Operator
Operator
Welcome to the Wheels Up Fourth Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call Webcast. It is my pleasure to introduce Keith Ferguson. Mr. Ferguson, you may begin the conference.
Wheels Up Experience Inc. (UP)
Q4 2023 Earnings Call· Thu, Mar 7, 2024
$6.21
-0.96%
Same-Day
+0.41%
1 Week
+12.86%
1 Month
+21.58%
vs S&P
+20.70%
Operator
Operator
Welcome to the Wheels Up Fourth Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call Webcast. It is my pleasure to introduce Keith Ferguson. Mr. Ferguson, you may begin the conference.
Keith Ferguson
Management
Thank you. This morning we announced our fourth quarter financial results. The earnings release with the supporting tables as well as a copy of today's presentation can be found on our Investor Relations website at wheelsup.com/investors. Please refer to the slide with our disclaimer. Today's presentation contains forward-looking statements based on our current forecast and expectations of future events. These statements should be considered estimates only, and actual results may differ materially. During today's webcast, we will refer to non-GAAP financial measures as outlined by SEC guidelines. Unless otherwise noted, all income statement related financial measures will be non-GAAP other than revenue. Reconciliations of GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures and definitions of non-GAAP financial measures are found within the financial tables of our earnings release and appendix of today's presentation. With that, I'd like to turn it over to Wheels Up's Chief Executive Officer, George Mattson.
George Mattson
Management
Thank you, Keith, and thanks to all of you for joining us today. Over the past five months as CEO, I've had the privilege of meeting with many of our loyal customers and partners who form a powerful Wheels Up community and also with many of our prospective customers interested in the next chapter of the Wheels Up journey launched late last year in conjunction with the strategic investment by Delta Airlines and our other new investors. I'm very pleased that following the challenging period the company faced last year, we are seeing an accelerating level of engagement and we believe that our value proposition is resonating with customers across our offerings and market segments. I'm also pleased to report on the progress we've made since our last earnings call, including solidifying our financial position, enhancing our operating team and structure, building our traditional new business pipelines and scaling our Delta customer initiative while continuing to invest and deliver an exceptional experience for our customers. Wheels Up has built a strong foundation of flexible and accessible aviation solutions to offer our customers through programmatic member offerings in the US as well as on demand private, group charter and cargo offerings here in the US and around the world, on fleet, off fleet and in partnership with Delta, offering a seamless connection between premium commercial and private travel, the only one of its kind in our industry. Although most people know Wheels Up for its well-recognized brand and membership offerings, some may view us as simply a North American operator focused on leisure customers, our signature events and legacy turboprop aircraft, but we're much more than that. With Air Partner, we are also one of the largest Part 135 charter providers in the world. Our combination of capabilities enable customers to…
Todd Smith
Management
Thanks, George. It is great to be with you all today. For the financial review, I will focus on three topics, highlights from our fourth quarter performance, additional color on the mix of our business from a flight transaction value perspective and why that's important, and our plan to deliver on our commitment to achieve positive adjusted EBITDA in the year. Starting with this quarter's highlights, revenue was $246 million for the quarter. More than half of the year-over-year decline was the result of lower aircraft sales revenue and divesting of our aircraft management business at the end of the third quarter, which allowed us to focus on our core operations. Flight revenue was down year-over-year as we continued to execute on our plan to focus on our network strengths where we have an advantage and can be profitable. Along those lines, our charter volumes were up approximately 20% year-over-year, reflecting the success of our efforts to shift our mix to more profitable charter flying as we increasingly serve our customers with an integrated global aviation solution. Our adjusted contribution margin was 1.2% in the quarter, reflecting lower overall volumes that drove underutilization of our fixed assets and was inclusive of several additional cost adjustments related to maintenance and other operational areas that are not expected to be recurring. Over the past 12 to 18 months, we have been on a very focused journey to enhance and mature our financial processes and further strengthen our control environment as a public company. I am pleased with the progress we have made in this area, and we recognize the importance of maintaining strong controls relative to our financial and information technology processes. Our team has made significant progress in reducing our operating expenses, which were down $14.7 million sequentially and by far…
George Mattson
Management
Thanks, Todd. We are leading the industry in offering customers the opportunity to choose their optimal mode of travel trip by trip, business or leisure, domestic or international, short, medium or long haul, exclusively private or commercial or a hybrid of the two. We're about fitting into customers’ needs, not asking customers to fit their needs into our products. Before I close, I want to thank our extremely talented team for their strength, commitment and passion to the company, which is evident in their work and dedication to delivering for our customers an always safe and exceptional flight experience. I also want to thank our customers for their continued loyalty. We ended the year on an operationally strong note and I look forward to leading our exceptional team in delivering for you every day. Thanks for your interest.
Operator
Operator
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining today's call. Have a great rest of your day. You may now disconnect your lines. End of Q&A: