✈️ The VIP Seat Weekly

Your Mo business aviation hot takes, served fresh

February 26, 2026 | Season 3 Episode 8 Companion

Welcome back to The VIP Seat. This week, we're digging into the numbers that nobody else wants to question, sounding the alarm on a major FAA data problem, and watching social media posts move mountains in international aviation diplomacy. Plus: British Airways crew members learn a hard lesson about accepting candy from strangers. Let's get into it.

📊 Wheels Up Reports "Positive" Adjusted EBITDA. But What Does That Actually Mean?

The Scoop: Wheels Up reported Q4 2025 earnings on February 19, and the headlines were glowing: first-ever positive Adjusted EBITDAR of $36.9 million, a 67% improvement in net loss year-over-year, and record operational reliability with a 99% completion rate. Revenue came in at $184 million, flat sequentially but down 10% year-over-year. CEO George Mattson touted the results as proof that the turnaround is working.

Our Take: As the late Charlie Munger famously noted, EBITDA itself can be a misleading metric. Now take EBITDA and adjust it further, and you're getting pretty far from the actual financial picture.

Let's break it down. Gross profit in Q4 was $13 million on $184 million of revenue, roughly a 7% gross margin. That is not dramatically better than where it's been. Operating expenses, while being cut (down to around 30% of revenue from 34% the prior year), are still substantial. Operating income remains deeply negative. And interest expense continues to eat up around 14% of revenue.

The sale-leaseback transaction on ten aircraft generated $30 million in net cash proceeds and contributed a $24 million gain that helped push the adjusted numbers into positive territory. We've said it before: sale-leasebacks are a tool, but not the end all be all. Adding back rental expense to show EBITDAR profitability is fine as a metric, but those lease payments still have to get paid before anything else.

Then there's the balance sheet. Wheels Up ended the year with $134 million of cash and a $100 million undrawn revolver. But stockholders' equity sits at negative $392 million, deferred revenue is roughly $739 million, and full-year net loss was still $294 million. The Delta restructuring includes a paid-in-kind (PIK) component, meaning Delta is accumulating equity rather than taking cash payments, which means the debt burden is not shrinking in the traditional sense.

The silver lining? The Delta synergy story is real. Corporate membership sales grew 35% year-over-year, and the ability for Delta's corporate sales team to cross-sell Wheels Up's executive travel product lowers customer acquisition costs. The Signature Membership program also appears to be gaining traction with 600 memberships sold in the first 60 to 90 days. Operationally, they are moving in the right direction.

We want to see Wheels Up succeed. A lot of people in this industry do. But we would love to see more analysis and fewer press release regurgitations from the broader media when these numbers come out. This is not financial advice. It is two people who read financial statements for a living saying: ask more questions.

Read the AIN coverage here

🍬 British Airways Crew Hospitalized After Eating THC Gummies From a Passenger

The Scoop: Three British Airways cabin crew members were taken to a hospital in Los Angeles after unknowingly consuming cannabis-infused gummy bears given to them by a passenger on a London Heathrow to LAX flight. The gummies reportedly contained up to 300mg of THC total, which is well beyond a typical recreational dose of 5 to 10mg. The crew ate the gummies on the shuttle bus to their hotel after landing and quickly became disoriented and panicked. BA grounded the entire crew and flew a replacement team in for the return flight.

Our Take: 300mg of THC is probably enough to go into outer space, let alone 35,000 feet. We’re not going to debate legal cannabis debate for a moment. This is a crew safety story, plain and simple. If these gummies had been consumed before or during the flight instead of after, we would be talking about a very different headline.

BA has said the crew will not face disciplinary action, and the airline is working with authorities to identify the passenger who provided the gummies. The lesson here should be obvious, but apparently it needs saying: do not accept unsealed food or candy from strangers on an airplane. This is advice most of us learned in elementary school, but it clearly needs a refresher. Airlines may need to revisit their policies around crew accepting edible gifts from passengers altogether.

Read more from The Evening Standard

🇨🇦 Transport Canada Certifies Gulfstream G500 and G600 After Trump Pressure

The Scoop: Transport Canada officially certified the Gulfstream G500 and G600 on February 15, ending a review process that had been pending for roughly six years. The certification came just weeks after President Trump publicly accused Canada of "wrongfully, illegally, and steadfastly" refusing to certify four Gulfstream models and threatened to decertify Bombardier jets and impose 50% tariffs on Canadian-built aircraft. As of this week, reports indicate Transport Canada has now also certified the G700 and G800, clearing the full Gulfstream lineup.

Our Take: Say what you will about the method, but a social media post and some tariff threats appear to have moved a regulatory process that had been stalled for half a decade. The FAA originally certified the G500 in 2018 and the G600 in 2019. Under international convention, other regulators typically validate the primary certification, but Canada had been sitting on this for years.

The G700 and G800 were a bit more complicated because the FAA itself had granted Gulfstream a time-limited exemption related to fuel system icing compliance, with full certification testing required by mid-2026. Transport Canada had understandably been cautious on that front, particularly given Canadian climate conditions. But the G500 and G600 delay was harder to justify from a technical standpoint.

The broader question here is whether aviation certification should ever be caught up in trade politics. Most industry observers would say no. But when a regulatory process stalls for six years with no clear explanation, it is not surprising that it eventually becomes political. For now, the situation appears resolved, and Canadian operators can finally register these aircraft domestically.

Read the Aviation Week report.

🔥 Mile High Madness

This week's social media spotlight goes to an influencer and self-described coach with hundreds of thousands of followers who has been publicly bragging about selling seats on his airplane. A quick check at PASA's website revealed that this individual does not hold a Part 135 certificate.

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The VIP Seat Weekly is the companion newsletter to The VIP Seat podcast. We give you the business aviation hot takes for your commute.

Jessie’s Links:
Private Aviation Safety Alliance
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Preston’s Links:
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Private Jet Insider (Newsletter)
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