Argus TraqPak expects drop in January private jet activity

Argus TraqPak expects 2024 North American private jet flight activity to start on a down note.

Its forecast calls for flight hours to drop by a half percentage point compared to January 2023.

It carries over the decline in December, which finished 3% down year-over-year.

Argus had expected a half-point gain.

“Activity for December fell short of expectations once more, thanks in part to a 4% swing in expected activity the week between Christmas and New Year’s,” says Argus SVP Travis Kuhn.

He continues, “Overall, it seemed to cap off a relatively bland year for activity. We end 2023 with a very strong Fractional market, a relatively stable Part 91 market, and an overall decline in Part 135 (on-demand charter and jet card) market.”

Kuhn notes, “We’ll be watching those markets closely in 2024, along with small cabin and turboprop aircraft, which saw a year of consistent declines.”

For December, Fractional was up 11.8% year-over-year.

It was powered by a 21% gain in the large cabin segment.

Midsize fractional hours were up 11.8%, light jets gained 9.9%, and turboprops rose 6.6%.

Part 91 saw a 3% increase in large cabin flights and a 2.5% gain in the light jet sector.

However, midsize jets dropped 8.6%, pulling activity for the segment down 1.3%.

Part 135 again lagged, 10% down year-over-year, with red ink across all four categories.

The most significant drops were light jet (-15.2%) and turboprop operators (-13.7%).