January 25, 2025
A 6.2% increase in fractional flying offset drops of 3.4% in Part 91 and 1.6% in Part 135 private jet flights, according to ARGUS TRAQPak.
According to ARGUS TRAQAPak data, North American private jet flight hours across all categories—Charter (Part 135), Fractional (Part 91k), and Full Ownership (Part 91)—dropped 1.1% in 2024.
The bad news: 2024 marked the second straight year of declines.
The good news: 2024’s 5,238,986 hours was the industry’s third-best year ever.
Perspective: That’s 732,711 hours more than pre-Covid 2019, a 16.3% gain.
More perspective: From 2014 to 2019, there was a 582,985 increase in flight hours. That was a 14.9% cumulative increase.
An interesting point is that combined Charter and Fractional hours as a percentage of total flight hours in 2024 increased to 54.17% from 53.09% in 2023, continuing a 15-year ascent from 43.51% in 2009.
Before you read on, you may want to skip to the end and read about the data to ensure you understand what goes into the numbers.
Back to 2024.
Part 135 and 91 hours were in the red.
Charter operators’ 1,886,702 hours represented a 1.6% decline.
Part 91 hours (2,401,116) were down 3.4% year-over-year.
Fractionals with 951,168 hours increased flight hours by 6.2%.
That could be why Warren Buffett (NetJets) and Kenn Ricci (Flexjet) are smiling.
So, what do the folks who run the numbers think?
ARGUS analysts note, “When (2024) started, we were heavily focused on the Part 135 (jet card and charter) market, and we still are.”
They continue, “At this point, we’re seeing signs that the contractions over the last two years are nearing an end, but we’re not there yet.”
They add, “Conversely, the Fractional market continues to set records.”
| Category | Part 91 | % Change | Part 135 | % Change | Part 91k | % Change | Total | % Change |
| Turboprops | 744,088 | -1.6% | 417,395 | -0.7% | 45,273 | 0.6% | 1,206,756 | -1.2% |
| Light | 609,887 | -3.8% | 322,622 | -12.1% | 211,440 | 5.2% | 1,143,949 | -4.8% |
| Midsize | 499,134 | -9.0% | 634,741 | 2.3% | 562,533 | 3.7% | 1,696,408 | -0.9% |
| Large | 548,007 | 0.1% | 511,944 | 0.5% | 131,922 | 23.0% | 1,191,873 | 2.4% |
| Total | 2,401,116 | -3.5% | 1,886,702 | -1.6% | 951,168 | 6.2% | 5,238,986 | -1.1% |
Source: ARGUS TRAQPak
In Part 91, only Large cabin aircraft (table above) saw an increase, a paltry tenth of a point.
Midsize flying was down by 9.0%.
Looking at Part 135, Midsize (+2.3%) and Large cabin flying (+0.5%) edged up.
However, the category was dragged down by a 12.1% dive in light jet flying.
Turboprop hours were down 0.7%.
Large cabin fractional hours rocketed to a 23.0% gain.
All categories were on the right side of the ledger, with light jets performing second-best, although up only 5.2%.
Looking back to 2007, we can see what happened in the Great Recession.
| Year | Total Industry Hours |
% Change |
Charter & Fractional Hours |
% Change |
% Share |
| 2024 | 5,238,986 | -1.1% | 2,837,870 | 0.9% | 54.17% |
| 2023 | 5,298,445 | -3.7% | 2,812,849 | -4.6% | 53.09% |
| 2022 | 5,502,093 | 7.7% | 2,949,189 | 5.7% | 53.60% |
| 2021 | 5,109,420 | 46.3% | 2,789,520 | 52.1% | 54.60% |
| 2020 | 3,493,412 | -22.5% | 1,834,550 | -16.0% | 52.51% |
| 2019 | 4,506,275 | 1.3% | 2,184,958 | 1.1% | 48.49% |
| 2018 | 4,446,777 | 0.7% | 2,161,369 | 0.8% | 48.61% |
| 2017 | 4,415,602 | 5.5% | 2,144,685 | 10.1% | 48.57% |
| 2016 | 4,183,472 | 3.8% | 1,948,354 | 4.8% | 46.57% |
| 2015 | 4,030,915 | 2.7% | 1,858,952 | 2.6% | 46.12% |
| 2014 | 3,923,290 | 2.9% | 1,812,002 | 3.6% | 46.19% |
| 2013 | 3,812,905 | 0.3% | 1,749,005 | 5.2% | 45.87% |
| 2012 | 3,800,140 | 0.6% | 1,662,474 | 0.4% | 43.75% |
| 2011 | 3,776,004 | 0.3% | 1,655,788 | 0.0% | 43.85% |
| 2010 | 3,764,205 | 6.6% | 1,655,876 | 7.8% | 43.99% |
| 2009 | 3,531,151 | -17.5% | 1,536,486 | -18.9% | 43.51% |
| 2008 | 4,278,020 | -9.3% | 1,894,910 | -9.2% | 44.29% |
| 2007 | 4,717,848 | – | 2,086,487 | – | 44.23% |
Total flight hours didn’t recover to 2007 levels until Covid pushed a new generation of consumers into the private skies in 2021.
Charter and Fractional hours recovered by 2017.
Although as a separate number, fractionals did not reach 2007 levels until 2022.
READ: 2024 private jet flights by state
Part 91 reflects private flights for aircraft owners whose aircraft are not on a charter certificate.
Part 91k is fractional operators, including flights for their jet card programs and other charter flights.
If greater than 50% of an operator’s aircraft have fractional shares available, then they are considered fractional for the purposes of ARGUS tracking.
Finally, Part 135 hours include charter flights, jet cards, and the private flights of aircraft owners whose airplanes are available for charter.
We combine 135 and 91k as the tracking is operator-specific and doesn’t segment 91k from 135 flying.
It’s also important to note that 135 aircraft tracking is aircraft-specific. That means some of the flight hours tracked under these aircraft would likely be for Part 91 flying.
That’s because an aircraft owner’s flights are under Part 91. The airplane must only fly under the Part 135 rules for charter flights. However, data to separate owner and charter and owner flights is unavailable. They are all tracked under Part 135.
And all of the above includes empty-leg repositioning flights.
Again, the percentage of repositioning flights isn’t known.
READ: ARGUS TRAQPak expects 0.2% gain in 2025 private jet activity
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