Burbank, California, January 25, 2024 — Avelo Airlines was among the attendees at the Los Angeles Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR) groundbreaking of the airport’s new terminal last Thursday.
The 355,000 square-foot facility will replace Hollywood Burbank’s current 94-year-old terminal utilized by Avelo and eight other airlines. BUR’s new terminal will have 14 gates, a variety of options for dining and shopping, more space to move about, and an upgraded TSA checkpoint, among other features.
Key speakers included Hollywood Burbank Airport’s Executive Director Frank Miller, President of the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority Felicia Williams and Rep. Tony Cardenas, who represents California’s 29th congressional district. Avelo’s Director of Airport Relations Somer Shindler represented Avelo at the ceremony.
With this expanded private fleet and access to Delta’s global network, Wheels Up is strategically positioned to fulfill every travel need of its now 8,000+ members and customers.
The closing officially combines Delta Private Jets (DPJ) with Wheels Up, pairing Wheels Up’s membership programs, innovative digital platform and world-class lifestyle experiences with Delta Private Jets’ renowned reliability, safety, service and scale. The combination creates one of the world’s largest owned and managed fleets of nearly 200 private aircraft, ranging from the King Air 350i to large-cabin jets. With this expanded private fleet and access to Delta’s global network, Wheels Up is strategically positioned to fulfill every travel need of its now 8,000+ members and customers.
In the weeks ahead, Wheels Up and Delta will be communicating directly with customers to roll out cross-platform partnership benefits and other program features that cannot be found anywhere else within the private aviation industry.
“Together, Wheels Up and Delta will democratize the industry to make private flying and the private flying lifestyle accessible to significantly more individuals and businesses around the world,” said Wheels Up Founder and CEO Kenny Dichter. “By adding Delta Private Jets and partnering with Delta, our membership platform has evolved to one that can fulfill a vast range of flight needs on a very large scale.”
As part of this transaction Delta’s Chief Operating Officer, Gil West, has joined the Wheels Up Board of Directors.
“This innovative partnership is the latest step in Delta’s efforts to transform travel into a part of the journey to look forward to,” West said. “Bringing together the Delta brand, DPJ’s renowned reliability and scale, and the exceptional experiences that are the hallmark of Wheels Up, is opening up a whole new world of travel options to more travelers than ever before.”
The Wheels Up and Delta Private Jets teams will be working together to ensure a seamless transition for all DPJ employees and customers. DPJ employees will continue to operate out of their current location in Cincinnati.
“We are thrilled to welcome the talented and passionate Delta Private Jets employees into the Wheels Up family and for Gil West to join our Board of Directors.” said Dichter.
Over the next year, Wheels Up and Delta will continue introducing exciting cross-platform benefits and features, all designed to add more value for their members and customers.
Financial terms of the transaction will not be disclosed, and there is no expected impact to Delta’s 2020 financial guidance.
Airbus’ manufacturing growth in the United States advanced another step today in Mobile, Alabama, as construction of the company’s A220 Manufacturing Facility officially launched with a groundbreaking ceremony. The assembly line will satisfy the strong and growing U.S. demand for the A220 aircraft, the newest offering in Airbus’ commercial aircraft product line.
Tom Enders, CEO of Airbus, and Guillaume Faury, President Airbus Commercial Aircraft led the celebration and welcomed approximately 700 attendees including Airbus and other industry executives, Airbus manufacturing employees, state and national dignitaries, and local community leaders.
The new assembly line, which is the company’s second U.S.-based commercial aircraft production facility, will be located at the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley adjacent to the A320 Family production line and will facilitate assembly of A220-100 and A220-300 aircraft for U.S. customers. Aircraft production is planned to begin in Q3 2019; with first delivery of a Mobile assembled A220 aircraft scheduled for 2020. The new A220 production facilities will be complete by next year.
Airbus has strong and longstanding ties to the United States, with Airbus aircraft being operated by the largest airlines in America. Additionally, Airbus is a major partner of U.S. aerospace companies and workers. In the last three years, Airbus spent $48 billion in the United States with hundreds of U.S. suppliers in more than 40 states, translating into Airbus support of more than 275,000 American jobs. Among its facilities in the U.S. Airbus has: engineering centers in Kansas and Alabama; a major training facility in Florida and soon one in Colorado; materials support and headquarters in Virginia; an A320 Family assembly line delivering aircraft in Alabama; an innovative think tank (A3 ) in California; a drone data analysis business (Airbus Aerial) in Atlanta, Georgia; helicopter manufacturing and assembly facilities in Texas and Mississippi; and a satellite manufacturing facility (OneWeb) in Florida.
The A220 is the only aircraft purpose-built for the 100-150 seat market; it delivers unbeatable fuel efficiency and true widebody comfort in a single-aisle aircraft. The A220 brings together state-of-the-art aerodynamics, advanced materials and Pratt & Whitney’s latest-generation PW1500G geared turbofan engines to offer at least 20 percent lower fuel burn per seat compared to previous generation aircraft. With a range of up to 3,200 nm (5920 km), the A220 offers the performance of larger single-aisle aircraft.
With an order book of more than 500 aircraft to date, the A220 has all the credentials to win the lion’s share of the 100- to 150-seat aircraft market estimated to represent at least 7,000 aircraft over the next 20 years.
