Argus TRAQPak’s list of the largest U.S. private jet charter operators highlights the active mergers and acquisitions market.
Argus TRAQPak’s list of the 25 largest U.S. Part 135 private jet operators, ranked by flight hours, highlights the industry’s frenetic merger-and-acquisition activity.
Ten of the private jet charter operators were involved in transactions. Part 135 includes on-demand and jet card flights
What’s more, four of the 10 largest operators (Gama Aviation Signature, Mountain Aviation, Delta Private Jets, and Travel Management Company) are now part of Wheels Up. For an updated M&A rundown, read our PRIVATE AVIATION DEAL BOOK.
In another sign of flux, six operators dropped off, bringing the total to six. New to the list were Advanced Air (ranked 17th), Superior Transportation Associates (20), Jet Select (22), Berry Aviation (23), Scott Aviation (24), and Pacific Coast Jet (25).
Most notable of the dropoffs was JetSuite, which grounded its fleet in April, then filed for bankruptcy in April, before emerging in September with just three Embraer Phenom 100 very light jets.
You can review the 2019 list of the largest charter operators here.
The largest operator remains Gama Aviation Signature, the Wheels Up-branded fleet’s longtime operator, which Wheels Up acquired last March. Vista Global’s XOJET Aviation traded places with NetJets’ Executive Jet Management, moving into the second spot.
| RANK 2020/(2019) |
OPERATOR NAME – PARENT | 2020 FLIGHT HOURS |
| 1/(1) | GAMA AVIATION SIGNATURE (Wheels Up) | 65,307 |
| 2/(3) | XOJET AVIATION (Vista Global Holding) | 50,392 |
| 3/(2) | EXECUTIVE JET MANAGEMENT (NetJets) | 37,348 |
| 4/(5) | JET LINX AVIATION | 29,664 |
| 5 /(10) | MOUNTAIN AVIATION (Wheels Up) | 27,661 |
| 6/(4) | DELTA PRIVATE JETS (Wheels Up) | 26,510 |
| 7/(8) | EXCLUSIVE JETS – FLY EXCLUSIVE | 24,579 |
| 8/(6) | SOLAIRUS AVIATION | 20,968 |
| 9/(7) | JET EDGE | 19,277 |
| 10/(9) | TRAVEL MANAGEMENT COMPANY (Wheels Up) | 14,624 |
| 11/(11) | CLAY LACY AVIATION | 10,761 |
| 12/(14) | AERO AIR | 10,508 |
| 13/(13) | CORPORATE FLIGHT MANAGEMENT – CONTOUR | 10,308 |
| 14/(15) | TALON AIR | 9,850 |
| 15/(17) | WORLDWIDE JET CHARTER | 9,702 |
| 16/(19) | RED WING AVIATION (Vista Global Holding) | 9,199 |
| 17/(NR) | ADVANCED AIR | 7,839 |
| 18/(12) | JET AVIATION | 7,493 |
| 19/(21) | JET ACCESS AVIATION | 6,641 |
| 20/(NR) | SUPERIOR TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATES – STA JETS | 6,396 |
| 21/(20) | SC AVIATION | 6,208 |
| 22/(NR) | JET SELECT (Jet Edge) | 6,184 |
| 23/(NR) | BERRY AVIATION | 6,047 |
| 24/(NR) | SCOTT AVIATION | 5,998 |
| 25/(NR) | PACIFIC COAST JET | 5,923 |
Fourth-place Jet Linx Aviation moved from fifth to fourth, while Mountain Aviation jumped from 10th to fifth in private jet flight hours.
Delta Private Jets dropped to sixth place from the fourth spot, while Fly Exclusive moved from eighth to ninth. Solairus Aviation fell to eighth place from sixth, while Jet Edge dropped to ninth from seventh.
While in less than two years, Wheels Up has established itself as the largest Part 135 charter operator, flight hours dropped 23.5% to 135,253 hours in 2020 from 177,875 hours in 2019.
NetJets-owned Executive Jet Management also took a hit with 2020 flight hours dropping to 59,237 to 37,348, a 37% drop.
Vista Global Holding’s XOJET Aviation and Red Wing Aviation together clocked 59,591, an increase of 0.5%.
Of the 10 largest operators, Mountain Aviation and Fly Exclusive saw big increases. Mountain, acquired by Wheels Up last month, saw flight hours surge nearly 60%.
North Carolina-based Fly Exclusive, which launched its jet card program last year, saw flight hours grow close to 20%.
Overall, flight hours by Part 135 operators dropped 15%. Total private aviation industry flight hours dropped 22.5% year-over-year.
By contrast, TSA data shows the number of airline passengers passing through its checkpoints was still down 63% in Q4.
Light jet flight hours (-10.3%), midsize jet flight hours (-10.9%), and turboprop flight hours (-11.6%) all saw similar declines. Large cabin jet flight hours dropped by 28.7%, according to Argus.
The Argus TRAQPak data excludes cargo and Part 135 scheduled flights. For operators with greater than 50% of their aircraft with shares available, they are considered fractional and part of its Part 91K operator analysis.
Find the perfect solution for your private aviation needs
Save Time. Buy Confidently.
Receive an apples-to-apples comparison of programs that meet your needs from more than 500 jet card and fractional options covering 65 points of differentiation and over 40,000 data points.
