Wheels Up Reports Third Quarter Results

New investment and deeper alignment with Delta underscore company's improving position

NEW YORK, Nov. 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Wheels Up Experience Inc. (NYSE:UP) today announced financial results for the third quarter, which ended September 30, 2023.

Third Quarter 2023 Highlights

• Revenue decreased $100 million year-over-year to $320 million
• Adjusted Contribution increased $14 million year-over-year to $35 million
• Net loss decreased slightly year-over-year to $145 million, and includes a $56 million non-cash goodwill impairment charge
• Adjusted EBITDA improved $27 million year-over-year to a loss of $19 million

"The strategic investment from Delta Air Lines, along with our new partners, demonstrates their confidence in our operational and commercial plan to deliver a compelling and differentiated experience for our customers," said George Mattson, Chief Executive Officer. "I look forward to leveraging a deeper relationship with Delta and further integrating our collective offerings to provide a truly seamless connection between private and premium commercial travel."

"Despite the challenging year, we are proud of the progress we have made on our operating and profitability goals and the renewed market confidence resulting from the recently closed capital infusion," said Todd Smith, Chief Financial Officer. "Our on-time performance and controllable interruption rates are improving, and the third quarter marked our best profit performance since 2021."

Recent Initiatives

• Secured $450 million of new capital backed by Delta Air Lines, Certares Management, Knighthead Capital Management, and Cox Enterprises. In active conversations with potential investors on remaining $50 million term loan.
• Appointed directors designated by majority owners who have vested interest in long-term success of the company.
• Named longstanding Delta board member, George Mattson, as CEO to lead the company.
• Introduced new Up for Business program, offering a tailored private aviation solution for small and medium-sized enterprises jointly sold through Wheels Up and Delta sales organizations.
• Divested aircraft management business as part of previously communicated plan to focus on core operations.

Financial and Operating Highlights

For the third quarter:

• Active Members decreased 15% year-over-year to 10,775 offset by a higher mix of Core members, primarily as a result of the regionalization of our member programs and focus on more profitable flying.
• Active Users decreased 10% year-over-year to 11,988.
• Live Flight Legs decreased 21% year-over-year to 16,581 reflecting a slowdown in the industry and our efforts to focus on profitable flying.
• Flight revenue per Live Flight Leg was relatively consistent year-over-year.
• Revenue decreased 24% year-over-year primarily driven by reduced flight revenue and reduced aircraft sales.
• Net loss improved by $4.0 million year-over-year to $144 million, including a $56.2 million non-cash goodwill impairment charge recognized during the quarter.
• Adjusted EBITDA loss improved by $26.7 million to $18.5 million, reflecting our operational efficiency and other spend reduction efforts, as well as one-time software license revenue and increased gains on sales of aircraft.

About Wheels Up

Wheels Up is a leading provider of on-demand private aviation in the U.S. and one of the largest private aviation companies in the world. Wheels Up offers a complete global aviation solution with a large, modern and diverse fleet, backed by an uncompromising commitment to safety and service. Customers can access membership programs, charter, aircraft management services and whole aircraft sales, as well as unique commercial travel benefits through a strategic partnership with Delta Air Lines. Wheels Up also offers freight, safety and security solutions and managed services to individuals, industry, government and civil organizations.

Wheels Up is guided by the mission to connect private flyers to aircraft, and one another, through an open platform that seamlessly enables life's most important experiences. Powered by a global private aviation marketplace connecting its base of approximately 11,000 members and customers to a network of approximately 1,500 safety-vetted and verified private aircraft, Wheels Up is widening the aperture of private travel for millions of consumers globally. With the Wheels Up mobile app and website, members and customers have the digital convenience to search, book and fly.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors, many of which are outside of the control of Wheels Up Experience Inc. ("Wheels Up", or "we", "us", or "our"), that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding:  (i) the impact of Wheels Up's cost reduction efforts and measures intended to increase Wheels Up's operational efficiency on its business and results of operations, including the timing and magnitude of such expected actions and any associated expenses in relation to liquidity levels and working capital needs; (ii) Wheels Up's liquidity, future cash flows and certain restrictions related to its debt obligations; (iii) the size, demands, competition in and growth potential of the markets for Wheels Up's products and services and Wheels Up's ability to serve and compete in those markets; (iv) the degree of market acceptance and adoption of Wheels Up's products and services, including member program changes implemented in June 2023 and the new corporate member program introduced in November 2023; (v) Wheels Up's ability to perform under its contractual obligations and maintain or establish relationships with third-party vendors and suppliers; (vi) the expected impact of any potential strategic actions involving Wheels Up or its subsidiaries or affiliates, including realizing any anticipated benefits relating to any such transactions or asset sales, and any potential impacts on the trading market and prices for the Company's Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value per share ("Common Stock"), including due to future dilutive Common Stock issuances; (vii) the impact of the goodwill impairment charges recognized for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023 or future impairment losses, which may adversely impact the perception of Wheels Up held by stockholders, investors, members and customers or the Company's business and results of operations or the market price of Common Stock; and (viii) general economic and geopolitical conditions, including due to fluctuations in interest rates, inflation, foreign currencies, consumer and business spending decisions, and general levels of economic activity. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts, or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words "anticipate," "believe," continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "might," "plan," "possible," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "strive," "would" and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that statement is not forward-looking. We have identified certain known material risk factors applicable to Wheels Up in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and our other filings with the SEC. Moreover, it is not always possible for us to predict how new risks and uncertainties that arise from time to time may affect us. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Except as required by law, we do not intend to update any of these forward-looking statements after the date of this press release.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release includes certain non-GAAP financial measures such as Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Contribution and Adjusted Contribution Margin. These non-GAAP financial measures are an addition, and not a substitute for or superior to, measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America ("GAAP") and should not be considered as an alternative to net income (loss), operating income (loss) or any other performance measures derived in accordance with GAAP. Definitions and reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to their most comparable GAAP counterparts are included in the "Definitions of Non-GAAP Financial Measures" and "Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Financial Measures" sections, respectively, in this press release. Wheels Up believes that these non-GAAP financial measures of financial results provide useful supplemental information to investors about Wheels Up. However, there are a number of limitations related to the use of these non-GAAP financial measures and their nearest GAAP equivalents, including that they exclude significant expenses that are required by GAAP to be recorded in Wheels Up's financial measures. In addition, other companies may calculate non-GAAP financial measures differently, or may use other measures to calculate their financial performance, and therefore, Wheels Up's non-GAAP financial measures may not be directly comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies. Additionally, to the extent that forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures are provided, they are presented on a non-GAAP basis without reconciliations of such forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures due to the inherent difficulty in forecasting and quantifying certain amounts that are necessary for such reconciliations.

For more information on these non-GAAP financial measures, see the sections titled "Definitions of Key Operating Metrics," "Definitions of Non-GAAP Financial Measures" and "Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Financial Measures" included at the end of this earnings press release.

Definitions of Key Operating Metrics

Active Members. We define Active Members as the number of Connect, Core, and Business membership accounts that generated membership revenue in a given period and are active as of the end of the reporting period. We use Active Members to assess the adoption of our premium offerings which is a key factor in our penetration of the market in which we operate and a key driver of membership and flight revenue.

Active Users. We define Active Users as Active Members and jet card holders as of the reporting date plus unique non-member consumers who completed a revenue generating flight at least once in the given quarter and excludes wholesale flight activity. While a unique consumer can complete multiple revenue generating flights on our platform in a given period, that unique user is counted as only one Active User. We use Active Users to assess the adoption of our platform and frequency of transactions, which are key factors in our penetration of the market in which we operate and our growth in revenue.

Live Flight Legs. We define Live Flight Legs as the number of completed one-way revenue generating flight legs in a given period. The metric excludes empty repositioning legs and owner legs related to aircraft under management. We believe Live Flight Legs are a useful metric to measure the scale and usage of our platform, and our growth in flight revenue.

Definitions of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Adjusted EBITDA. We calculate Adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss) adjusted for (i) interest income (expense), (ii) income tax expense, (iii) depreciation and amortization, (iv) equity-based compensation expense, (v) acquisition and integration related expenses and (vi) other items not indicative of our ongoing operating performance, including but not limited to, restructuring charges.

We include Adjusted EBITDA because it is a supplemental measure used by our management team for assessing operating performance. Adjusted EBITDA is used in conjunction with bonus program target achievement determinations, strategic internal planning, annual budgeting, allocating resources and making operating decisions. In addition, Adjusted EBITDA provides useful information for historical period-to-period comparisons of our business, as it removes the effect of certain non-cash expenses and variable amounts.

Adjusted Contribution and Adjusted Contribution Margin. We calculate Adjusted Contribution as gross profit (loss) excluding depreciation and amortization and adjusted further for (i) equity-based compensation included in cost of revenue, (ii) acquisition and integration expense included in cost of revenue, (iii) restructuring expense in cost of revenue and (iv) other items included in cost of revenue that are not indicative of our ongoing operating performance. Adjusted Contribution Margin is calculated by dividing Adjusted Contribution by total revenue.

We include Adjusted Contribution and Adjusted Contribution Margin as supplemental measures for assessing operating performance. Adjusted Contribution and Adjusted Contribution Margin are used to understand our ability to achieve profitability over time through scale and leveraging costs. In addition, Adjusted Contribution and Adjusted Contribution Margin provides useful information for historical period-to-period comparisons of our business and to identify trends.

Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Adjusted EBITDA

The following table reconciles Adjusted EBITDA to net loss, which is the most directly comparable GAAP measure (in thousands):

Adjusted Contribution and Adjusted Contribution Margin

The following table reconciles Adjusted Contribution to gross profit (loss), which is the most directly comparable GAAP measure (in thousands):

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