Portrait of a Parabola
Between 2014 and 2021, Wheels up sold thousands of private and company memberships, purchased hundreds of aircraft, acquired numerous air carriers the likes of TMC Jets, Delta Private Jets, Mountain Aviation, and Air Partner PLC, as well as travel management companies such as Avianis and Gama Aviation—in so doing becoming the U.S.’s second-largest private aircraft operator behind only NetJets. On 14 July 2021, Wheels Up became the first private aviation company to be publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Regrettably, the company’s trajectory proved unsustainable ...