ARGUS TRAQPak estimates 3.6% drop in September flights

After a more significant dip in August North American private jet flying than anticipated, ARGUS TRAQPak expects a 3.6% drop year-over-year this month.

Overall, North American flying was down 2.4% last month compared to a year ago.

ARGUS had forecast a 0.5% drop.

Part 91 flying took the biggest hit, dropping 5.5%.

Part 135 flying – on-demand charter and jet cards – dropped 3.3% compared to August 2023.

Fractional operators, on the other hand, saw an 8.6% year-over-year increase.

All categories of aircraft saw drops as well.

Large cabin aircraft saw flying down 9.1%.

Turboprops (-1.5%), Light jets (-1.4%), and Midsize aircraft (-0.9%) saw smaller drops.

Large jets flying under Part 135 were down 13.0% in August, with only midsize jets gaining – up 1/10th of a point.

Turboprops (-1.2%) and light jets (-.3.9%) under Part 135 also dropped.

Fractional activity was up year-over-year in all categories.

Light jets (+12.2%) and Turboprops (+10.8%) saw the most significant gains.

However, significant (+7.2%) and midsize jets (+7.0%) enjoyed robust months.

“We saw a larger decline than we expected in North America, primarily driven by larger declines in the Large Cabin and Part 91 markets. Fractional activity remains strong, and Part 135 activity is showing signs of stabilizing,” ARGUS Senior Vice President Travis Kuhn tells Private Jet Card Comparisons.