One of Wheels Up’s Bombardier Challenger 300s.
Wheels Up consolidated its fleet to two aircraft types—Bombardier Challenger 300/350 and Embraer Phenom 300—earlier this year and achieved its highest completion rate in the second quarter as it focuses on growth and operational reliability. That is leading to new maintenance agreements.
Wheels Up signed an aftermarket support plan with Honeywell Aerospace to support the operator’s Bombardier Challenger 300/350 fleet. Honeywell’s Fleet Maintenance Service Plan (FMSP) provides fixed-price coverage for both scheduled and unscheduled maintenance for Honeywell products, including avionics, auxiliary power units, engines and control systems. This service package builds off Honeywell’s traditional Maintenance Service Plan, which is typically used by individual aircraft owners or for small fleets, and is customized for large fleet operators. The fleet version has “a high focus on uptime and availability to support that type of commercial operation,” says Taylor Alberstadt, vice president of BGA sales, Honeywell Aerospace.
Alberstadt says “the new agreement allows our maintenance team to manage our engines as one fleet rather than an aggregation of individual assets, driving operational efficiency for Wheels Up as operator and Honeywell as maintenance provider.”
The FMSP deal also includes access to Honeywell Aerospace’s Ensemble digital maintenance solution designed to proactively monitor engine conditions. “A Wi-Fi-enabled engine data gateway automatically collects engine performance information from the aircraft’s engine control system during flight operations. Following each flight, the data is securely transmitted to Honeywell Aerospace,” Alberstadt says.
Wheels Up’s maintenance team can view the engine health data anytime via a web or mobile application. Alerts are also available through the Camp maintenance portal.
Ensemble also is designed to facilitate digital engine data sharing between maintenance records.
“The predictive insight from Honeywell Aerospace’s Ensemble, paired with their Fleet Maintenance Service Plan, gives our team the tools to keep our Challenger fleet flying at the highest standard, reinforcing the disciplined, data-driven operating model that has driven these record results,” says Dave Holtz, chief operating officer at Wheels Up.
The contract is active but the companies did not disclose the commercial terms.
Wheels Up also signed a five-year contract that runs through 2032 with Av8 for Phenom 300 landing gear maintenance. The contract includes landing gear overhaul and gear exchange.
“Av8’s extensive landing gear exchange pool complements their repair and overhaul capabilities and helps minimize aircraft downtime by returning aircraft to service without necessarily waiting for assets to be repaired. We expect the agreement to support greater maintenance availability as we continue expanding the fleet,” Holtz notes.
Av8 says it has more than 300 FAA parts manufacturing approvals for the Phenom platform and a portfolio of in-house designated engineering representative repairs that allow it to provide flat-rate pricing.
Phenom 300 landing gear need to be inspected every 10 years.
Should the industry expect additional MRO contracts in the near future? “We are continually pursuing new, innovative opportunities to strengthen our maintenance capabilities and operations as we expand our Phenom and Challenger fleets. Strategic partnerships remain an important part of supporting operational efficiency, reliability and long-term growth,” Holtz says.
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