How COVID impacted Thanksgiving private jet flights by day, state, busiest airports and international destinations

Thanksgiving private jet flights were 7.6% off 2019 pre-COVID levels compared to 60% for the airlines, and there were big changes in when and where people were flying

The largest market for private jets, Florida, had a 13% increase, with Palm Beach flights increasing 87%

More private jet travelers flew the Saturday and Sunday before Thanksgiving

Mexico, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, St. Maarten, Bermuda, Costa Rica, and Jamaica saw increases in U.S. arrivals

While private jets remain the shining star of the gutted travel industry, Thanksgiving flights may have fallen short of expectations.

According to WingX, the extended Thanksgiving period, from Friday before the holiday through Monday after, saw 56,005 U.S. private jet departures, 7.6% below 2019 levels. Despite COVID-19, during the July 4th holiday, private flights increased by 5% year-over-year.

Still, by comparison, the recovery gap between private aviation and the airlines remains wide. The number of airline passengers passing through TSA checkpoints for that same period dropped by 60% to 10.5 million from 26.1 million.

With fewer touchpoints, private aviation has been benefiting from new customers seeking to avoid exposure to COVID. Executives from the industry have recently said in some cases their activity is now back above pre-pandemic levels.

Analyzing the data from the 11-day Thanksgiving travel period beginning the Friday before the holiday through the Monday afterward revealed big shifts, even if total flights were close to 2019 levels.

Specifically, we examined Thanksgiving private jet flights ranked by day, state, busiest airports, and most popular international and U.S. territory destinations for U.S. departures. You will find a summary and detailed tables for each below.

Private Jet Departures by Day

According to WingX data provided to Private Jet Card Comparisons, the 11-day period showed only two days (table below) when U.S. private jet departures increased – the Saturday and Sunday before Thanksgiving.

Saturday before the holiday saw the biggest increase with private flights up by 18.5%. The busiest days – the Sunday after Thanksgiving and the Friday before the holiday – held their positions. The biggest drops came the Saturday after Thanksgiving (-21%) and Thanksgiving Day (-18.7%), indicating private jet flyers took off earlier and stayed a bit longer.

Private Jet Departures by Day (2020 vs. 2019)

Private Jet Departures by State

In terms of private flights by state (table below), while overall the segment may have been closing in on last year’s numbers, there were far fewer winners in terms of gains. Only seven of the 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, saw gains.

Wyoming saw the biggest gain with a 37% increase, although it was still 41st overall. Sixth-ranked Colorado saw an 18% increase while 8th-ranked Arizona and 30th ranked Utah saw private jet departures increase by 15%.

Florida, which held its top spot in departures (9,710), saw an increase by 13%, Second place California was down 3%, while Texas, ranked third, saw departures down 7%, fourth place Georgia was off 1%, and fifth place New York was down 10%.

New Jersey, driven by a decline at Teterboro Airport, which service New York City, saw private jet departures drop 37%. However, Vermont saw the biggest decline (-49%), followed by Rhode Island (-41%).

Private Jet Departures by State (2020 vs. 2019)

Top 50 Airports by Private Jet Departures

Among the 50 busiest airports ranked by 2020 private jet departures, there was also a lot of volatility, with 37 seeing changes in departures up or down by more than 10% and 17 having changes of +/- 25%, in other words, where the private jet set flew changed significantly.

Palm Beach International Airport was not only the busiest with 1,386 departures, an average of 126 per day over the 11 day period, but it also had the biggest year-over-year gain, an 87% increase.

Despite a 43% drop – the biggest among the top 50 airports, Teterboro still ranked second with 1,251 departures. Van Nuys Airport, the major private jet airport serving Los Angeles, saw a 5% increase (1,037) while departures at Dallas Love Filed (998) dipped by 1%. Fifth and sixth-ranked airports in Naples, Florida, and Scottsdale each had 30% gains.

Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport ranked seventh, giving Florida thee of the seven top spots. Florida had seven and California six of the 23 airports among the top 50 that saw gains in private jet departures.

Top 50 Private Jet Airports (2020 vs. 2019)

Top International, U.S. Territory Private Jet Destinations

Mexico remained the number one destination for private jets leaving the U.S. with 1,246 flights, with over 113 flights per day during the Thanksgiving holiday, an increase of 6%. Of the 25 top destinations, 12 saw gains, with St. Lucia up 180%, although it was based on an increase of 13 flights, from 5 to 18. Puerto Rico (+57%) and Bermuda (+50%) each saw big growth.

Canada held onto its spots as the second most popular destination with 515 flights despite a 50% decrease. The Bahamas was third with 380 flights on a 33% decline, while was Turks and Caicos saw a 12% dip, still good for fourth place with 123 flights.

Flights from the U.S. to the U.K. dropped 76%, from 108 to 26.

Top 25 International, U.S. Territory Private Jet Destinations