Wheels Up Experience Inc. (NYSE: UP) today announced the closure of its maintenance facilities in Cincinnati and Broomfield, citing under-utilization and reduced flight traffic as reasons for the shutdown. The resources from these facilities will be directed to a new location at the Palm Beach International Airport (PBI).
As part of the reshuffle, the company will also relocate mobile service units from Sacramento, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, and certain service units in Burbank, CA to the Eastern U.S. The resources currently deployed at the company’s Fort Lauderdale will be shifted to the PBI facility upon its opening later this year.
“The decision to close these facilities is not one that we made lightly. Our entire maintenance team is responsible for driving meaningful improvement across key customer experience indicators, particularly total completion rate and on-time performance metrics,” said Dave Holtz, Chief Operating Officer at Wheels Up. “Our people are absolutely crucial to our success, and we are highly appreciative of the MRO providers we have partnered with to ensure that we take care of the staff affected by these closures in every way we possibly can.”
In coordination with MRO providers, FEAM Aero and AVEX Aviation from Cincinnati and Broomfield respectively, Wheels Up aims to mitigate the effects of the closure on its employees by providing placement opportunities. The company is set to initiate the process of shutting down the Cincinnati and Broomfield facilities immediately, while the relocation from Fort Lauderdale to the new Palm Beach site will take place later this year.
Source: Press Release