How important is WiFi in choosing a private jet flight provider?

Inflight private jet WiFi is increasingly in demand, particularly with frequent flyers.

By Doug Gollan, November 4, 2023

How vital is WiFi in choosing a private jet flight provider?

New research from Private Jet Card Comparisons shows flyers who require WiFi fly more frequently than the overall respondents.

WiFi demand increases

According to the soon-to-be-released 2023/24 Jet Card Report by Private Jet Card Comparisons, the percentage of subscribers who require WiFi increased from 31.4% last to 35.1% this time around.

The increase is outside the survey’s margin of error.

Most of that gain came from respondents who said they would like WiFi if possible.

That group declined from 42.3% to 37.3%.

However, there were variances among subgroups.

More than four in 10 (42.3%) of the most frequent private jet users – those expecting to fly 50+ hours in the next 12 months said they only want programs – jet cards or fractional shares – that guarantee WiFi.

That compares to 33.3% for the overall sample.

Another 33.9% said they wanted WiFi if possible.

Frequent Flyers = Need WiFi

Flyers who require WiFi were also more likely to fly more hours – 49.8 hours in the next year as opposed to the total sample (42.4%).

They tend to be more likely to use super midsize (32.7%-to-23.6%) and large cabin jets (11.6%-to-7.6%) than the total pool.

However, they are also likely to want to fly in light jets (47.9%-to-57.1%), even if less than the general population, and midsize aircraft (38.3%-to-38.5%) on a nearly equal basis.

Flyers who require WiFi are also more likely to want shorter callouts.

For example, 17.5% of respondents who require WiFi want a callout of 24 hours or less, compared to 11.6% overall.

The results about connectivity were from the 860 subscribers who submitted Decider customer analysis requests between Sept. 2022 and Aug. 2023.

The margin of error was +/- 2%.

Paid subscribers can compare which jet card and fractional programs offer WiFi, including by aircraft type and category.

Related Articles

Cayman Cookout
NetJets Praetor 500

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.