ARGUS TRAQpak predicts small increase in March private jet flying

After February turned in a better than expected performance in flight activity, ARGUS TRAQpak expects a 0.6% increase in March.

By Doug Gollan, March 4, 2025

ARGUS TRAQPak analysts estimate that overall North American flight activity will increase by 0.6% year-over-year in March 2025.

That’s down one-tenth of a point since their annual forecast.

TRAQPak’s analysis of the year-over-year activity in February flight shows that February 2025 finished down 2.6% from the prior year.

However, when correcting for the leap year in February 2024, overall North American market activity was up 0.8% for the month.

Either way, it’s better than the ARGUS forecast of a 3.9% drop in February.

ARGUS Senior Vice President Travis Kuhn tells Private Jet Card Comparisons, “Overall demand continues to remain strong in North America.”

He notes, “Activity was technically down in February, but it was up when adjusted for the extra day in 2024. Part 135 activity has now produced three straight monthly increases, and while there is no guarantee of gains every single month, we still expect activity to be positive for that segment in 2025.”

Kuhn adds, “Part 91 and large cabin activity continue to be areas of focus as we see some continued softening in demand.”

Midsize jets did the best in February.

They saw a 0.5% drop.

The most significant decreases were in light (-4.0%), Turboprops (-2.7%), and large jets (-4.4%)

Fractional (+3.6%) and Part 135 (+0.4%) were in the black.

Part 91 flying dropped 7.5%)

Large cabin fractional flying was up 10.2%.

Light jets and midsize aircraft were up 3.5% and 3.4%, respectively.

Turboprops dropped 7.3%.

On the Part 135 side, midsize jets (+2.3%) and large cabin jets (+1.7%) saw gains, while light jets (-0.2%) and large cabin jets (-4.3%) saw drops.

For Part 91 operations, light jets saw the biggest drop, down 8.9%.

Turboprops were the top performer despite a 5.9% dip.