Kerry Lynch stepped into the role of editor of the&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;monthly magazine in May 2022 after serving with&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;for eight years. She joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in December 2014 as a senior editor covering Washington and business aviation news. She has also served on Convention News teams, including as editor of&nbsp;HAI Convention News. Lynch previously spent 25 years with Aviation Week. During her time there, she reported for and later steered&nbsp;The Weekly of Business Aviation, oversaw business aviation content on the&nbsp;Aviation Week Intelligence Network, served on the&nbsp;Show News&nbsp;staff, and held roles as the Washington columnist for&nbsp;Business &amp; Commercial Aviation&nbsp;and&nbsp;Overhaul &amp; Maintenance&nbsp;monthly magazines. In 2021 she was honored with the National Business Aviation Association Platinum Wing Award for lifetime achievement in journalism and was the 2004 recipient of the National Air Transportation Association’s Aviation Journalism Excellence Award. She also has been a recipient of an Aerospace Media Award for business aviation (2022) and NBAA Gold Wing Award (2003, 2024). Lynch graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor of arts in journalism.

Editor, AIN monthly magazine

Bombardier manufactures a variety of business aircraft models, provides engineering, and aircraft maintenance services.

Kerry Lynch

Wheels Up plans to double its fleets of Embraer Phenom 300s and Bombardier Challenger 300/350s this year as the private flight provider has found demand for its Signature Membership program stronger than expected, the company announced on Tuesday.
The company has been in a multi-year effort to streamline its fleets, phasing out its older Cessna Citation, Hawker, and Beechcraft King Air models. At the same time, it is leaning into the Phenom, which it first added with the <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2024-11-14/wheels-completes-332m-financing-acquires-17-jets">acquisition</a> of GrandView Aviation’s fleet in November 2024, and the Challenger 300, which it first introduced into its program in April 2025.
Wheels Up is not sharing how many Challengers or Phenoms it has in its fleet or where it plans to source them, but its last 10-K financial form at the end of 2025 stated the company had nine owned and leased Challenger 300s and 350s and 21 Phenom 300s at year's end.&nbsp;
The U.S. operator cited the higher operational reliability, customer satisfaction, and unit economic performance of the models under its Signature program for the growth. This has surpassed its original expectations when it rolled out the Signature program in September, Wheels Up added.
"When we introduced our fleet modernization strategy in late 2024, we asked our team and our partners to trust a direction they could not fully see yet. Today, they can see it,” said Mark Briffa, chief sales officer. “Signature membership has exceeded our expectations; our premium aircraft are delivering a meaningfully better customer experience, and we have reached scale. This is the right time to accelerate, and that is exactly what we are doing, as we expect to complete the fleet transition a year ahead of schedule, driven by strong market response to our new program and fleet offerings."
Further, the company said it is closing sales of its Legacy Membership at the end of the month while Signature becomes its flagship offering. However, it stressed that all existing member contracts would be honored through their full term.
“Wheels Up's hybrid model remains intact: a focused, scaled premium first-party fleet complemented by a best-in-class global charter business supported by a broad, safety-vetted third-party charter operator network that provides enhanced availability and mission flexibility for all members,” the company maintained.

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Wheels Up Doubles Down on Phenom and Challenger Business Jets

Private flight provider is streamlining fleet with more Challenger and Phenoms jets

Private flight operator Wheels Up plans to rapidly scale up its fleets of Bombardier Challenger 300/350s and Embraer Phenom 300s this year.

Wheels Up Doubles Down on Phenoms and Challengers

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In this article

Challenger 300/350/3500

Phenom 300/300E

Wheels Up

Bombardier

Embraer Executive Aircraft

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