Florida bypassed California and Texas to take the top spot for private jet departures in 2020.
In a year ravaged by COVID-19 negative growth, Florida had the most private jet departures.
It jumped past last year’s leader, California, and second-place Texas, despite a 7% drop in activity. That still compares favorably to the overall market.
U.S. private aviation flight activity declined 23.9% from 2019, according to Argus TRAQPak.
The Sunshine State saw 257,625 private aviation departures, down from 276,602, good for 11.9% of all U.S. activity. That comes out to an average of 706 flights per day.
Texas maintained its second spot despite a 23% decline with 216,325 departures, just ahead of California with 212,267 flights. Both were down – with drops of -23% and -25%, respectively.
Combined, Florida, Texas, and California accounted for 31.7% of all U.S. private jet departures.
Colorado (91,425 departures in 4th place), Georgia (76,628/5th place), North Carolina (63,699/6th), New York (63,415/7th), Arizona (62,590/8th), New Jersey (56,590/9th), and Illinois (53,974/10th) rounded out the top 10 states for private aviation departures in 2020.
Only one state – Utah – saw an increase in flights – up 7% – helping it jump from 35th to 26th place.
The biggest loser was New Jersey, with a 45% dropped from the 4th spot to 9th.
The Garden State was dragged down by a 50% decline at Teterboro Airport, which accounts for over 70% of the state’s private flights.
| 2020 Rank – State – 2019 Rank | 2020 | 2019 | % Change | Share |
| 1. Florida (3) | 257,625 | 276,602 | -7% | 11.9% |
| 2. Texas (2) | 216,325 | 280,081 | -23% | 10.0% |
| 3. California (1) | 212,267 | 282,104 | -25% | 9.8% |
| 4. Colorado (6) | 91,425 | 94,631 | -3% | 4.2% |
| 5. Georgia (5) | 76,628 | 98,730 | -22% | 3.5% |
| 6. North Carolina (8) | 63,699 | 82,398 | -23% | 2.9% |
| 7. New York (7) | 63,415 | 88,049 | -28% | 2.9% |
| 8. Arizona (12) | 62,590 | 65,313 | -4% | 2.9% |
| 9. New Jersey (4) | 56,590 | 103,122 | -45% | 2.6% |
| 10. Illinois (9) | 53,974 | 79,757 | -32% | 2.5% |
| 11. Ohio (10) | 50,937 | 70,697 | -28% | 2.4% |
| 12. Tennessee (11) | 50,079 | 70,158 | -29% | 2.3% |
| 13. Michigan (13) | 44,532 | 59,896 | -26% | 2.1% |
| 14. South Carolina (18) | 41,697 | 48,619 | -14% | 1.9% |
| 15. Pennsylvania (14) | 41,168 | 59,885 | -31% | 1.9% |
| 16. Massachusetts (15) | 38,815 | 57,318 | -32% | 1.8% |
| 17. Nevada (17) | 36,610 | 52,287 | -30% | 1.7% |
| 18. Missouri (16) | 33,937 | 53,092 | -36% | 1.6% |
| 19. Alabama (22) | 32,505 | 43,179 | -25% | 1.5% |
| 20. Minnesota (21) | 31,439 | 43,376 | -28% | 1.5% |
| 21. Kansas (26) | 30,694 | 37,255 | -18% | 1.4% |
| 22. Indiana (19) | 30,617 | 43,922 | -30% | 1.4% |
| 23. Virginia (23) | 30,609 | 42,857 | -29% | 1.4% |
| 24. Wisconsin (20) | 29,592 | 43,488 | -32% | 1.4% |
| 25. Washington (25) | 29,393 | 38,888 | -24% | 1.4% |
| 26. Utah (35) | 28,835 | 27,071 | 7% | 1.3% |
| 27. Louisiana (24) | 27,690 | 41,098 | -33% | 1.3% |
| 28. New Mexico (32) | 27,478 | 30,456 | -10% | 1.3% |
| 29. Montana (33) | 26,982 | 27,229 | -1% | 1.2% |
| 30. Oregon (29) | 26,002 | 31,127 | -16% | 1.2% |
| 31. Arkansas (27) | 25,935 | 36,015 | -28% | 1.2% |
| 32. Oklahoma (28) | 24,680 | 31,619 | -22% | 1.1% |
| 33. Alaska (30) | 24,674 | 30,988 | -20% | 1.1% |
| 34. Idaho (37) | 22,918 | 24,921 | -8% | 1.1% |
| 35. Nebraska (34) | 22,090 | 27,074 | -18% | 1.0% |
| 36. Wyoming (41) | 20,838 | 21,287 | -2% | 1.0% |
| 37. South Dakota (40) | 20,392 | 22,270 | -8% | 0.9% |
| 38. District of Columbia – IAD/DCA (31) | 19,040 | 30,551 | -38% | 0.9% |
| 39. Kentucky (38) | 17,535 | 24,879 | -30% | 0.8% |
| 40. Iowa (36) | 17,424 | 26,196 | -33% | 0.8% |
| 41. Mississippi (39) | 17,145 | 23,874 | -28% | 0.8% |
| 42. Maryland (42) | 15,722 | 19,874 | -21% | 0.7% |
| 43. North Dakota (43) | 12,659 | 16,115 | -21% | 0.6% |
| 44. Hawaii (45) | 12,557 | 14,288 | -12% | 0.6% |
| 45. Connecticut (44) | 11,302 | 15,578 | -27% | 0.5% |
| 46. Maine (46) | 9,094 | 13,008 | -30% | 0.4% |
| 47. New Hampshire (47) | 8,405 | 11,723 | -28% | 0.4% |
| 48. West Virginia (48) | 8,379 | 11,296 | -26% | 0.4% |
| 49. Delaware (49) | 4,486 | 5,843 | -23% | 0.2% |
| 50. Rhode Island (50) | 4,053 | 5,801 | -30% | 0.2% |
| 51. Vermont (51) | 3,219 | 4,445 | -28% | 0.1% |
In addition to New Jersey, an unlucky 13 states and the District of Columbia saw private aviation flights decrease by more than 30% last year. Argus counts Dulles Airport and Reagan National, both in Virginia, as separate regions. Between the two, flights were down 38%.
[Read 2018 Private Jet Flights By State]
Missouri, Iowa, Louisiana, Illinois, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Rhode Island, Maine, Nevada, and Kentucky were part of the DC region.
While Utah was the only state on positive ground, Montana was just 1% below 2019 levels, while Wyoming (-2%), Colorado (-3%), and Arizona (-4%) treaded water.
All eight regions as designated by the Federal Aviation Administration also saw decline.
In terms of regions, the Southern Region remained the busiest part of the country for private aviation flying despite an 18% drop. The Eastern Region had the biggest drop, with flight activity down 34%.
| 2020 Rank – Region – 2019 Rank | 2020 | 2019 | % Change | Share |
| 1. Southern (1) | 580,238 | 709,537 | -18% | 27% |
| 2. Western Pacific (2) | 320,926 | 413,992 | -22% | 15% |
| 3. Southwest (4) | 289,123 | 379,171 | -24% | 13% |
| 4. Great Lakes (3) | 269,501 | 381,521 | -29% | 13% |
| 5. Northwest (6) | 266,313 | 296,042 | -10% | 12% |
| 6. Eastern (5) | 239,409 | 361,477 | -34% | 11% |
| 7. Central (7) | 108,566 | 143,617 | -24% | 5% |
| 8. New England (8) | 74,711 | 107,873 | -31% | 3% |
The only changes in order among the eight regions were a flip of Southwest moving from fourth to third, and the Great Lakes region dropping down a notch, while the Northwest and Eastern regions traded places.
While private aviation flights in the U.S. dropped 23.9% for the full year, it was a story of halves and quarters.
The first half of 2020 was down 30.8% compared to the same period in 2019. In the second half of the year, private aviation flights were down 17.2% compared to 2019.
Q1 2020 reported the smallest decline in flight activity due primarily to pandemic timing, down 11.5% from Q1 2019. Q2 showed the worst decline, down 48.9%. Q3 dropped 19.1%, and Q4 improved with a 15.2% decline.
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