
  • Ask questions, help others, promote aviation
  • Share the passion for aviation
  • Invite everyone to Flightinfo.com and let's have fun

Wheels up

Welcome to Flightinfo.com

  • Register now and join the discussion
  • Modern secure site, no 3rd party apps required
  • Invite your friends
  • Share the passion of aviation
  • Friendliest aviation community on the web
Citation UP

Wheels up Adds Cessna Citation Jets to Its World-Class Member Platform
2013-12-14
Kenny Dichter, Founder and CEO of Wheels Up , the revolutionary membership-based private aviation company, today announced a new initiative with Cessna Aircraft Company, a Textron, Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, to add a comprehensive jet lift solution, through the addition of Cessna Citation Excel and Sovereign jets to the growing fleet of offerings for Wheels Up members. The Cessna Citations will be outfitted with the Wheels Up distinctive sleek blue and white livery, "UP" on the aircraft tail, along with newly refurbished customized interiors to include Wi-Fi connectivity. The Cessna Citations will provide Wheels Up with light and midsize jets, enabling Wheels Up to achieve another milestone in building a total aviation solution with "mission-appropriate" aircraft options. Wheels Up expects to offer Cessna Citations to its members as soon as possible.
With this agreement, Wheels Up is creating a closed-fleet option of light and midsize private jets that complement the existing Wheels Up closed-fleet. Cessna will provide comprehensive maintenance on the newly added Cessna Citation aircraft through its ProAdvantage program and extensive service center network.
"We feel that we know the Cessna product better than anyone else in the industry; while at Marquis Jet we drove over $4 billion in revenue, the majority of which was on Cessna aircraft," said Mr. Dichter. "To have Cessna, the industry authority in light, midsize and super midsize jets, working with Wheels Up is a significant achievement and a testament to the business model we've created."
"We are very excited to be in business with Wheels Up because we strongly believe their new membership model is one of the futures of private aviation," said Scott Ernest, President and CEO of Cessna. "Wheels Up opens up a whole new space of customers who can access the Cessna product."
About Wheels Up
Wheels Up is a revolutionary membership-based private aviation company that lowers the upfront investment needed to enjoy flying privately - all while providing unparalleled flexibility. Wheels Up was created and is led by Kenny Dichter, the Founder of Marquis Jet and original innovator of the first 25-hour fractional jet card. Offering a member experience that is both high-tech and high- touch, Wheels Up has developed proprietary cutting-edge booking and rideshare applications, and offers the finest personalized service. With a modest initiation fee and reasonable annual dues, Wheels Up is designed to appeal to individuals and corporations currently flying privately. With an 8,760-hour (referencing the number of hours in a year) culture, Wheels Up membership includes Wheels Down, a corresponding lifestyle and event service engaging members through exclusive offerings around major sporting events, intimate concerts, culinary experiences and opportunities to meet luminaries from the worlds of entertainment, politics and business.
Wheels Up will act as agent for the Wheels Up members, and is not the operator of the program aircraft; FAA licensed and DOT registered air carriers participating in the program will exercise full operational control of the program aircraft. Any aircraft owned by Wheels Up will be dry leased to the operating air carrier to facilitate operations by that carrier. For additional information, please visit www.WheelsUp.com.
About Cessna
Cessna is the world's leading general aviation company. Since its inception in 1927, Cessna has designed, produced and delivered nearly 200,000 airplanes around the globe. This includes 6,500 Citation business jets, making it the largest fleet of business jets in the world. Today, Cessna has two principal lines of business: aircraft sales and aftermarket services. Aircraft sales include Citation business jets, Caravan single-engine utility turboprops, single-engine piston aircraft and lift solutions by CitationAir. Aftermarket services include parts, maintenance, inspection and repair services. In 2012, Cessna delivered 571 aircraft, including 181 Citation business jets, and reported revenues of $3.111 billion. More information about Cessna Aircraft Company is available at cessna.com.
 
I wonder who will be providing pilots to fly the jets for "WU". Gama or other. Hmmm-
 
Last edited:
Maybe Kenny D will sell a membership program called Wheels Up to NetJets, then he'll be a VP for a year and then leave for personal reasons. 1 year later he could start a membership program called Wings Out, sell THAT to NetJets, rinse and repeat.

How much did NetJets pay for MarquisJet? That's one sharp cookie attorney running the show at NetJets. Oooops!
 
$1? More like 8 figures... Fast forward to two minutes, thirty seconds... http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000186251

When ever anyone says "6 figures, 8 figures" etc. they say it to sound impressive but it's not. It could be $10,000,000 or $99,000,000. Most likely it's the first number. And I'm not sure Marquis was worth much. They had huge debt and couldn't sell their cards anymore in the recession. I'm assuming NJ was forced to take them over due to the buy back contract on the planes. If NJ paid anything, which is actually doubtful, it was to retain customers and not implode, since Marquis was a large chunk of NJ's flying. His "8 figures" probably came from his severance package from his lofty VP postion that he held for almost no time.
 
When ever anyone says "6 figures, 8 figures" etc. they say it to sound impressive but it's not. It could be $10,000,000 or $99,000,000. Most likely it's the first number. And I'm not sure Marquis was worth much. They had huge debt and couldn't sell their cards anymore in the recession. I'm assuming NJ was forced to take them over due to the buy back contract on the planes. If NJ paid anything, which is actually doubtful, it was to retain customers and not implode, since Marquis was a large chunk of NJ's flying. His "8 figures" probably came from his severance package from his lofty VP postion that he held for almost no time.

And I'm not sure Marquis was worth much. They had huge debt and couldn't sell their cards anymore in the recession. I'm assuming NJ was forced to take them over due to the buy back contract on the planes. If NJ paid anything, which is actually doubtful, it was to retain customers and not implode, since Marquis was a large chunk of NJ's flying.

That is absolutely correct!!! They owed a ton and just transferred the business as a smoke and mirrors move to avoid embarrassing the company further.

If the guy is so smart, why would Warren let him get away? Geez...they needed a promoter to goose NJ, yet the wizard escaped!
 
http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000227025&play=1


"well, joe, we're building an absolute total aviation solution. the most efficient solution that a customer would want. on the flights less than two hours, you want to fly at 3950. what does that mean? per hour. per hour. but 60% of the lift we'll need for our 10,000 members in 2020 is going to happen on jet planes. and cessna is the number one light mid cabin, super mid cabin manufacturer in the world. and to sit next to scott and have a commitment from his company to support wheels up, unbelievable. it's like a partnership sort of. you're doing the finaning, for wheels up, scott? how does it work? how many you starting with? well, we can based on how our membership is stacking up, 15 to 20 airplanes a year. we're going to do a combination of pre-owned, they're going to refurb for us, backup for us, new planes where appropriate. and we can take 15 to 20 airplanes a year. you've got firm orders for 20 of them already? no, we have a little bit less than that. but we're already set with the orders. we've started the conversion activity. we're really excited. kenny is an individual that really understands the market with what he's done marquee jet. we feel we have a competitive product. it's reliable, i think our customers are happy to be in the product. and opened up a whole new space of customers that can access the product. want to know, what's the difference in terms of the type of customer going with wheels up compared to net jets? well, it's interesting, i think the net jet business is a great business. i mean, we were -- we built it over the last ten years and it handles a niche market in the airplane space. what wheels up does is opens up 3 to 5 times the 150,000 people we targeted. i believe that 1/3 to half marquee folks will end up supplementing their aviation portfolio with the wheels up card. what were they doing before? in terms of the people? where were they flying? you said supplement, they'd be -- they're going to supplement. yeah, they supplement with charter. the aviation consumer has become a lot smarter. and i think that people are using net jet for the tough stuff, stuff into the mountains over the holiday season."

_____

Again, CEO of Cessna looked like there were places he would rather be than talking head on CNBC.
 
My friend was offered the job at Wheels Up and they just told him it will include a TRAINING BOND/CONTRACT. A few days ago they told him it might be a possibility, but today the truth came out.

Supposedly, from here on out new hires will have a training bond/contract.
 
My friend was offered the job at Wheels Up and they just told him it will include a TRAINING BOND/CONTRACT. A few days ago they told him it might be a possibility, but today the truth came out.

Supposedly, from here on out new hires will have a training bond/contract.

If WU requires FOs to have 1500/ATP at minimum, how are they going to attract pilots away from the expanding regionals and 91/135 operators with the schedule and salaries they are offering? I can see why they would want a training bond/contract - to keep pilots from leaving if they don't like the current schedule.

I'm a regional pilot and most pilots who go to the regionals do so with the understanding they will maximize their hours and experience for lowish pay and then hopefully move on (stepping stone). For that reason, the morally-degrading starting pay has been accepted as a price of doing business for many of us. I'm not promoting low wages, I am saying it has been a fact of life - at least until the pilot shortages start soon and wages inch upwards.

The challenge would be to attract enough quality pilots and then retain them. Avantair didn't have a big issue because the economy was in flux and many furloughed pilots were desperate. With the economy improving and regional/major airlines increasing their hiring, it will be interesting to see if WU and others can attract enough quality pilots at the current pay/schedule.

A potential positive for pilots considering WU would be an opportunity to progress from the King Air to the proposed jets (XLS and Sovereign) over time and make more money. Not sure if that is an option or what the plan would be....
 
Last edited:
My friend was offered the job at Wheels Up and they just told him it will include a TRAINING BOND/CONTRACT. A few days ago they told him it might be a possibility, but today the truth came out.

Supposedly, from here on out new hires will have a training bond/contract.

It was only a matter of time before a signing contract would be required. Too bad really, but the training at FS for a KA300 type is around $28,000. They have had a few leave Gama after only a few months there. The 6/3 sched is the main culprit.
 
My friend was offered the job at Wheels Up and they just told him it will include a TRAINING BOND/CONTRACT. A few days ago they told him it might be a possibility, but today the truth came out.

Supposedly, from here on out new hires will have a training bond/contract.

Does anyone know the term of the indentured servitude, er, I mean "training contract"?
 
Might be a training contract for king air noobs, but the ads are asking for typed and experienced...
 
My friend was offered the job at Wheels Up and they just told him it will include a TRAINING BOND/CONTRACT. A few days ago they told him it might be a possibility, but today the truth came out.

Supposedly, from here on out new hires will have a training bond/contract.


Probably the scum-bag types that will contract and charge for recurrent too?.. I wouldn't go there if I was unemployed.
 

Latest posts

Latest resources

Back
Top